Shared concerns about crime and an understaffed Asheville Police Department fostered an unusual alliance in today’s partisan times. An advocacy group called Asheville Coalition for Public Safety formed in October, bringing together community members of all political stripes who are concerned about crime, mental health, drug use and the unhoused population.
Last June, Umoja debuted HOPE 4 the Future, a summer camp for children and teens. In its initial season, it served 78 youths.
Picture books are a way for caregivers to guide children through challenging topics, like new siblings and potty training. Asheville-based child psychotherapist Jillian Kelly-Wavering wrote a children’s book to guide children ages 7-12 through another challenge: a parent’s suicide.
My Grief Is Like the Ocean is written by Kelly-Wavering and illustrated by Jessica Biles, who is based in New York. The pair worked together on the book throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and relied on Google Docs and Zoom for their collaboration.
The nonprofit Under One Sky Village Foundation provides camp and learning experiences to children in foster care and those who have been adopted. Constant disruption and dislocation are experiences nearly all of Under One Sky’s participants share, its founder says.
What happens when you lose your job, your husband leaves you, and your mother dies — all in the same week? What happens when you accidentally run over and kill a 12-year-old boy biking to your daughter’s birthday party? Mandy Atkisson was the person called in to help with both scenarios. Atkisson is the chief developer […]
Asheville is very far from Eastern Ukraine in terms of geographics, culture and stability, but the worldwide fraternity of trauma surgeons crosses cultural boundaries, sharing the same mission of saving lives. Mission Hospital sought to educate four doctors from Ukraine Feb. 18 as they toured the level-two trauma center and gathered knowledge to bring back home. “Trauma […]
When Lori Gerber moved to Asheville five years ago, she saw a need that was going unmet: Although there are services here for victims of domestic violence and rape, there’s very little for those who’ve been traumatized by other violent crimes or natural disasters. With 25 years’ experience helping others in those situations — such as helping emergency responders in New York City after 9/11 — she co-founded the Center for New Beginnings with husband Steve Gerber. On Sept. 6, the organization will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony and fundraiser at its new offices in downtown Asheville to call attention to the group’s work.
