What Will It Take to Rebuild Western North Carolina?
This is a question that I get every day. What will it take to rebuild North Carolina? The answer and the timeframe are way longer than you think. I just submitted my thoughts to our state government about our needs. I’m sharing my perspective as the interim Executive Director at Feeding Avery Families in Avery County/Newland, NC. We've been on the ground distributing food since day one post-Helene.
Question: How can the state government support our regional nonprofits?
We need to upgrade our communication systems and processes
Like many rural areas, our local communication systems (mostly partnerships) and processes (mostly word of mouth) are not formalized or necessarily supported by the community on a regular basis. We need established lines of communication and processes that expedite disaster relief efforts.
While this probably seems obvious, closing the communication gaps are more difficult because none of us are staffed for it - especially when roads are closed, power lines are down, and cell service is not existent. We really struggled with knowing how to contact everyone without going door to door in the county. I think it will take government assistance to guide our debriefs about this phase of the relief efforts and going forward.
What does this solution look like? I don't know. But it will require time from under-staffed organizations (nonprofits and county government) who are so exhausted right now. FEMA stopped by this week to discuss establishing a long-term recovery group just for Avery County.
2. Our kids have experienced huge losses
We served 130 backpacks of food (6 meals) weekly to Avery County Schools before the storm. We know that number will grow as 50 students in our school system lost their homes. Our public school students were out of school for six weeks. That's a huge gap in learning while also navigating home losses and storm trauma. Schools are establishing in-house pantries for their families, and we are helping them. Kids just went back November 6, so we anticipate knowing more in the next month.
And we didn't have child care options for the first few weeks. We have 3 child care centers in the county (serving infants to age 5). One of our child care centers is re-opening January 2025. One child care center was destroyed. And one has limited ability to serve. A recent study by NC Child and the North Carolina Department of Commerce revealed that “helping parents of young children get back into North Carolina’s workforce could add up to $7.5 billion to the state’s GDP and create up to 68,000 new jobs statewide.”
What does this solution look like? Maybe it's extra resources for our school system (tutors) that are focused on helping teachers navigate this and provide extra support for kids around learning loss and trauma. The Williams YMCA of Avery County is slated to open the 4th child care center, but this has been delayed by the storm. Any help in getting that center open would be amazing.
3. Our senior citizens may get lost in all this
A large portion of our population are people 62+ years of age and older. While some of this population have second homes, we have just as many that live Social Security check to check. And this is our fastest growing population. Our Senior Center, which offers daily meals and activities, was lost in the storm. They are operating in an alternate location (Linville Resorts) until they get a new building. Additionally, our seniors also use the County Recreation Center, but this has been serving as a shelter since the storm. We are projected to see a 20% increase in this population in the next five years.
What does this solution look like? We already needed more senior housing before the storm, and I can only imagine what types of repairs are being made in homes now. We have a lot of seniors choosing to age in place here, so access to services (especially transportation) is a need. Avery County Transportation (free public service) is amazing, but they don't have a big staff, especially when people need more help with transportation now. FYI - many people lost their vehicles in the storm.
4. The housing crisis expands and deepens.
This is where I sound like a broken record. We already had a lack of housing before the storm. Now it's a total crisis. The median sales price in Avery County for September 2024 was $575,000. Our 2022 median income was $53,513. In a 2023 study from the Avery County Government, lack of housing directly impacted employment here and families staying here. This study identified a significant lack of multifamily rental housing and houses for purchase serving annual incomes between $52,000-$70,000.
What does this solution look like? More housing options at reasonable prices. One neighborhood lost 250 homes in the storm. And many insurance providers are not offering adequate reimbursements.
5. Our whole body health will get worse
In the storm, we lost friends and family members and homes and vehicles and a general sense of safety. I know many people who have been injured while making repairs or even getting out of their homes for the first time. Additionally, we have the mental health effects of a natural disaster. On the regular, I hear about the following from our neighbors, and I've experienced many of these myself:
Nightmares/night terrors (reliving what happened)
Visceral reactions to water, especially rain, and even chainsaws or helicopters
Simmering anger about those who don't understand what we've experienced
Total physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion
I've also worried about long-term effects of the dust/dirt in the air since the storm. We haven't had much rain, and dust is just a constant during clean-up.
What does this solution look like? Continued support of the free medical clinics in the area. Health care has been pulling back in rural counties, and the need is greater than ever. A long-term team of community health workers that work on home visits would be incredible. I know a small portion of this is happening through the Healthy Opportunities Pilot. But we need more. And our mental health treatment needs to go beyond individual therapy appointments.
Many people here either don't have funds for individual therapy or aren't familiar with it. However, people want to share their stories so listening circles and other group intervention support would be helpful.
These are just a few of the long-term needs I see right now. I would also suggest that government officials need to be here on the ground on a regular basis outside of election season. We've had people here refuse help because they don't trust the government. While the reasons are varied, one way to build trust is being present without any agenda but listening.
While these needs are not focused on food access, they affect food access in many ways. And I I see what JFK shared many years ago, "A rising tide lifts all boats."
P.S. You can donate directly to Feeding Avery Families here. We definitely need your help!