we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...
(support Asheville/WNC's relief+recovery, if you please)
Gamarjoba from our last morning in the glamping dome1 at the Lost Ridge Inn in Sighnaghi, Kakheti, Georgia. We’re in the supposed birthplace of wine (and the epicenter of Georgian “natural wine’s” emergence) and are eager to catch everyone up on our recent wanderings, but we’re taking a pause to talk about what’s happening back at home in western North Carolina.
Everyone reading probably already knows that Hurricane Helene resulted in unprecedented devastation to Asheville and the broader region. After some fitful nights awaiting word from our people on the ground, we tracked down our loved ones and confirmed that our house is unscathed. For the last two+ weeks we’ve been straddling different mindsets; trying to be present for the little son and enjoying this trip while constantly scanning our feeds for updates, and strategizing on the best way to help from afar when nothing feels like enough.
Too many days into the wake of Helene and thousands remain without power or water, and many of our neighbors have lost everything. Young families that look a lot like ours were killed. We’ve been heartened to see the response of our friends and local business leaders on the ground coming together to feed and comfort our community, but the road to recovery remains elusive while we await definitive timelines for revival of basic infrastructure. Schools are rapidly building wells and so that class might continue. We’re navigating a spectrum of emotions spanning horror at the loss of life and still-seemingly-terrible conditions, and deep sadness for the destruction sustained by local craftsmen and cultural institutions that make Asheville weird and wonderful, for the landscapes we’ve memorized and adore, the places we’ll no longer be able to share with our children. Appalachian strength appears to know few bounds, and this town will rise again but we need help.
How to Support
We’re investing some time (asking companies we know to donate/ship shelf-stable food, supplies to distribution sites in AVL) and supporting some immediate relief efforts as well as our favorite local businesses. Managing cash flow, supporting employees, etc. is incredibly tricky right now for businesses that were damaged by Helene, are missing out on Asheville’s peak tourist season, or can’t operate without water. All of the people below are actively serving the community every day, despite zero assurance that they’ll have sufficient income for the weeks ahead. If you’re compelled to donate to orgs or businesses, see links below:
Beloved Asheville - community-based organizer of relief efforts focusing on critical necessities like food, water, and healthcare for survival and stability. As winter looms, they’ll be securing warm and safe housing for the displaced.
Flow of Life - vital care for expecting and postpartum parents. Donate to families in need via venmo to @theflowoflife
LaZoom - comedy club and touring company keeping Asheville smiling.
Neng Jr.’s - No restaurant or hospitality team have caused the release of more dopamine and seratonin in our brains since we arrived in Asheville. They’ve also rolled up their sleeves to get food to the masses during this trying time.
Culinary Gardener - A farmer nonpareil who supplies many great restaurants and our CSA.
Good Wheel Farm - Our friend Michael raises chicken, sheep and other creatures while trying to rebuild native flora. Buy some foodstuffs for him to donate to relief efforts on their site.
We’ve left a ton out, but AVLToday is tracking all active fundraising campaigns for local businesses so feel free to peruse here.
As of today, we continue to think of this trip in part as a research project to identify concepts to bring back to WNC, and are adding disaster recovery to our charter of things to investigate. The timing is solid since we are heading to Japan shortly, arguably a leader in natural disaster recovery, and there are a number of places we now will visit with this aim.
While we’ll continue to intersperse updates from home in this newsletter, we’ll switch gears in our next post to focusing on the places we’re exploring and hope it will make readers smile despite as one of our new Dutch friends put it, “the world being on fire”.
Love to you and yours,
Liz, Alex and Chester
Paid for by USAID, confusingly.
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