Help Asheville's Recovery
Summit Coffee Co. in the River Arts District post-hurricane. Image by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
Help Asheville's Recovery
For months and years to come, Asheville will need massive support to recover from Hurricane Helene. (In case you missed it, here’s my Asheville Love Story.)
This month, I’m sharing four places to donate for immediate aid. Hopefully, this short list can help with option-overwhelm if you want to contribute but don't know where to begin.
In November, I'll share Asheville businesses, makers, artists, and healers to consider supporting with your holiday shopping.
Four Worthy Ways to Make Immediate Impact:
Support My Friends
I have two dear friends who have suffered losses and need financial support to weather this storm. They’ve already been through a lot and are facing more hardships in coming months. I want to protect their privacy, but if you’d like to contribute to their recovery, please donate through The Retreat Space and put “Asheville friends” in the notes. I’ll split donations between these two wonderful humans.
Wild Abundance Disaster Relief Fund
This magical farm school specializes in carpentry, earth skills, and permaculture. They sprang into action repairing homes and building foot bridges across damaged roads. One friend says, “The woman who owns Wild Abundance was on the ground running meetings today in Barnardsville. She’s a badass community organizer. I would trust money going very locally here.”
Beloved Asheville
For years, this organization has been on the ground providing affordable housing and care to Asheville’s underserved communities. They intimately know the hardest-hit neighborhoods, and they are bringing shelter, water, food, clothes, internet, and stuffed animals to those who need it most. They’re even organizing volunteer hikers to check on people in the mountains who can’t get out and have SOS signs in their windows. Check out their IG page—it’s beyond inspiring.
Relief for Asheville's RAD Artists & Employees
Asheville’s fabulous River Arts District (RAD) was tragically flooded to the roofs, destroying cherished businesses and dozens of art studios very close to my heart. This cuts so deep. I’ve been in touch with the organizer of this fundraiser—she’s giving $500 cash to individual RAD artists and employees who have lost their livelihoods. She currently has more applications than funds to give—this is a very worthy cause with direct impact.
Want more options? Here’s a crowd-sourced list of resources and needs by category: https://ashevillerelief.com/.
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