Before we utter a word about our work and progress during the response efforts, our entire team hopes this message finds you and those you love safe in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. While some of our staff endured property loss, thankfully, we are all safe.

There are no words for what we have all endured and the loss we have experienced personally or as a region. 

We know how fiercely you care for this community and all of western North Carolina, and I know we all stand together in our commitment to making it whole and strong once again. 

As core supporters and community partners, we want to inform you how our work has pivoted to meet this moment in our community’s history. We will send similar updates to inform you about our work or other updates.

If you've already contributed to the recovery efforts as a volunteer or donor, thank you for your dedication to rebuilding our community. Together, we will emerge stronger.

With gratitude,

Dan Leroy
President and CEO
United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County

What is United Way's Role in Crisis Response?

In the aftermath of Helene, United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County immediately got to work on three key things:

• We are accepting and distributing two kinds of donations.
  • Priority number one: raise significant funds to support nonprofit and community response efforts in the immediate and long-term recovery.  To do this, we are leaning both on well-established local relationships and on the expertise of our professional colleagues nationwide with previous experience responding to national disasters (e.g., New Orleans and Hawaii). Our investment strategy prioritizes getting input from stakeholders most impacted by this storm, aligning efforts with other funders in the area, and monitoring and responding to current needs.
     
  • We also now operate a warehouse in partnership with Buncombe County Government and receive and distribute donated supplies to help community partners support local families.
     
• As we've always done, we are mobilizing volunteers. We are recruiting the community to support school and community partners' relief efforts and longer-term recovery work through daily email and text alerts to local volunteers. We are also providing tailored support to some of the smaller grassroots groups to expand their capacity.
   
• And we continue to convene and support the broad network of Community Schools and United for Youth partners to determine the best ways to support youth in light of this disaster. This essential work must continue, as illustrated by this recent article in the NYT about our local schools and Helene's impact.

A Critical Responsibility

United Way is in a unique position. We have solid partnerships with local government, large institutions, nonprofits, and grassroots and business leaders.

We have a global network of other United Ways to lean on, some of whom have navigated similar devastating crises.

And, because we are not a direct service provider, we have the ability to build systems that can support our community partners so that we can respond to the crisis in a UNITED WAY in the months and years to come.

Early Achievements

As we approach the end of the second week since Helene hit our community, United Way has pivoted all operations to support relief and response efforts. Here are a few things that your ongoing support has allowed us to accomplish:

• In partnership with Buncombe County Government, we opened a 5,700-square-foot warehouse to accept, organize, and distribute donated supplies. We manage almost 80 volunteers daily at the operation to ensure materials get out into the community.
   
• We placed 1200 volunteers to help with initial relief efforts and are continuing to grow that base of support for our partners.
   
• A number of our staff are out in the field:
  • assisting with student and family wellness checks
  • meeting with partners at their facilities to walk them through the ways we can support their volunteer or supply needs
  • coordinating with other funders and emergency operations center staff in both the city and county.
     
• We are humbled by the outpouring of financial support from within and outside the WNC community. We have already begun to infuse financial support into communities throughout Buncombe County.   
  • Last week, we provided immediate needs grants to the 11 community partners we were funding before the Hurricane. 
  • In the coming days, we will distribute 200 gift cards to individuals served by five grassroots groups working in all corners of Buncombe County. Soon after, we will refine and repeat this pilot with a wider pool of organizations.
  • In the coming weeks, we will announce an open application to provide additional, larger grants to organizations throughout Buncombe County.

How You Can Help

We have so much more to do. If you’re able to lend a hand, here are a few ways you can help:

• FIRST STOP: Visit unitedwayabc.org/helene. This is our hub for all news and opportunities related to our Helene response efforts. Share this page with others looking for ways to give or get help.  
   
• Help spread the word about NC 211. Anyone can dial 2-1-1 24/7 to speak with someone who can guide callers to where they can find food, shelter, medical care, and other vital services. 
   
• Volunteer Your Time Sign up for a volunteer shift, and sign up for email and text alerts here.
   
• Make a donation and ask others to join you. Your gift will support immediate and long-term recovery efforts.

   

For Nonprofit Leaders and Community Groups

We see you and your heroic work, and we are in awe. We’ll have more resources and information soon, but in the meantime: 

VISIT our main landing page: unitedwayabc.org/helene. While there, you can do the following:

• Request volunteers
• Request supplies
• Add or update your organization's listing in the NC 211 database
• and coming soon, find ways to apply for funding support