United Way works on long-term response to Hurricane Helene

Burke County United Way is developing a committee focused on continued assistance for Hurricane Helene victims.

To prepare, United Way hosted an open Hurricane Helene Long-Term Recovery Group meeting Thursday at Western Piedmont Community College.

The mission of a long-term recovery group is to provide a coordinated set of partner organizations with the common goal of serving impacted individuals and families in the community.

After a general thanks to the many organizations that provided recovery assistance thus far, Executive Director Maureen “Mo” Schwind reviewed the grants and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds received over the past year.

There were 13,407 registrations completed for individual assistance. Approximately $4.7 million went to housing assistance, such as home replacement and repair, and nearly $10.7 million went to other needs assistance such as displacement funds for applicants that needed to immediately move due to their loss. Just over $3,500 went to transportation, medical expenses, funerals, and a variety of other necessities.

“It’s a way for our community to step up, to help each other,” Schwind said. “Many hands, light work.”

The goal is to tap into larger funding that will be made available to improve communications, regional assistance, and electricity systems in the event of future disasters.

“We don’t know what disaster may come to us,” Schwind said. “We need to be prepared for lots of different kinds.”

The developed committee will follow six integral steps for sustainable recovery: establishing leadership, organizing and recruiting members, training, managing cases, managing volunteers and construction, and developing community preparedness.

The Thursday meeting accomplished the first step by deciding on the name, Burke Long-term Recovery Group, and electing a chairperson, Kathy Bailey, former CEO of UNC Health Blue Ridge; a vice chair, Kristin Watson, founder of the Mountain Aid Project (MAP); a treasurer, Marty Sohovich, a previous corporate finance manager for a Fortune 500 company; and a secretary, Beverly Carlton, executive director of the Olive Hill Community Economic Development Corporation — all by way of vote. Two members at large were also elected: Alicia Connelly and Louis Vinay.

Watson was nominated for both chairperson and vice chair due to her involvement with MAP. She looked forward to the integration of MAP projects into her election as vice chair.

“We actually have been meeting twice a week since the storm,” Watson stated. “From the crisis and disaster needs basis to repair and rebuild — we need a strategy. In the last three months, we’re still doing disaster and crisis, obviously. It’s like 80% and 20% [respectively].”

Voting attendees tabled a decision on the formal mission statement for development and review by the elected board members. Executive leadership will navigate the bylaws associated with recovery funding and strategically move forward.

Attendees also selected United Way as the associated fiscal agent, who will receive 3% of funding and pay for insurance on the board among other responsibilities.

In closing remarks, Vinay said, “The sheer scale of that disaster led us to think about what we could do better.”

Bailey agreed, “A little over a year ago, some of us lost all of it. We lost power. We lost water. We lost our sense of security.” She requested that the community continue to be strong and prepared for when — not if — another disaster comes.

Carlton concluded the meeting and said, “It’s not going to happen tomorrow. It’s not going to be next week … We just have to pull up our boots and keep on working!”