Asheville film fest raises funds for mental health counseling

The first annual Asheville Mental Health Film Fest brought filmmakers from across the Carolinas to A-B Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium on Saturday, June 27, with one goal in mind: raise money for counseling services while pushing mental health into a more public conversation. Hyder Productions partnered with All Souls Counseling Center on the event, which tied an arts gathering directly to the cost of care in Buncombe County and beyond.

All Souls Counseling Center serves adults who are uninsured or underinsured in Western North Carolina, making the fundraiser more than a symbolic show of support. The nonprofit provides counseling, outreach and education, and its therapy services include individual, couples, family and group sessions on a sliding scale. For many residents facing high housing costs, storm recovery expenses and everyday medical bills, that kind of low-cost access can be the difference between getting help and going without it.

A-B Tech’s Asheville campus, at 340 Victoria Road, offered the kind of large indoor space that can fit a community event of this size. The college says its event rooms can accommodate hundreds of participants, and Ferguson Auditorium has become a flexible venue for gatherings that do not conflict with campus programming. That setting gave the festival a clear local footprint, with the college, a nonprofit counseling center and a production company sharing the same stage.

The festival also arrived at a moment when mental health needs remain visible across Western North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has continued to highlight mental health resources for people affected by Hurricane Helene, and Buncombe County Health and Human Services used a June 2025 CASPER survey to examine ongoing needs eight months after the storm. That survey included 210 randomly selected households, underscoring how recovery has involved emotional strain as well as physical rebuilding.

All Souls Counseling Center has also kept its name in the public eye through local recognition and outreach. Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer proclaimed May 14, 2026, as All Souls Counseling Center Day, and the nonprofit’s Mental Health Matters 5K is scheduled for Sept. 19, 2026. Taken together, the film fest, the proclamation and the planned race show a consistent push to make counseling needs visible in Asheville, where the pressure on mental health care remains tied to who can afford it and who cannot.