This week we’re sharing recent chat with Jazz and Badger, two residents of Barnardsville, a small village just outside of Asheville, NC. We spoke about the community, the impact of Hurricane Helene, some lessons learned from coordinating among the neighbors and how people are faring now, nearly 5 months out from the storm. You can find their website at MutualAidBarnardsville.com
To hear similar stories from after the storm you can find links to past interviews in our show notes alongside links to groups working in the area, a few articles concerning government response and interviews recorded by Blue Ridge Public Radio: Voices of Helene.
Articles on recovery referenced:
- https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2025-01-13/are-fema-rules-to-blame-for-slow-wnc-housing-recovery-heres-what-we-learned
- https://www.newsweek.com/fema-kicking-hurricane-survivors-housing-administrator-responds-2013660
- https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2025-02-03/gov-stein-calls-for-1-07-billion-in-state-funding-for-helene-recovery
Recent Storm Support for EKY, ETN, SWVA + WV
Recent floods in middle Appalachia in the middle of an intense winter cold snap have left many without potable water or other basic needs. ATV donation / loan / operation request to help check on people in hollers, help clear roads, drive supplies: reach out to theferalraccoon (a t) proton (d ot) me OR MutualAidDisasterRelief ( at) gmail (do t) com.
EKY
One place you can look for where to send resources is Eastern KY Mutual Aid, found on Instagram or Facebook under the name Hillbillies Helping Hillbillies. And you can find out more by visiting the website or checking social media for Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Some of the useful links are here for those unable to use the platforms:
- EKY Mutual Aid Patreon
- Volunteer form if in the region
- EKY Mutual Aid Cashapp: $SoupBeansFriedTaters
- EKY Mutual Aid Paypal: @EKYMutualAid
In Pikeville, KY, there’s a request for food grade 5 gallon for water filtration where municipal water isn’t running or wells are contaminated there’s a request for restaurants to save buckets for water filtration. People interested can contact Cara at 859_533_0349
DROP OFF LOCATION: Pike Central HS 100 Winners Circle Drive Pikeville, KY 41501
Other EKY sites:
- Appalachian Crisis Aid Fund
- The Y’all Squad https://TheYallSquad.org/donate
SWVA
- SAMS Lonesome Pine Mutual Aid Paypal: @SAMSVA
- The Care Collective of SW VA Venmo: @carecollectiveofswva
- Cumberland Mountain Mutual Aid
- Paypal: cumberlandmountainmutualaid (a t) gmail (d o t) com
- Venmo: @CMMAID
- CashApp: $CMMUTUALAID
WV
- WVUMC Disaster Response Ministries https://WVUMC.org/donate
- Bluejay Rising https://BluejayRising.org/donate
- Spark of Love Foundation
- CashApp: $sparkoflove4thekids
- PayPal: The Spark of Love Foundation
ETN
- Disaster Relief at Work https://www.drawbuckets.org/donate
