Buncombe Expands Mortgage Help, Ecusta Trail Funding & More

Episode transcript

Maggie: This is Good News Asheville, your daily dose of good, for Friday, October 9, 2026.

Ben: Hey there, Asheville. I'm Ben.

Maggie: And I'm Maggie. We're so glad you're here with us.

Ben: Good News Asheville is made possible by Dylan Lennon, Realtor with Unique: A Real Estate Collective, helping neighbors buy and sell homes all across Western North Carolina.

Maggie: First up, Buncombe County is expanding its emergency housing help. Homeowners facing foreclosure can now apply for up to twenty-five hundred dollars in mortgage assistance.

Ben: It's a wonderful way to help neighbors stay in their homes.

Maggie: And the Asheville Symphony is stepping up for young musicians. Their new program, PLAY, will cover up to seventy-five percent of private lesson costs for string students affected by school budget cuts.

Ben: Oh, I love that. Over in Black Mountain, three hundred thirty-six acres of beautiful ridgeline and forest at Camp Rockmont are now permanently protected, thanks to a new conservation easement.

Maggie: That's huge for our local waters and wildlife. Now, let's get into our microdoses of good news from around the mountains.

Ben: Funding is officially fully in place to build the eight-mile Transylvania County section of the Ecusta Trail.

Maggie: In Waynesville, Haywood Waterways is starting repairs on a mile-long stretch of Richland Creek.

Ben: Five local food and beverage founders will pitch their businesses at Mountain BizWorks' annual Mountain Raise event on November fifth.

Maggie: In Woodfin, manufacturer IPEX is donating five hundred thousand dollars to MountainTrue to clean up plastic debris from the French Broad River.

Ben: Musician Rhiannon Giddens has been named the Fall twenty twenty-six J.R. McDowell speaker for the Transylvania County Library Foundation.

Maggie: Resources for Resilience is hosting a workshop in Canton to help community leaders manage recovery stress.

Ben: And Blue Ridge Public Radio's climate reporter, Katie Myers, won a global award for her incredible local coverage.

Maggie: That's it for today. Get your daily dose of good in your inbox by subscribing to our free newsletter at good news asheville dot com.

Ben: Have a beautiful weekend, neighbors.

Adapted from Good News Asheville - October 9, 2026 - Issue #141.