McDowell Access to Care and Health

05/29/2026

🎉 Just ONE WEEK Away! 🎉

Join MATCH and Mission Ministries Alliance for our Community Resource Fair / Feria de Recursos at Thrifting With A Purpose Resale Store!

📅 Friday, June 5, 2026
⏰ 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
📍 1471 N Main St, Marion, NC

Come connect with over 20 community organizations offering resources, information, giveaways, and support for individuals and families throughout McDowell County.

✨ FREE $10 gift certificates to shop
🌭 FREE hot dogs
💊 FREE over-the-counter medications and personal hygiene items
🎁 Giveaways and community resources

Whether you need assistance with healthcare, employment, food resources, family services, education, transportation, or simply want to learn what’s available in our community, this event is for you!

A huge thank you to all of our community partners who are helping make this day possible. Together, we’re building a stronger, healthier, and more connected McDowell County. 💙

Please help us spread the word by sharing this post and inviting your friends, family, and neighbors!

🎉💙🤝

05/26/2026

Critical Details Regarding SNAP Work Requirements!

05/23/2026

🛍️✨ Calling all thrifters, bargain hunters, and community lovers! ✨🛍️

Come check out what might just be the best little thrift store around at our Thrifting With A Purpose Community Resource Fair! 💜

Shop amazing finds with your FREE $10 gift certificate while connecting with over 20 local organizations bringing resources, giveaways, support, and services directly to the community. 🌟

🌭 Free hot dogs
🩺 Free OTC medications & hygiene items
🎁 Giveaways + community resources
🛒 Affordable treasures while supporting a mission that gives back

This is what community care looks like — neighbors helping neighbors while shopping with purpose. 💙

📍 1471 N Main St, Marion, NC
📅 Friday, June 5, 2026
⏰ 10am–1pm

Bring a friend, grab a hot dog, thrift a little, and connect to resources that matter! 🛍️✨

05/22/2026

It’s a special day!!🎉🥳🎊Join us in wishing our Cindy Sierra a happy happy birthday! We are so grateful for her beautiful soul and way she loves community!! Happy Birthday!! ❤️

05/20/2026

One of the most beautiful things about community is that sometimes support comes through a warm meal, a local business, and neighbors helping neighbors. 💙

Bruce's Fabulous Foods continues to show what it means to care for community through their Giving Board — helping ensure local neighbors have access to meals during difficult times, especially as many families continue recovering after Hurricane Helene.

If you’re looking for a way to help, consider donating to their Giving Board. Every contribution helps feed someone in our community with dignity and care.

And while you’re supporting this mission, also remember to support Bruce’s as a local business:
🍽️ Lunch meetings
🥗 Catering needs
☕ Community gatherings
👥 Workplace lunches

This is what a solidarity economy can look like; community members supporting local businesses that reinvest care directly back into the people around them. When we intentionally support businesses that support others, we help create a stronger, more connected local economy where neighbors truly take care of each other.
We are so grateful for businesses like Bruce’s Fabulous Foods that lead with compassion and community. 💙

GIVING BOARD

As you can see we have so many more people in need. Since Helene we have so many in need in our Community. We will never turn away anyone hungry....

If you would like to donate to the Giving Board, we can make it happen in many different ways.

If you are in need or know someone that is in need of a meal, we are here and are willing to serve. We serve the Giving Board meals from 11-12 M-F

We love OUR COMMUNITY.

05/20/2026

📢 Agape Stations Update 📢

Agape Stations has moved to Thursdays from 10 AM–2 PM.

If you know someone experiencing an episode of homelessness, please share this information with them so they know resources, community, and support are available.

We also want to invite local churches, groups, and individuals to get involved! If you would like to volunteer, donate, or serve a meal to some of the most vulnerable members of our community, we would love to serve alongside you.

Together, we can continue creating a place of hope, dignity, compassion, and connection for our neighbors in need. ❤️

📍 Mission Ministries Alliance
804 State Street
Marion, NC

Click the link to get involved 👇🏼
https://www.missionministriesalliance.org/get-involved

⸻

05/20/2026

McDowell County was representing at the WNC Community Food Strategies convening today. 💚

These gatherings are such an important reminder that community health is about so much more than healthcare alone; it’s about food systems, housing, transportation, relationships, dignity, and creating communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

One of the most meaningful parts of the convening was learning more about solidarity economies and how communities can work together outside of traditional systems to meet local needs. Examples of solidarity economy work include community gardens, food co-ops, mutual aid networks, tool libraries, local farmers markets, time banking, and community-led housing initiatives. These approaches center people over profit and remind us that communities already hold so much wisdom, resilience, and capacity within them.

We also had the opportunity to tour the BELOVED ASHEVILLE village and witness such a beautiful example of community-driven solutions to housing affordability and stability. It was inspiring to see spaces intentionally created around dignity, belonging, accessibility, and care for neighbors. The tour was a powerful reminder that lasting change happens when communities come together to imagine and build solutions collectively.

We left feeling inspired, renewed, and deeply grateful for the opportunity to learn alongside others across Western North Carolina who are committed to creating healthier, more connected, and more equitable communities for everyone. 💙
Foothills Food Hub
West Marion Community Forum

05/18/2026

🎉 Join us for our next Community Resource Fair! 🎉
MATCH and Thrifting With a Purpose Resale Store are excited to bring together local organizations, resources, giveaways, and community support all in one place! 💙
📅 Friday, June 5, 2026
⏰ 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
📍 1471 N Main St, Marion, NC
✨ What to expect:
🌭 Free hot dogs
🛍️ $10 gift certificates to shop at the BEST thrift store!
💊 Free OTC medications & personal hygiene items
🎁 Community resources, vendors, and giveaways

We are especially grateful for the incredible work that Thrifting With a Purpose does to support Mission Ministries Alliance and our community. Every purchase and every act of support helps fund services for neighbors experiencing homelessness and hardship right here in McDowell County. Their work is a beautiful example of community caring for community. 💚
This event is all about meeting people where they are, connecting folks to resources, and reminding one another that no one has to navigate life alone.

05/18/2026

What a beautiful day of community on Saturday, May 16 💙

MATCH would like to thank Dove’s Morning Fresh Market, the Marion East Community Forum, and West Marion Incorporated for partnering with us for our recent resource fair. It was wonderful to see families out connecting with resources, sharing a meal, getting food in their bellies, and receiving a little extra support through grocery gift certificates during a time when so many are feeling the strain.

These events are about more than resources — they’re about community, dignity, relationships, and making sure people know they are not alone. Real systems change happens when organizations come together and meet people where they are.

A huge thank you to all of our amazing community partners, volunteers, and everyone who showed up to support our neighbors. We truly could not do this work alone ✨

And good news — we’ll be back at it again! Join us for another community resource fair on Friday, June 5 in partnership with Mission Ministries Alliance. More details coming soon 🌿

05/16/2026