Like so many in our city the journalists in the Asheville Blade co-op have faced serious struggles in the aftermath of Helene. We’ve still done incredible work this year. We need your help to keep doing it.
Above: Graphic by Matilda Bliss
Like many groups in our city, the Asheville Blade has faced serious struggles after Helene, long after the cameras left. We’re a journalism co-op of working class trans folks. It has, to put it mildly, not been an easy year.
Amid exhaustion, poverty, illness and trauma we’ve still done incredible work. We told the story of utility workers striking post-Helene when an exploitative company refused to pay them, covered pro-immigrant demonstrations, reminded locals our city is worth fighting for, investigated a corrupt cover-up at the highest levels of the police department and analyzed how city government was making everything worse to appease the wealthy.
We’ve also expanded our social media coverage, including on our Patreon. We collaborated with the Asheville Community News program on Asheville FM to launch the A Word About Our City radio essays and alerted the public about the ongoing risks of covid. We recently launched a series contradicting the myths of a recovered city with a strong dose of reality.
But all this still remains a serious challenge, given both the hardship we’ve endured as well as many of our working class supporters being forced out of the city in the storm’s aftermath. All this at a time when the people of our city need independent journalism — not stenography for the powerful, not yet more tourism industry marketing — more than ever.
So we’re asking for your help to make sure the Blade survives — and expands — in 2026.
We’ve set up a fundraiser, and welcome support there. Any amount, even just sharing it, helps.
We’re also trying to gain subscribers, the readers whose ongoing monthly support is the foundation of how we can keep informing the public. If you’d like to subscribe, you can sign up here. Anything, even just a few bucks, helps.
If you can spare $15 a month, we’ll send you one of our lovely “Gentry Tears” mugs along with the sticker and thank you letter all our subscribers get.
Next year the Blade will mark our 12th anniversary. Despite numerous obstacles and hardships, we are still here. We intend to be here, informing the public, for many years to come.
We are deeply thankful for the support of our readers, our communities, who make all of this possible. Whatever happens, we will do our best to bring the truth to you. This is a city worth fighting for, and that is a powerful thing indeed.
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The Asheville Blade is entirely funded by our readers. If you like what we do, donate directly to us on Patreon or make a one-time gift to support our work. Questions? Comments? Email us.