Hood Huggers International

Rebuilding Affrilachia Through Art, Environment and Social Enterprise

Take a Hood Tour!

Walking Tours

Driving Tours

Specialty Tours

New Project, Blue Note Junction!

Hood Huggers International, Peace Gardens & Market, and partner organization Asheville Creative Arts are building a one-of-a-kind health and business incubator within the community to be called Blue Note Junction: an Urban Microfarm, Community and Creativity Hub. This new hub will be a one-stop experience where visitors will be able to buy-local, learn about history, invest in regenerative practices, visit the sauna, take in a show, and support multiple BIPOC owned businesses.

The CAP Playbook: Phase One

Now available for purchase! The CAP Playbook is a powerful vision for creating a sustainable, inclusive, and economically empowered culture in historically marginalized communities. The book presents a collage of life experiences, opportunities, threats, disappointments, actions, successes, visions, and dreams encountered along the journey toward restoration and helping a community unify and draw strength from its ongoing resilience.

Mission and Vision

Amount of monies reinvested into the community

Hood Huggers International is dedicated to creating a culture of sustainability that is inclusive and economically just, using the CAP framework that helps identify cooperative ambitions, and celebrate and maintain connections and accountability through a variety of community-centered projects at the intersections of economic development, environmental and social justice, and creativity. A portion of all proceeds through Hood Huggers International are devoted to community reinvestment. With various stakeholders Hood Huggers International is dedicated to moving society toward a redesign of our lives to include 6 months of work and 6 months of play.

Using Hood Huggers International as a vehicle for his community engaged social enterprise work, founder DeWayne Barton pursues the vision of “Rebuilding Affrilachia” projects in and around Asheville, NC. Affrilachia refers to African Americans living in Appalachia.  The term was originally coined by Frank X Walker in reference to the region of Appalachia, a mountain range stretching over thirteen states along the East Coast of the U.S. from Mississippi to New York. Affrilachia is an ever-evolving cultural landscape poised to render the invisible visible, and contains a population that needs and deserves economic investment to ensure its visibility and thriving future.

Making restoring the planet a universal sport by creating connection and regenerative health in diverse communities.

Art

Art

Environment

Art

“Focus not on your obstacles, but your creative maneuvers around them.” ~DeWayne Barton

Environment

Value You. Value Me. Together, Earth. ~DeWayne Barton

Social Enterprise

Economic engines supporting programs that revitalize, protect, and uplift historically African-American neighborhoods and landmarks.
Book Now