October 2019 Update | Holding Space Asheville

Land Acknowledgment:
We acknowledge that this beautiful land that we call our home was forcibly vacated of its original and rightful caretakers, the Iswa (Catawba) and Gadua (Cherokee) people who have cared for it for millennia and, through resilience and persistence, despite generations of state-supported acts of removal and genocide,
continue to do so.

Holding Space

for Living and Dying

Our Mission

“Improve the quality of life and death for those with a terminal illness and their caregivers, by offering support to meet basic needs, connect to community, and create meaning.”

Our home is a model of co-housing where housemates share in non-medical, informal, and psychosocial support for fellow housemates with a terminal illness and their caregiver(s). This includes occasional shared meals, help with errands, trips and outings, help with basic tasks of daily living, and growing connections of friends and support networks. We also encourage others to explore this model for themselves and their communities by building and sharing knowledge, experience, and resources to make dying at home a safe and comfortable reality for those at the end of life who want it.

There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends who become family.
We are grateful to all of you for your interest and support as we venture down this path. In the newsletter that follows, you’ll discover what we’ve been up to this past month and learn about an exciting announcement!

Please join us this Wednesday, October 16th, from 6-9pm at our home at 34 Blue Ridge Avenue, Asheville. Bring a dish, a guest, but please leave pets at home. We welcome neighbors, friends, people interested in or involved with end of life work, and colleagues to come together to share a meal and strengthen connections. Meet new people; expand and deepen your community.

(While there are a few parking spaces right next to the house, please reserve this for people needing to park close. Please do not park on the grass – there are fig trees planted there. There is a Baptist Church on the corner of the next street over, Mitchell Ave, and Haywood Road, that has a large parking lot. The house itself has a ramp that can be used by people who use a wheelchair to get into the main floor of the house, where all activity of the potluck will take place.)

*Please note that, due to the news that follows, a photographer will be present at the potluck, capturing candid photos. If you wish not to have your photo taken, please find the photographer and express your wishes to her directly.

Eve and Yvette’s dear friend, Joy, came to visit from Ithaca during the week of our last potluck. Those of you in attendance may have met her. Some sweet times were shared while catching up. We made a day trip to Greenville, SC to try out another Puerto Rican restaurant. We picnicked at Falls Park, strolled around the gardens, and enjoyed the unique beauty of downtown Greenville. In the wide shot of the falls below, you can spot us in the upper right corner on the cantilevered Liberty Bridge.

Yvette, Eve, and Erik ventured out to the annual Blue Ridge Pride in downtown Asheville (Gabriel was working night shift and missed out). They ran into our good friend Maggie who was in attendance with Haywood Street Congregation.
Maggie Purnell is a Hospice RN Specialist and Certified Sacred Passage Doula.

Our friends and neighbors continue to be a fundamental ingredient in the ongoing support of Holding Space. Treats, errands, and walks are a few of the ways we’ve received kindness. Knowing that self-care can seem inessential when consumed with caregiving, our friend Cathy pitches in to offer Eve a moment of repose and a long-awaited recolor. Please reach out if you have an interest in becoming involved in your own unique way.

Erik and Gabriel ventured out on our annual getaway in the Pisgah National Forest with a few friends. Rock-hopping a mile downstream revealed some incredible waterfalls that were previously unknown to us!

This is the view from our front porch this week as development progresses. We’re about to lose our visual connection to the comings and goings of the neighborhood.

Yvette isn’t the only one who enjoys cuddly blankets and afternoon naps in the sunroom!

And now, the big news!…

“Make a Mark is a 12-hour design and development marathon benefitting local humanitarian causes. This event brings together designers, developers, copywriters, and other creatives to create pro-bono work for deserving causes.”

Last month, Holding Space applied to be considered for this year’s Make a Mark Asheville event and WE WERE SELECTED! The project we proposed for the designers was the creation of a website where we can give clear information about who we are, how to become involved with us, and a format where we can keep everyone updated about our progress. Not only that, but they may also design a logo for us! This is especially exciting because we have also just become a registered Non-Profit with the State of North Carolina!

If this kind of thing excites you, we invite you to join us for the grand reveal! Following the 12-hour make-a-thon this Saturday, the design team will present their labor of love.

The presentations happen THIS Saturday, October 19th at 7pm at Hatch AVL.
The afterparty follows at 8 next door at the Hopey & Co. Taproom.
Hatch AVL
45 S French Broad Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801

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