Calendar of Events
Upcoming events and things to do in Asheville, NC. Below is a list of events for festivals, concerts, art exhibitions, group meetups and more.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
This holiday season, give your friends and family (or yourself) beautiful alcohol ink gifts that they can use to accessorize their home or wardrobe!
If you’ve been wanting to try a new and vibrant medium that works on a wide variety of materials and surfaces, you’ll love alcohol inks. As you drip, blow, and manipulate the brilliant colors of this art form, you’ll be amazed at the intricate patterns that emerge!
The multi-talented Deana Murchison will show you how to create beautiful, professional-looking artwork with very little effort. You’ll leave with at least one print, a ceramic coaster(s), a fashionable 11”x60” silk scarf, and a nifty stuffable cotton tote. Only you (and your fellow classmates, of course!) will know how quick and easy your masterpieces were to make!
No dyeing, drawing, or painting experience necessary!
Though we usually don’t get a lot of snow in Asheville, this super cute needle felted snowman is sure to get you into the holiday spirit! Join us for this fun workshop with fiber artist, Camille Daunno.
In just a few hours, you’ll learn the basics of needle felting, including what fibers are appropriate for creating a needle felted structure, how to build a three-dimensional piece (and how to shorten the process by using a Styrofoam ball), and how to embellish creations by needle felting details and attaching accessories.
You’ll leave the class with an adorable 8-1/2” free-standing snowman that will make a charming addition to any seasonal décor!
Camps are Mon-Thurs, December 19-23 and 26-29th from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm, with a daily and weekly sign-up option!
The age group for these camp sessions is 6-11-years-old (K-5th grade).
Sign up for Session 1 here: https://ashevillescience.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5af64a890dd5e292ce82d197b&id=8f3d934c4e&e=16408a818c
Daily rates start at $60 per participant/day and $225 per participant/week!
To learn more, contact [email protected].
Camps are Mon-Thurs, December 19-23 and 26-29th from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm, with a daily and weekly sign-up option!
The age group for these camp sessions is 6-11-years-old (K-5th grade).
Sign up for Session 2 here: https://ashevillescience.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5af64a890dd5e292ce82d197b&id=dd3c976dc2&e=16408a818c
Daily rates start at $60 per participant/day and $225 per participant/week!
To learn more, contact [email protected].
Gelli printing is an easy, innovative way to create vibrant, one-of-a-kind monoprints. The results are striking, and all you need is a gelli plate, acrylic paint, and some kind of substrate (paper, canvas, etc.). In this fun, hands-on workshop, paper artist Kristen Grady will teach you everything you need to get started with this super versatile process.
Among other techniques, you’ll learn how to build multiple layers of design, create textures and an “old wall” look, and add stenciling and shimmer to your prints. Kristen will also teach you how to create two-sided prints, work with multiple prints at the same time, create a theme for your prints, use thick and thin paints in different ways, and find your color palette.
There will be plenty of time to practice each technique, and you’ll complete at least four, two-sided prints. You’ll also leave with plenty of ideas on how to use your finished prints, including incorporating them into junk journals, and how to care for and store your gelli plate, which will be yours to keep—a $25 value!
Do you have intentions to start making art, but for some reason aren’t? Or were you making stuff all the time, but now it’s become a chore to get into your studio? Whether you’re struggling to get going with your art or have fallen into a creative slump, this workshop is for you!
Join creativity coach and veteran instructor Robyn Crawford as she takes you on an exciting, 4-week artistic adventure that’s sure to get your creative juices flowing! In this 12-hour, highly interactive course, you’ll kickstart your creativity by watching interesting artistic techniques, solving challenging creativity-building puzzles, participating in stimulating cross-media art experiments, working through selected The Artist’s Way best practices, and doing fun, optional homePLAY assignments.
We’re excited to finally get to offer this popular course. Don’t put your art (and YOU!) on the back burner again. Register today and make 2023 your most inspired year yet!
January is the perfect time to start keeping a “junk journal”: a hand-made book used to collect and store daily memories, mementos, photos, collages, inspiring quotes, or anything you want to remember. You can also use junk journals as art journals, a place for collage or daily gratitude lists, or to inspire a daily art practice in general. In this highly imaginative workshop, paper artist Kristen Grady will show you how to design a junk journal to fit your needs.
You’ll start by cutting and sizing an empty cereal box to create the cover for your journal. After strengthening and decorating your cover, you’ll learn how to turn your precious papers—including any gelli prints that you may have made in Kristen’s Introduction to Gelli Printing workshop—and actual “junk” mail into various types of pages (decorative, envelope, writing, etc.) until you fill your book. Next, Kristen will show you how to stitch your pages into the cover and then go over ways to fill in your journal as you go. You’ll be surprised at how full your book can become in just an afternoon! Finally, you’ll add decor, embellishments, and ephemera to finish your project.
You’ll leave the workshop with a beautiful, personalized keepsake that’s anything but junk! You’ll also have a newfound appreciation for the useful and beautiful creations you can make out of things that you used to throw away!
Performers: Get out of your head and inhabit your character!
In this workshop, acting coach, director and performer Jamie Knox will lead you through a series of exercises to:
– Make your work more physically dynamic
– Prepare for giving a memorable audition
– Approach a character from the outside in, to work quickly with new direction
– Talk yourself up…to yourself! Learn the art of getting into a good headspace and focusing on being a character, not acting
– Work on a specific monologue OR learn to work with any piece given to you
Sunday, January 15th, 2:30pm – 5:30pm
at The Magnetic Theatre
375 Depot St, Asheville NC 28801
About the instructor:
Jamie Knox juggles writing, directing, and acting in plays with running a yoga business and wrangling a four-year-old. She has been coaching characterization since 2008 and is a strong believer in being the character, not simply pretending to be the character. In this workshop expect to be challenged to get out of your head and into your body, finding more authenticity in your work.
Join writers and poets from across the country each month for a virtual writing workshop. A link will be added to their name when more details and sign-up information becomes available. These workshops are geared towards amateur writers, ages 16 and older recommended. Follow us on Facebook for notifications too.
Join QuickBooks Certified Pro Advisor, Candy Williams, as she helps you to understand bookkeeping concepts for your small business.
This training is led by Community Food Strategies and is geared toward community leaders, educators, and folks working in the food system. We will look at how racial inequity is perpetuated by institutional and structural systems and is normalized to the extent of being nearly invisible. Simultaneously, our country’s agricultural system has an unacknowledged debt to Black, Indigenous and people of color. Together, we will build understanding around historical and current impacts of structural racism on our food and agricultural systems.
Instructors will share best practices and challenges around engaging racial equity personally, institutionally and culturally. You will leave this training with greater awareness of our shared history, of our interconnected liberation and healing, and a greater capacity to address all forms of marginalization and undo food system inequities to the benefit of all.
Lunch is provided. Space is limited to 35. Register and RSVP at dreamingstone.org/upcoming.
We will follow state regulations with COVID protocols and will keep participants informed before and after the event concerning any heightened risks, or protocol changes.
Have you wanted to develop your intuition? Have you experienced psychic phenomenon that you can’t explain? This two-day class will help you understand how to home in on these skills personally or professionally.
This course will be taught by Anthony Mikolojeski/Psychic Medium. He is known as the Asheville Medium. Anthony has trained with some of the best psychic mediums in the United States and the United Kingdom. He has studied at the prestigious Arthur Findlay College in Stansted, England for advanced mediumship training. Now through teaching, Anthony is now sharing his advanced knowledge. You can read more about his story, educational references, and reviews at his website: ashevillemedium.com and his Google Business Page: Anthony Mikolojeski Psychic Medium.
Anthony lives here locally in Hendersonville. He does personal readings in-person or by phone and skype, group readings,
demonstrates mediumship in front of large audiences in the U.S and Canada.
ABOUT THE COURSE
Students will have a complete understanding of the foundation of psychic development. Through guidance and meditations studdents will understand the importance of breathwork, grounding, applying the chakra system and how it relates to the body and how each chakra works in psychic development and the expanding your awareness. Then expanding that awareness to work psychically with each other.
Each student will have the knowledge of all the different psychic modalities and how to use them.
Students will be working with each other and the instructor, in several exercises throughout this two-day course.
An organic lunch will be served for both days.
You can read more about this workshop at; EVENTBRIGHT.COM “INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT
Organic Growers School is now accepting work trade applications for the 30th Annual Spring Conference & Market!
The OGS Spring Conference will be held at Mars Hill University from February 24-26, 2023.
In exchange for each shift worked you will be compensated for the same day of the Conference. For example; if you work trade on Saturday, you will have access to the Conference on Saturday and will be free to attend workshops throughout the day, as long as they don’t conflict with your shift hours.
Work traders can select two shifts if they would like to attend on Saturday and Sunday, or three shifts, if they would like to participate the whole weekend.
General work trade shifts do not require special skills or backgrounds. They do, however, require timeliness and a friendly demeanor. Classroom Assistants/Moderators require training and classroom experience.
You should expect to be working during some of the class time unless you are approved for a pre-or post-conference shift, or come as a paying participant.
Please review the website for shift descriptions and complete the Work Trade Application if you are interested.
Work Trade at Spring Conference – Organic Growers School
We appreciate your interest in work trading for the 30th Annual Spring Conference & Market. Work traders play a vital role in the success of this event!
Thanks for your support,
Work Trade Deposit:
All volunteers are required to submit a $40 deposit. Please complete one registration and submit only one deposit. You may include any additional interest shifts in the additional notes section of the work trade application. Deposits are refunded once you complete your work trade shift. Once your schedule and duties are confirmed, it is up to you to show up for your shifts on time and to complete your shift as asked. In the unfortunate event that you do not fulfill your shift, we will process your credit card for the deposit amount. If providing a deposit is not possible, please email [email protected] so we may consider other options.
Fluid art is a form of abstract art that uses acrylic paints with a runny (fluid) consistency. The water-based paints, when combined with silicone oil, react to create beautiful, often awe-inspiring, “cells.” As the paints run amok and spill across your canvas, the possibilities are endless!
In this workshop, local artist Brooke Szweda will share her “secret recipe” for creating the perfect fluid art paint mixture, and you’ll use it to do several different acrylic pours—including a couple of more advanced options. You’ll practice the techniques, making multiple 8” x 10” abstract paintings, and you’ll learn how to finish your painting with an acrylic coating.
This class is great for people who have never created fluid art, but it also gives “frequent flyers” opportunities to try new paint mixtures and pouring methods and continue experimenting with color!
DYSTOPIA WORKSHOP
Presented by Ripley Improv
Learn how to improvise narrative through the lens of genre! Ripley Improv will pull back the curtain and reveal the tropes, themes, and characters that make an improvised play a YA Dystopia. You’ll monologue, you’ll fight, you’ll fall in love, and, in the end, you’ll know how to construct a complete show. After you attend the workshop, be sure to get a ticket to the show. Ripley will be drawing an attendee’s name from a hat. The winner will be one of the tributes to perform in Saturday’s DYSTOPIA show.
About Ripley Improv:
Ripley is an all-female and nonbinary, genderqueer improv collective that creates stories about people who save the day, save the world, and save each other.
Their mission: To awaken bravery, embrace weird, and cultivate play.
March 11, 2023
Saturday at 11am
Raymond McAnally will lead a virtual writing workshop titled “Using Acting Techniques to Write Clear Characters.”
Have you ever had trouble differentiating one character’s voice or reactions from another on the page? Do characters with strong or surprising points of view seem to evade you? Then spend a workshop with writer/actor Raymond McAnally to learn how he uses his experience as an actor to write new characters and find the decisions and actions that draw us to them.
This workshop is open to writers of all skill levels and is a fun way to find inspiration from a new prompt or revise current work. It is hosted by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara and will use Microsoft Teams for the virtual connection. A link will be emailed to participants the day before the workshop.
Raymond McAnally is an award-winning actor, a produced writer, and university lecturer. Television acting credits include a supporting lead role in Black Mirror: San Junipero, winner of the 2017 Emmy for Best TV Movie; Guest starring roles on Better Call Saul, Modern Family, Chicago Fire, Rizzoli & Isles, Law & Order SVU, Royal Pains, and 30 Rock; as well as roles on Boardwalk Empire, Nurse Jackie, Mozart in the Jungle, among others. He has film credits too numerous to mention here.
As a playwright, Raymond’s full-length solo-play, “Size Matters,” received its world premiere at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati in May of 2014. Directed by Tony Award-winning former Cincinnati Playhouse Artistic Director Ed Stern, the show ran for three weeks; garnering outstanding reviews, standing ovations, and sold-out performances. The show was filmed before a live audience in 2015 and is now a comedy special available for streaming on Amazon Prime. Raymond’s short plays, “The Odd Ball” and “Homeland”, have been produced at festivals on both coasts and his short play, “The Next”, will be published the Winter of 2019 in an anthology by New World Theatre. In 2018, Raymond completed a playwriting fellowship with New World Theatre in Concord, New Hampshire. In 2019, Raymond’s full-length play “The Cruelty of Children” was a semi-finalist at the O’Neill Center. From 2010 to 2014, Raymond was the head content writer for the online production company Daily Fiber Films, which produced and distributed over sixty online comedy shorts, written by Raymond, and featured by FunnyOrDie.com, Fullscreen, CNN, New Media Rockstars, and The Food Network. His short comedies also screened at festivals from coast to coast and earned “Best of the Fest” awards at L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival and the New York Friar’s Club. In 2017, Raymond’s independent pilot “DPW” was filmed on location in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Raymond is currently a part-time lecturer for the Rutgers Arts Online department, Mason Gross School of the Arts. He has been a lecturer at universities and guest artist at professional training programs since 2005. He holds an MFA in Acting from MGSA, Rutgers University and a BA in Philosophy from Sewanee.
Gelli printing is an easy, innovative way to create vibrant, one-of-a-kind monoprints. The results are striking, and all you need is a gelli plate, acrylic paint, and some kind of substrate (paper, fabric, etc.). In this fun, hands-on workshop, paper artist Kristen Grady will teach you everything you need to get started with this super versatile process.
Among other techniques, you’ll learn how to build multiple layers of design, create textures and an “old wall” look, and add stenciling and shimmer to your prints. Kristen will also teach you how to create two-sided prints, work with multiple prints at the same time, create a theme for your prints, use thick and thin paints in different ways, and find your color palette.
There will be plenty of time to practice each technique, and you’ll complete at least four, two-sided prints. You’ll also leave with plenty of ideas on how to use your finished prints, including incorporating them into junk journals, and how to care for and store your gelli plate, which will be yours to keep—a $25 value!
Craig LeHoullier, author of Epic Tomatoes and Growing Vegetables in Strawbales, and a 40 year gardener with an expertise in heirloom tomatoes, moved to Hendersonville with his wife, Susan in January 2020 – then COVID hit, closing down his workshop agenda. Craig and Al met for coffee and the idea of providing workshops at the Veterans Healing Farm quickly took shape. At this event, Craig will tell some garden stories and provide some sneak peaks at four programs that will take place in the coming months. He will have plenty of time for questions, share some garden seeds, and his books will be available to flip through; signed copies will be available to purchase.
Are you a female-identifying music student?
You’re invited to…
JAZZGIRLS DAY
Saturday, April 1 at 3 PM
A conversation with professional Jazz musicians and other student musicians from Durham, NC!
The event features special guest trumpeter/composer Arnetta Johnson and bassist Dr. Natalie Boeyink, Lydia Dudley, Serena Wiley, Jasmine Best, Shaena Ryan Martin and Dr. Lenora Helm Hammonds.
This event is free to Student Musicians!
We hope that you’ll come and bring a friend!
Hosted in Conjunction with the Tribe Jazz Orchestra, North Carolina Central University, Jazz Education Network North Carolina, the Arts Council of Henderson County, the North Carolina Arts Council, SouthArts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Join other veterans for this series of writing classes led by NC Veterans Writing Alliance Writer in Residence Elizabeth Heaney, author of the book The Honor Was Mine. To sign up, please e-mail Ron Toler at [email protected]. |
Class cost: $180
Min students: 7 Max students: 14
Class Dates: Wednesdays, April 5-May 24 (8 weeks)
Time: 6:30 to 8:30
Location: Whitmire Activity Center, 310 Lily Pond Dr, Hendersonville, NC 28739
The last class will include a showcase of student’s work which will be open to the publicMust be 18+ to attend
The last day to receive a full refund is March 5, 2023. After March 5, 2023, no refund will be issued.
More than 2 missed classes will result in automatic withdrawal, with no credit issued.
Class Description:
Emily’s teaching motto is “growth only happens when you are willing to step outside your comfort zone.” In this class, we are working at getting comfortable onstage and stepping into bravery while having fun doing it. We will be learning to have compassion for ourselves and our classmates as performers as we learn the fundamentals of improvisation and develop support and spontaneity. Together, we will learn the importance of “yes and-ing,” heightening the absurdity, and raising the stakes. We will also cover the differences between short form and long form improv. This is a short form class. (Think: “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”)
About the Teacher
Emily Swindal lived in New York City for 8 years as an actor and improv comedian and relocated to Hendersonville during the pandemic. Emily has studied and performed improv and sketch comedy writing at NYC’s Magnet Theater and Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre NY. Emily has performed with an assortment of improv teams. Some of her past instructors include Elana Fishbein, Peter McNerney, Ross Taylor, Michael Lutton, and Nicole Drespel. She has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Shenandoah Conservatory. Emily can’t wait to meet you.
This 2-Day class is the first in our Financial Series.
Financial Tools will introduce you to the basic financial management principles that all small business owners should know. Participants will walk away with the tools to understand the basics of business finance so they can make informed decisions on how to organize and manage their business finances. Topics discussed are record keeping; bookkeeping; accounting; creating, understanding and using financial statements and reports.
Class will be held virtually via videoconferencing platform, and be held over two sessions in two weeks, for a total of 5 hours of training.
This is a virtual class that will take place via Zoom. Videoconferencing details will be sent upon registration. Please email [email protected] with any questions or concerns.
We recommend following up the Financial Tools Class with the Intro to QuickBooks Online class. Take advantage of a Financial Series Pass to attend both Financial Tools and QuickBooks Online for a discount.
Come out and bring the family on Saturday, April 15th, to The WNC Agricultural Center for the Farm Where You Live Homesteading Fair.
We are honored to be hosting Joel Salatin, from Polyface Farms in Swoope, Virginia. You will enjoy his insightful seminars or come visit him at his booth and snap a picture!
Take advantage of our farmers market area with fresh, local, farm products or browse our rows of local artisans selling their crafts in our market.
Our kid-sized homesteaders will enjoy the fun with face painting, workshops, and classes just for them. We know they will enjoy the live demonstrations happening from local farmers and homesteaders.
Admission is $5 online and $10 at the gate. Free for ages 10 and under. The Event is from 8AM to 7 PM.
It’s going to be a “Barn Burner”! Y’all come!
for veterans and their spouses
Mock interview, tips from employers. This workshop provides you with the unique opportunity to meet live with a panel of employers for candid conversation about the best ad worst practices with resumes and interviews.
This 2-Day class is the first in our Financial Series.
Financial Tools will introduce you to the basic financial management principles that all small business owners should know. Participants will walk away with the tools to understand the basics of business finance so they can make informed decisions on how to organize and manage their business finances. Topics discussed are record keeping; bookkeeping; accounting; creating, understanding and using financial statements and reports.
Class will be held virtually via videoconferencing platform, and be held over two sessions in two weeks, for a total of 5 hours of training.
This is a virtual class that will take place via Zoom. Videoconferencing details will be sent upon registration. Please email [email protected] with any questions or concerns.
We recommend following up the Financial Tools Class with the Intro to QuickBooks Online class. Take advantage of a Financial Series Pass to attend both Financial Tools and QuickBooks Online for a discount.
Ever wanted to try stand up comedy? Have you been going to the open mics and looking for advice to get to the next level? Or maybe just looking for other femme and queer friends interested in comedy.
Come out to Catawba Brewing South Slope on Sunday 4/23 for a one day workshop let by Erin Terry of Eyes Up Here Comedy, Marlene Thompson (Asheville) and Shelley Gruenberg (Atlanta)
Open to all femme and non-binary identifying people and all comedy levels
ages 18+
Signup $40* and includes ticket to the 6pm comedy show at Catawba Brewing
*sliding scale available
In August of 2022 the President of the United States signed into law the PACT Act, the most sweeping legislation in regards to Veteran benefits in three plus decades. This legislation will provide healthcare and disability benefits to hundreds of thousands of Veterans who served in hostile locations across the globe. It is a new law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances and adds to the list of health conditions that are presumed to be caused by exposure to these substances.
On April 1, 2023, multiple veterans affairs groups organized a town hall at the A-B Tech Conference Center to help veterans in WNC. Charles George VA partnered with Vietnam Veterans of America and the North Carolina State Council to host a Toxic Exposure/PACT Act Veterans Town Hall. At the event, veterans received assistance with signing up for healthcare benefits, filing disability claims, and completing toxic exposure screenings.
According to the VA website, the PACT Act will bring these changes:
- Expands and extends eligibility for VA health care for Veterans with toxic exposures and Veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras
- Adds 20+ more presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures
- Adds more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation
- Requires VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every Veteran enrolled in VA health care
The PACT Act also includes benefits for surviving family members of a Veteran including a monthly VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (VA DIC) payment, a one-time accrued benefits payment, or a survivors pension. More information on the PACT Act can be found here.
Buncombe County residents who think that they could be eligible for the PACT Act should contact the Buncombe County Veterans Service Office (VSO). Buncombe County Veterans Services Supervisor, Heath Smith, gave a presentation about the PACT Act at the town hall event. Navigating benefits eligibility can be a challenge which is why Smith encourages people to contact their local VSO. Smith says, “If you think that a health condition is due to your time in service, get in touch with your local Veterans Service Office and they will guide you through the benefits that you might be entitled to. We encourage people to contact a Veterans Service Officer to learn more about this new legislation.”
In Buncombe County, Veterans Service Officers can be reached by calling (828) 250-5726. Our Veterans Services team will be happy to assist you with questions you might have about the PACT Act and other benefits that you and your relatives could qualify for.
Click here to watch the video of Heath Smith’s presentation at the Town Hall.
In August of 2022 the President of the United States signed into law the PACT Act, the most sweeping legislation in regards to Veteran benefits in three plus decades. This legislation will provide healthcare and disability benefits to hundreds of thousands of Veterans who served in hostile locations across the globe. It is a new law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances and adds to the list of health conditions that are presumed to be caused by exposure to these substances.
On April 1, 2023, multiple veterans affairs groups organized a town hall at the A-B Tech Conference Center to help veterans in WNC. Charles George VA partnered with Vietnam Veterans of America and the North Carolina State Council to host a Toxic Exposure/PACT Act Veterans Town Hall. At the event, veterans received assistance with signing up for healthcare benefits, filing disability claims, and completing toxic exposure screenings.
According to the VA website, the PACT Act will bring these changes:
- Expands and extends eligibility for VA health care for Veterans with toxic exposures and Veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras
- Adds 20+ more presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures
- Adds more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation
- Requires VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every Veteran enrolled in VA health care
The PACT Act also includes benefits for surviving family members of a Veteran including a monthly VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (VA DIC) payment, a one-time accrued benefits payment, or a survivors pension. More information on the PACT Act can be found here.
Buncombe County residents who think that they could be eligible for the PACT Act should contact the Buncombe County Veterans Service Office (VSO). Buncombe County Veterans Services Supervisor, Heath Smith, gave a presentation about the PACT Act at the town hall event. Navigating benefits eligibility can be a challenge which is why Smith encourages people to contact their local VSO. Smith says, “If you think that a health condition is due to your time in service, get in touch with your local Veterans Service Office and they will guide you through the benefits that you might be entitled to. We encourage people to contact a Veterans Service Officer to learn more about this new legislation.”
In Buncombe County, Veterans Service Officers can be reached by calling (828) 250-5726. Our Veterans Services team will be happy to assist you with questions you might have about the PACT Act and other benefits that you and your relatives could qualify for.
Click here to watch the video of Heath Smith’s presentation at the Town Hall.
In August of 2022 the President of the United States signed into law the PACT Act, the most sweeping legislation in regards to Veteran benefits in three plus decades. This legislation will provide healthcare and disability benefits to hundreds of thousands of Veterans who served in hostile locations across the globe. It is a new law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances and adds to the list of health conditions that are presumed to be caused by exposure to these substances.
On April 1, 2023, multiple veterans affairs groups organized a town hall at the A-B Tech Conference Center to help veterans in WNC. Charles George VA partnered with Vietnam Veterans of America and the North Carolina State Council to host a Toxic Exposure/PACT Act Veterans Town Hall. At the event, veterans received assistance with signing up for healthcare benefits, filing disability claims, and completing toxic exposure screenings.
According to the VA website, the PACT Act will bring these changes:
- Expands and extends eligibility for VA health care for Veterans with toxic exposures and Veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras
- Adds 20+ more presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures
- Adds more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation
- Requires VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every Veteran enrolled in VA health care
The PACT Act also includes benefits for surviving family members of a Veteran including a monthly VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (VA DIC) payment, a one-time accrued benefits payment, or a survivors pension. More information on the PACT Act can be found here.
Buncombe County residents who think that they could be eligible for the PACT Act should contact the Buncombe County Veterans Service Office (VSO). Buncombe County Veterans Services Supervisor, Heath Smith, gave a presentation about the PACT Act at the town hall event. Navigating benefits eligibility can be a challenge which is why Smith encourages people to contact their local VSO. Smith says, “If you think that a health condition is due to your time in service, get in touch with your local Veterans Service Office and they will guide you through the benefits that you might be entitled to. We encourage people to contact a Veterans Service Officer to learn more about this new legislation.”
In Buncombe County, Veterans Service Officers can be reached by calling (828) 250-5726. Our Veterans Services team will be happy to assist you with questions you might have about the PACT Act and other benefits that you and your relatives could qualify for.
Click here to watch the video of Heath Smith’s presentation at the Town Hall.