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Lady Gloria Ridge Community
We are so excited to share the naming of Haywood Street Community Development's first apartments: Lady Gloria Ridge Community! Named in honor of Gloria Howard Free, an activist and inspiring leader from the WECAN community. Free helped found the Goombay Festival in 1982 "to celebrate the richness and diversity of the African diaspora, a showcase of black culture, art, food, and entertainment" (Honosky). Free's daughter, Sherri Free, has shared with us of Free's loving and uplifting presence that she offers to all she meets and stated that the building was a "legacy that will honor her gifts that she brought to this community and to life. It will stand there, representing who she is."
As construction continues, please visit our website or site for updates. In name, Lady Gloria Ridge Community, is given a foundation to embody our hope: Dignity through dwellings, connection through community.
Please read more and share about the Lady Gloria Ridge Community through this article written by Sarah Honosky in the Asheville Citizen Times.
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RISE - Race: An In-Depth Spiritual Examination
"In order to see where we are going, we not only must remember where we have been, but we must understand where we have been." - Ella Baker
Staff, HSC, and HSCD Board members joined together last month to participate in the RISE! Workshop led by Little Tree. RISE! defines it's purpose as "equipping and supporting spiritual leaders, faith-based organizations, ... to recognize and challenge racism."
Sharing vulnerably with one another, we learned, redefined, and listened. This workshop "designed... to analyze and understand the legacy of racism and race in the United States" gave us an advantage of a "shared common language" to collectively be critical lovers of our efforts at HSC and HSCD. We are eager to continue working to understand the impact of the history of racism in our country, the church, medical care, and housing. Knowing this is long term work, we look forward to reimagining what is possible when creating through a lens of anti-racism!
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Art Room Supplies Request
Art in The Alley has been up and running for six months now! The Bleu Room is open every Wednesday from 10am-1pm as an oasis for all amid the hustle and bustle of Welcome Table. Our art room is as much about being a safe space for connection and relaxation as it is for creating.
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The Art Ministry is moving forward to include more of Haywood Street in art, from Respite to beautifying the campus. To achieve this expansion we could use help! The outpouring of donations at the outset of our program was remarkable, and hopefully there are some more folks willing to contribute to the effort.
Our chief needs include: stretched canvases larger than 8 x 10”, frames/framing materials of all sizes, gel pens (to stock the room and small sets that can be given away), sketch pads and bound journals (all kinds/sizes to stock the room and small versions that can be given away), paint pens, large format adult coloring books, 4x6 inkjet photo paper (letter-sized accepted too), scrap plywood panels, spray paint, alcohol ink markers, crafting supplies, crocheting/knitting tools, fishing line.
Any materials are always welcome in addition to what is detailed on this list. Donations can be delivered straight to the Bleu Room and left on one of the tables in the art area. Inquiries of any sort can be directed to hankfuseler@gmail.com.
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Companion Orientation Monday March 3rd at 5:00
The next companion orientation will be Monday March 3rd at 5:00. We'll meet in the sanctuary. Please invite your friends and family to join if they are interested in becoming a companion!
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Haywood Street Highlights | We had a lovely first gathering for our book club this week discussing the book: Tattoos on the Heart by Father Greg Boyle. The Bleu Room is in full swing with so many mediums of art being represented and expressed. |
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Weekly Ministry Opportunities:
Tuesday Haywood Street Holy Ground Keepers: 9:00 a.m. in the parking lot, weather permitting. Walk the grounds of the church campus and our local neighborhood, cleaning up along the way.
Tuesday Prayer Group: 12:30 p.m. in Room 6. Gather for a time of communal prayer.
Tuesday Book Club: Join us at 1:00 pm in the Sanctuary!
Wednesday Downtown Welcome Table: Join us for lunch between 10:00-1:00 or help with kitchen and dining room clean-up from 1:00-3:00. Sign up here!
Art Ministry: Join us in the Bleu Room on Wednesdays from 10:30 to 1:00 to make art in community! Please encourage people to access via the stairs in the sanctuary.
Story Circle: For a time of listening, sharing, and being heard, come to Room 4 on Wednesdays between 9:00 -10:00 a.m.!
Wednesday Worship: 12:30 p.m. in the sanctuary.
Praying in Color:
Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. in the Respite Kitchen with Doug and Brother John. Come color and pray for Respite!
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Weekly Sermons
Read the weekly sermons on our website here.
~Preaching Schedule~
February 12th:
Pastor Seth
February 19th:
Patrick N.
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Fresco Viewing Hours:
Monday - Thursday, 10 am - 2 pm (with the exception of during our worship service, which is 12:30 pm every Wednesday).
Contact April if you would like to make an appointment to see the Fresco outside of those hours.
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Absurd Generosity
By Pastor Brian Combs
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“Too suspect,” they said about our vision for urban ministry. “Won’t work. You can’t do church alongside congregants grappling with mental illness and addiction. Similar faith-based agencies already exist. The demographic studies don’t justify the risk. Therefore, we’ve rescinded the promised funding to start a new congregation.” At our inception, the resistance was entrenched, especially from clergy types.
Except for Rev. Dr. Rob Blackburn. He was (and is) the preaching standard, a revered pulpiteer, and the tenured pastor at Central United Methodist. We met under the grand Elm trees on Church St., two strangers with no shared history but a mutual longing to widen the circle of fellowship. Over lunch, despite every rational reason to the contrary, he offered up Central, without fine print, for the cause.
In 2009, Haywood St. had no money, so Central added a generous line item to its mission budget. Haywood St. had no lay leadership, so Central populated our nascent committees. Haywood St. had no staff, so Central sent mentors to guide our earliest decisions. Haywood St. had no gathering place, so Central loaned the keys to a building ideally situated in the homeless corridor.
In the fifteen years since - including the advent of Wednesday worship, founding The Welcome Table, landscaping the backyard, repurposing the north wing for Respite, adding solar power to the roof, painting the Fresco, transforming a storage room into the salon, partnering with the Community Paramedics, and converting the basement into an art studio - Central has remained absurdly generous.
Not done, Central gifted the property in an act of pure grace. On January 10, 2025, despite owning a multimillion-dollar downtown property, Central transferred the deed to Haywood St. To all the faithful members and steadfast staff at our sister congregation, thank you. THANK YOU! Our entire existence is dependent on your belief in God’s suspect vision for church done differently.
Your founding pastor,
Rev. Brian Combs
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A witness to include the most excluded, Haywood Street not only welcomes every child of God–especially beloved siblings of every mental illness and physical disability, addiction and diagnosis, living condition and employment status, gender identity and sexual orientation, class, color, and creed–but we celebrate your presence, certain that the kingdom of God is coming closer because you are here. | | | | |
