The Asheville Fire Department is conducting a survey this month to understand how residents like you feel about the services provided by the City of Asheville Fire Department.

It’s a quick 2 question survey which allows you to rate service and make suggestions as to how AFD can better serve the community.

Have thoughts?

The Buncombe County Health Promotions Team requests feedback from residents to help inform strategies to improve our health priorities. Over the summer, Buncombe County’s latest Community Health Assessment was released. With the help of key informant surveys, community listening sessions, and existing data, the following health conditions were selected as a focus priority for the next three years: Birth Outcomes, Mental Health and Substance Misuse, and Chronic Conditions (Heart Disease and Diabetes).

We are now requesting community input to inform strategic planning for the upcoming Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The survey results will be used to determine how and what our community can do to address and improve Buncombe County’s health priorities. Let your voice be heard by taking the One Key Question Survey! All responses are anonymous.

We need participation from residents of Buncombe County to help us create a healthier community for everyone. Your response to the One Key Question Survey is essential to make Buncombe County a better place to call home.

So here’s the One Key Question:

What is the most important thing for you and your family’s health and well-being?

CLICK HERE TO ANSWER

Once you are finished answering our survey, spend a few minutes exploring the many functions of the page. You can track responses from other locals, read about our assessment process, and learn how we use your answers to create community change. Be sure to check the page regularly to stay current on our new surveys, meeting schedules, process updates, and more.

The Magnetic Theatre announces its 2023 Mainstage Season of new plays with tickets on sale beginning January 1st, and begins scheduling auditions and interviews for actors and technicians.

The Magnetic Theatre’s Mainstage Season begins with HappyLand, a new rock opera by Brayden Dickerson and Zach Knox of Smooth Goose.  The musical tells the tale of a delivery person who doesn’t quite fit into the titular town of HappyLand. Forced to make one last delivery before the vacation they have been dreaming of, our hero embarks on an epic journey to SadLand, falls in love, and maybe even saves the world.  Full of toe-tappin’ tunes and fantastic adventure, HappyLand launches February 10th and runs through February 25th.

Beginning April 14th and running through April 29th, join us for the regional premiere of Fish, by Cyndi Williams.  When two characters connect unexpectedly in a lonely bar, they wind up playing a dangerous game. Who will survive, and how can they forgive themselves in the process?  Shifting timelines and unearthing skeletons, Fish is a fever dream twisting through memory, fantasy, and the present.

Next up, June 2nd through 17th, take your seats and pay attention to Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf, by Charles Payne.  This choreopoem, inspired by the work of Ntozake Shange, is an exploration of the intersection of Black and Brown communities, particularly in and around the American educational system. The play features an ensemble of four actors who play teachers, students, and their families and is a mix of poetry, prose, and music, with original tracks by composer Richard Jones.

Then, August 4th through 13th, The Magnetic Theatre’s One Act Play Festival returns for its fourth year of short plays.  Featuring a variety of stories, emerging and seasoned playwrights, local directors, and incredible performers, there’s sure to be something for everyone!  Playwrights may submit one act scripts for consideration throughout the month of February.

Ushering in the spooky season, October 6th through 21st brings The Splatter Play by Abby Auman.  It’s the day of the open house for Tina’s childhood home, which also happens to be her deceased mother’s evil laboratory. Determined to turn the terrors of the lab into selling points, Tina and her optimistic realtor parade a cast of unsavory potential buyers through the home, tormented all the while by the resident creepies and crawlies who aren’t quite as ready to move on as Tina would hope. *Note: there will be blood, so much blood.

Finally, as 2023 comes to a close, The Magnetic Theatre proudly presents New Queer’s Eve. December 1st through 16th, join us for a look at the year’s last holiday through a new lens. New Queer’s Eve takes place in one location over multiple New Year’s Eve celebrations and provides a glimpse into the LGBTQIA+ experience through time. Through interconnected stories told by a collaboration of queer writers, New Queer’s Eve invites audiences to share in the joys and struggles of queer life through the decades.

The Asheville Fire Department is conducting a survey this month to understand how residents like you feel about the services provided by the City of Asheville Fire Department.

It’s a quick 2 question survey which allows you to rate service and make suggestions as to how AFD can better serve the community.

Have thoughts?

The Buncombe County Health Promotions Team requests feedback from residents to help inform strategies to improve our health priorities. Over the summer, Buncombe County’s latest Community Health Assessment was released. With the help of key informant surveys, community listening sessions, and existing data, the following health conditions were selected as a focus priority for the next three years: Birth Outcomes, Mental Health and Substance Misuse, and Chronic Conditions (Heart Disease and Diabetes).

We are now requesting community input to inform strategic planning for the upcoming Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). The survey results will be used to determine how and what our community can do to address and improve Buncombe County’s health priorities. Let your voice be heard by taking the One Key Question Survey! All responses are anonymous.

We need participation from residents of Buncombe County to help us create a healthier community for everyone. Your response to the One Key Question Survey is essential to make Buncombe County a better place to call home.

So here’s the One Key Question:

What is the most important thing for you and your family’s health and well-being?

CLICK HERE TO ANSWER

Once you are finished answering our survey, spend a few minutes exploring the many functions of the page. You can track responses from other locals, read about our assessment process, and learn how we use your answers to create community change. Be sure to check the page regularly to stay current on our new surveys, meeting schedules, process updates, and more.

SAHC is thrilled to be selected again this year to participate in the MountainXpress Give!Local Campaign. Our generous partners at Wicked Weed Brewing will MATCH donations up to $10,000! PLUS, anyone donating at a level of $100 or above will receive a $10 gift card from Wicked Weed.

Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy

The upcoming Journeyperson course is now available AT NO COST! Due to some timely grant funding, we can offer this in-depth farmer training for farmers in years 3-7 with no associated tuition fee! The course consists of monthly cohort meet-ups and 2-3 in-depth workshops, plus mentorship!

In addition, a select number of participants will also receive matched FUNDS for your farm savings account (Savings Incentive Program) and money to spend on a professional development opportunity of your choosing! Want to attend a workshop on livestock management? OGS will contribute towards that fee! Are you saving money for a farm asset? OGS will contribute up to a certain amount to that investment.

The Journeyperson Program is for farmers who have been independently farming for three or more years and are serious about operating farm businesses in the Southern Appalachian region.

If you’re behind on your water bill or afraid your water might get cut off, a new resource might be able to help you. On Jan. 4, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved more than $450,000 in federal funding for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). The initiative is aimed at preventing water disconnections and helping reconnect drinking and wastewater services.

The LIHWAP will be administered by Buncombe County-based Eblen Charities. The nonprofit will make payments directly to utilities on behalf of qualifying households. The program is slated to run through Sept. 30, 2023 or until funds are exhausted.

Eligibility requirements

Households that currently receive Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Work First services, or those that received Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) services from Oct. 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2021, are automatically eligible to receive this benefit if their water services have been cut off or are in danger of being cut off.

For additional eligibility information or to apply, please contact Eblen Charities at (828) 255-3066.

The Magnetic Theatre announces its 2023 Mainstage Season of new plays with tickets on sale beginning January 1st, and begins scheduling auditions and interviews for actors and technicians.

The Magnetic Theatre’s Mainstage Season begins with HappyLand, a new rock opera by Brayden Dickerson and Zach Knox of Smooth Goose.  The musical tells the tale of a delivery person who doesn’t quite fit into the titular town of HappyLand. Forced to make one last delivery before the vacation they have been dreaming of, our hero embarks on an epic journey to SadLand, falls in love, and maybe even saves the world.  Full of toe-tappin’ tunes and fantastic adventure, HappyLand launches February 10th and runs through February 25th.

Beginning April 14th and running through April 29th, join us for the regional premiere of Fish, by Cyndi Williams.  When two characters connect unexpectedly in a lonely bar, they wind up playing a dangerous game. Who will survive, and how can they forgive themselves in the process?  Shifting timelines and unearthing skeletons, Fish is a fever dream twisting through memory, fantasy, and the present.

Next up, June 2nd through 17th, take your seats and pay attention to Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf, by Charles Payne.  This choreopoem, inspired by the work of Ntozake Shange, is an exploration of the intersection of Black and Brown communities, particularly in and around the American educational system. The play features an ensemble of four actors who play teachers, students, and their families and is a mix of poetry, prose, and music, with original tracks by composer Richard Jones.

Then, August 4th through 13th, The Magnetic Theatre’s One Act Play Festival returns for its fourth year of short plays.  Featuring a variety of stories, emerging and seasoned playwrights, local directors, and incredible performers, there’s sure to be something for everyone!  Playwrights may submit one act scripts for consideration throughout the month of February.

Ushering in the spooky season, October 6th through 21st brings The Splatter Play by Abby Auman.  It’s the day of the open house for Tina’s childhood home, which also happens to be her deceased mother’s evil laboratory. Determined to turn the terrors of the lab into selling points, Tina and her optimistic realtor parade a cast of unsavory potential buyers through the home, tormented all the while by the resident creepies and crawlies who aren’t quite as ready to move on as Tina would hope. *Note: there will be blood, so much blood.

Finally, as 2023 comes to a close, The Magnetic Theatre proudly presents New Queer’s Eve. December 1st through 16th, join us for a look at the year’s last holiday through a new lens. New Queer’s Eve takes place in one location over multiple New Year’s Eve celebrations and provides a glimpse into the LGBTQIA+ experience through time. Through interconnected stories told by a collaboration of queer writers, New Queer’s Eve invites audiences to share in the joys and struggles of queer life through the decades.