On fighting against poverty and for social justice 

This event is grounded in the life of Mary Rabagliati, whose work emphasized long-term commitment alongside people in poverty, and a refusal to reduce people to problems to be solved.

The book's author, Diana Skelton, will be joined by Mae Mims, the Education & Advocacy Coordinator of the Asheville Poverty Initiative, and Shelley McKechnie, editor of Stronger than the Storm: Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. 

In this shared, reflective space they will bring together different forms of knowledge—lived experience, practice, and public thought—around the question of how society responds to poverty.

Conversation will focus on dignity, solidarity, the limits of systems, and whether “joy” has a place in work that confronts injustice.