ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Three weeks after Hurricane Helene, the situation in the Asheville region remains dire. Many people are still without power and are relying on the kindness of strangers for basic necessities.
BeLoved Asheville may look like organized chaos, and it’s exactly where Esteban Hernandez said he needs to be right now.
“I’ve been out here helping people load cars with donations because I wanted to get distracted away from home ... it was a mess,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez’s family, like so many in this area, lost everything.
“Water just started gushing in through the fence, and we had to get out,” he recalled.
Despite that, he’s among dozens of volunteers who show up here each day to help their neighbors.
BeLoved Asheville is a nonprofit that’s become a distribution center working to get much-needed supplies to about 15,000 people a day.
“For a lot of our local people, this is a way for us to heal the trauma, to help take care of each other," BeLoved Asheville cofounder Amy Cantrell said. "It gives us hope and gives us hope to see people pouring in from all over the country."
James Pullano is out of work because of the floods, so he found work here, volunteering.
“My place of work was flooded, and I found out it was gonna be an indeterminate amount of time before I can go back to work with the amount that needed to be done," Pullano said. "I have a lot of free time; I wanted to help.”
Cantrell said there’s a lot of that sentiment among the volunteers who show up every day.
“We’ve seen some terrific devastation," Cantrell said. "We’ve lost people, many have died, many others are suffering, in the wake of this, we get to see the best of humanity. People come together to care for each other.”
Check out belovedasheville.com for information on how to donate to the nonprofit's efforts.
Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.