The Hope Bus in Asheville, North Carolina: Funding Counseling Sessions for Food and Beverage Workers throughout the City

Source: WLOS

Outside of Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ in the South Slope of Asheville, North Carolina, you will find a bus. This is the Hope Bus. 

The Hope bus is one of the initiatives of Linked4Life. Its mission is to spread awareness around mental health and collect funds to provide free counseling services to food and beverage workers in the city.  Linked4Life’s goal is to be able to give six free counseling sessions to each worker who reaches out.

All Souls Counseling Center has partnered with Linked4Life to make this happen. This local nonprofit is based in Asheville and provides therapy sessions on a sliding scale to adults. 

Since July 4th, the Hope Bus has been open from 12pm to 8pm daily.

For $6 dollars, visitors can make a donation and receive a pair of Linked4Life blue carabiners, which signifies the power of being connected to another human being. 

Cheryl Anotnicic, co-founder of Bear’s Smokehouse and founder of the Linked4Life Foundation, told ABC 13 News, “We need to break the stigma of mental health and send a clear message to those who need it most that they are not alone […] Being in the food and beverage industry, we know how impactful this initiative will be to our entire Asheville community.”

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If you would like to support this initiative, make your way to the Hope Bus that is in front of Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ in Downtown Asheville.

Can’t make it to Asheville but want to still support this initiative? Visit the Linked4Life website and make a donation.