Brian Goldstone
If you’ve lived on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau, or in the communities surrounding it for more than three days, you know one hard truth about life in Western North Carolina: affordable housing has become one of the region’s most urgent challenges.
Rising rents, limited supply, and Hurricane Helene’s destruction have made it harder for working families, older adults, and neighbors recovering from disaster to find safe, stable housing. This fall, Pisgah Legal Services will bring that conversation to the center of the region through its 15th Annual Justice Forum.
On Thursday, October 22, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist Brian Goldstone will serve as keynote speaker for the free public event at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville. The program begins at 7:00 P.M., and registration is required.
Goldstone’s reporting focuses on housing insecurity, poverty, and economic inequality. His book, There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, examines people who work yet remain without permanent housing.
Goldstone earned his Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Duke University and was a Mellon Research Fellow at Columbia University. There Is No Place for Us won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2025 by The New York Times and The Atlantic.
In addition to the Asheville program, Pisgah Legal will offer a livestream and free regional watch parties in Brevard, Burnsville, Cullowhee, and Hendersonville. All regional gatherings begin at 6:30 P.M., giving residents across Western North Carolina a chance to take part closer to home.
Watch party locations include Unitarian Universalists of Transylvania County in Brevard, Higgins United Methodist Church in Burnsville, Western Carolina University’s University Center Theater in Cullowhee, and Trinity Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville.
A ticketed pre-event reception will be held in the Harrah’s Cherokee Center Banquet Hall before the Asheville forum. Reception tickets are $125 per person and include food and drink. Advance registration is required for both the reception and the free Justice Forum program at pisgahlegal.org/justiceforum.
Pisgah Legal Services provides free civil legal aid, anti-poverty advocacy, and access-to-health-care assistance across 18 Western North Carolina counties. Last year, the nonprofit served more than 25,000 people, many recovering from Hurricane Helene.
For more information about the Justice Forum, contact Lori Nierzwick at (828) 818-5474 or visit pisgahlegal.org/justiceforum.
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