Highlands Circle: Emerging Leaders Giving Back
You read that blog title right. Since January of 2014, Monika, our team mate and friend, handled more than 20,000 INCOMING phone calls in her role as an information and referral specialist for NC 2-1-1. When we specify "incoming" that means that these are just the calls that came into our call center, what it doesn't include are the thousands and thousands of calls that she made on behalf of those people in our community.
Our partners at Owen Middle School are holding their annual Holiday Craft Fair which features local artists and supports the middle school itself. It's a win/win for you, local artists and local kids. Check it out!
Event Date: December 9th, 2017
Event Time: 10am - 4pm
Event Location: 730 Old Us 70, Swannanoa, NC 28778

During this season of Thanksgiving, we would like to thank our donors, volunteers and partners for all they do to improve the lives of individuals living in our communities. It has been our good fortune and pleasure to work with you all over the past year and we look forward to partnering with each of you in the future.
A story from Homeward Bound's newsletter:

Wesley’s mother Tammy got pregnant at 16 and was totally unprepared to be a parent. His father was an alcoholic and not present for most of Wesley’s life. Tammy loved her son and took on the role of both mom and dad as best she could, but it was really hard.
Over the past 15 years or so I've been a sporadic, yet regular client of OnTrack Financial Education.
How do you decide which came first; the chicken or the egg? I’ve had multiple opportunities to debate with people in Buncombe County about which is more important to a successful life; one’s education, income or health. There are very impassioned and energetic views on all sides.
There are predictors that link these three areas: Likelihood of graduating from high school goes up with higher family income; Parents’ education level indicates children’s education level; Poor health or poor access to health care can lead to poor performance in school.