This week marks a significant transition at Pisgah Legal Services, the nonprofit that has been serving Western North Carolina since 1978. Jackie Kiger has officially stepped into her new role as executive director, taking the helm from longtime leader Jim Barrett, who is retiring after 41 years. Before the official handoff, the two joined BPR’s Helen Chickering to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.
Jim Barrett on his serendipitous journey
"I joined Pisgah Legal Services in 1983, right after graduating from UNC Law School. It must have been divine intervention. I worked in the civil clinic in law school. I enjoyed helping people who couldn't afford a lawyer, and saw how badly they needed help. That work landed me a fellowship, and it just happened to be Asheville's turn to get the fellowship.
Back then, it was a small team of 20 staff members, with just five attorneys. We faced challenges with limited resources and federal funding cuts. For 10 years, I was assigned to Rutherford County, handling housing cases, and community development cases in Buncombe County.
“The work was very gratifying and fulfilling. Our clients were desperate, facing homelessness if we didn't represent them. It was frustrating that we couldn't help more people. But we also achieved significant milestones, like passing the first housing code in Western North Carolina and ensuring that Asheville used its federal Community Development Block Grant money to benefit low-income people."
Then and now
"The issues are bigger and different now. We didn't have services for immigrants, undocumented folks, until about 1998. Now, we have services to help people get tax credits, an ombudsman program for people on Medicaid, and programs to help people get their driver's licenses restored. Our services have broadened to be more effective at alleviating poverty, but the complexity of people's lives has also increased. They struggle with language barriers, literacy issues, and the sheer demands of raising children and working multiple jobs."
Jackie Kiger joins the team
"I joined Pisgah Legal Services in 2010. I had a long career as a social worker, and often found myself frustrated in situations where my client needed a lawyer and couldn’t find or afford one. So I went to law school and became a lawyer.
“I started off as a volunteer in Pisgah Legal’s domestic violence program, and was later hired as a public benefits and housing attorney. That's when I first got to know Jim. We really bonded during my work on the Affordable Care Act because we both understood that lack of quality, affordable health insurance keeps people in poverty. They face tough choices like buying medication or food, going to the ER, or paying rent. I think we share that vision of this effective anti-poverty strategy that blends work that is upstream and preventative.”
“I've enjoyed working with him for all of these years; he’s been a true mentor to me.”
Looking forward
Jim Barrett: “We have a number of pilot projects, like helping kids who are at risk of going into foster care before juvenile court petitions are filed. Another that helps get driver’s licenses restored. This work could be expanded, and the suffering and hardship that could be avoided would be amazing."
Jackie Kiger: "There’s a lot on my mind right now. Right away, it's to continue to build on this really strong foundation that we have as an organization, as Jim mentioned. It is to seize those opportunities to figure out what else we can be doing and what's working that should be expanded across the region. And to really figure out how to raise funding for the organization so that we can continue to do this work.
“So I'll be looking to go across the region and get to know communities and partners now in this different role, and be out there listening and learning from our communities so that I can hear more about what else we should be thinking about. What are the needs of people here in our region that Pisgah Legal Services can address?"
