Celebrating Black History in Asheville

Saturday, February 22 - Black Legacy Awards 2025

Celebrate excellence at the Black Legacy Awards 2025! Honoring leaders, innovators & heroes shaping our community.

Asheville Black Cultural ‍Heritage Trail Learn how Black people from all backgrounds built resilient communities and fostered social change in Asheville. Find out more about the Black Cultural Trail here >

Asheville Black Cultural ‍Heritage Trail

Learn how Black people from all backgrounds built resilient communities and fostered social change in Asheville.

The YMICC’s mission is to empower the Black community to celebrate its rich cultural heritage through programs that preserve and promote African American arts and traditions with a commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.  

Hood Huggers International

Rebuilding Affrilachia Through Art, Environment and Social Enterprise

Tours exploring Asheville's past, present, and future through the lens of African American history.

January Cafe Update!

In January of this year …

  • Around 3,300 total meals were served at 12 Baskets Cafe.

  • That’s an average of 825 meals a week!

  • 26 out of the 31 days in the month we served hot meals to the community.

  • Our free store gave out close to 900 bags of groceries.

  • We rescued around 16,000 pounds of food from restaurants and grocery stores.


In comparison to  January of 2024…

  • We served meals on Monday/Thursday and grocery boxes on Tuesday/Friday for a total of 18 open days in the month.

  • 1000 hot meals were served and 850 boxes of groceries were given out.

  • A total of 2,000 meals/groceries were given to the community last January. Thats around 400 per week.

  • We rescued around 10,000 pounds of food from restaurants and grocery stores.

Updates to the Strategic Plan for 2025-2028

Our board has been working on our 2025-2028 Strategic Plan. Below is the mission, vision, guiding principles, and strategic directions voted on by the board. The FULL strategic plan, with specific goals, outcomes, staff and board assignments, and deadlines, should be released next month!

VISION: A beloved community that celebrates mutuality, abundance, and equity.

MISSION: To build community and educate about the realities of poverty.

Westival Raffle Tickets

Buy your Westival raffle tickets today! Will you be one of the lucky winners? Click on each basket to find out more about what you can win!

**You do not have to be present to win. Tickets $5.00 each. 100% of the money raised will go toward 12 Baskets and the work of creating community and building economic justice.

Community Spotlight: Abby from The WANDER School

We have seen so lucky to have Abby from The WANDER School and The Wandering Wellness Clinic joining us to offer FREE herbal remedies to our community at 12 Baskets Cafe.

“In 2020, The WANDER School became a 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization with the mission to connect underserved communities in need (such as Indigenous, Black, Queer, and Appalachian) to medicinal herbs.

Over the past decade, Abby has learned and taught that much of what we know about herbs and their benefits, here in the US, came directly from Indigenous and Black people. However, overdevelopment and structural inequities in land ownership prevent those same cultures from benefiting from nature’s harvest.”

You can donate to their mission here.

Abby will be back in TWO WEEKS, follow @thewanderschool on social media for more updates.

12 Baskets Cafe needs your help!

In a month 12 Baskets Cafe rescues over 15,000 pounds of food for our community cafe at 610 Haywood Rd. We are in need of food pick-up volunteers for restaurants like Cooper Riis, Mela, Christ School, and Bounty & Soul as well as grocery stores like Whole Foods and Earth Fare.

Link in our stories to sign up to pick up or email us at contact@ashevillepovertyinitiative.org

Introducing BRUNCH!

12 Baskets is open for Brunch!

Join us on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 10 am to 12 pm for weekend brunch. Coffee starts at 9 am, bring your neighbors, games, and appetite.

As always the food is free but we welcome donations of any kind. See you then!

In remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we share the following quote, "I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits." Part of his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, this award was given "for his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the Afro-American population." Read/watch the speech here. It is important to have compassion for one another. We are all human beings who deserve love, respect, and safety.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: Tech-Tuesday with Jensen

Since it's a new year and we are restarting Tech Tuesday today, we thought it would be a good time to reintroduce you to Jensen Gelfond. Jensen is the founder of Asheville Digital Lifestyle and a committed member of the 12 Baskets community with his wife Beth.

About a year ago Jensen and his co-facilitator Jamilah Dixon were looking for a place to have their monthly Community Forum meeting and came across our space which had newly been opened up to community group hosting after hours. After that Jensen realized just how special the space and the people within were. Wanting to get more involved, Jensen began volunteering at the cafe during lunch, serving tables and talking to patrons. He noticed the need for tech help quickly and stepped up suggesting a twice monthly Tech-Tuesday. This soon evolved to him bringing technology assistance to 12 Baskets Cafe every Tuesday during lunch (from 11 am to 1 pm).

A natural at engaging with others in person, Jensen likes to think, people need information, and he is trying to meet that need. He feels he gets to know a wider cross-section of neighbors by coming to the cafe weekly as "the tech guy." Due to his reliable and relaxed presence, he has been able to help a segment of people who are not normally able to get tech help because they don't have the resources or they just get nervous asking for help. When asked about an example of a time he felt he made an impact, Jensen described a time when he was able to help someone get their voting information ensuring they could vote in the upcoming election. It was clear that an impact had been made on him just as much.

In true 12 Baskets style, we HAD to ask Jensen about his favorite food, "what's coming to mind is mom's mac and cheese." Thank you so much to Jensen for all he has and will do for our community. We can't do what we do without people like you.

Help at 12 Baskets Cafe

There are several ways you can help community cafe from food pick ups, to serving, to community outreach. If you are able, we invite you to our orientation for new volunteers every Thursday morning at 10 am in the cafe (610 Haywood Rd. Ste. B).

If you are interested in volunteering with us or learning more check out our website here or send an email our Cafe Manager Aaron at: aaron@ashevillepovertyinitiative.org

Last month 12 Baskets Cafe rescued over 12,000 pounds of food with around 60% off which was fresh produce! This week we are in need food pick-up volunteers. We also have lots of slots open in future weeks as well.

Click here to sign up for a food pick up!

Events!

Check out what’s happening at 12 Baskets Cafe and Garden by checking the EVENTS tab on our website.

If you are interested in volunteering with us or learning more send us an email our Cafe Manager Aaron at: aaron@ashevillepovertyinitiative.org

the intersection: A 12 Baskets Zine

the intersection: A 12 Baskets Zine

Our writing group, Moonlight Cheese Alliance, has now published three zines and they will all be on sale at Thursday’s Community Celebration! All zines are sliding scale price $7-14 and all funds will go back to the writing group’s efforts to publish an anthology.

The group meets every Friday at 1 pm in the 12 Baskets Garden.

@moonlight_cheese_alliance

✨ LIMITED RELEASE T-SHIRT ✨

We are excited to release our 2024 12 Baskets T-shirts designed by local artist Spence Beals as an ode to the resilience of our community!

We will be selling in person at our event at One World Brewing West (520 Haywood Rd) Thursday December 5th from 4-8 pm.

Pre-order open now! $25 to our Venmo or PayPal @ashevillepovertyinitiative with your size (S-XL), pick up at the event or cafe. All proceeds will go back into the 12 Baskets Cafe.

Get it before it's gone!

Westival Update!

We are excited to announce we have a new date for Westival! We will now be hosting our signature yearly event in the Spring of 2025. Please mark your calendar for March 15th from 4-8 pm at Archetype Brewery.

F.AQ.

What is the date/time of the event? NEW Date: March 15, 2025; SAME Time: 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Where will the event be? SAME Location: Archetype Brewery in West Asheville  

What do you need to do to claim my tickets/go to the event? NOTHING! We are hosting the same awesome party just on a different day. If you have a ticket you are good to go! You will get an email closer to the date with details on your ticket.

What if I can’t make the new date? Reply to this email and let us know if you want to donate your ticket to someone affected by the storm or if you want a refund.

Can I still buy a raffle ticket? YES! Same prizes and the same cost of $5, find them here for purchase. Proceeds from Westival raffle tickets will support the continued efforts of API’s mission to build community and promote economic justice.

Asheville Poverty Initiative would like to thank our sponsors, volunteers, and community partners for their continued support in making this event possible.

Thanks,

The Westival Team