Press release from Buncombe County Register of Deeds:
Asheville, NC – In eight days, the newly formed Family Assistance Center at the Buncombe County Register of Deeds office rapidly built an organization to provide wellness checks on unaccounted for persons in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene. At a time when power and cell service were completely down, the Center was able to provide critically needed supplies and invaluable peace of mind to over 15,000 households and their extended families.
2,685 volunteers, managed by a team of hundreds of organizers, were deployed to check and re-check 15,982 high priority households with 10,000+ care packages distributed and over 5,000 toilets flushed. 13,049 of our neighbors confirmed safe and sound by volunteers, and via email and text, as of Sunday, October 6, 2024.
Drew Reisinger stated: “With thousands of eager volunteers answering the call for help, we empowered them to step into communities with the highest need and provide relief. These volunteers far exceeded any expectations by digging deep, being highly resourceful, providing emotional, physical, and financial support on the spot when needed. When a volunteer saw someone in need of a blanket, they went out and bought one. When a volunteer saw someone in medical distress they brought a medic immediately. The generosity of heart, spirit, time, and materials is like nothing I have ever seen.”
One recipient stated: “Your flush brigade descended on my condo/apt community in Asheville and blessed us with laps and laps up and down the stairs with 5 gallon buckets of water. I believe tubs were filled for 9 neighbors- all on the 2nd and 3rd floors! The sweetness and generosity of spirit was almost a bit overwhelming to my achy breaky heart … having a flushed toilet has weirdly been the thing that keeps me feeling human and level through all of this. I have a super bad back and having flush water was feeling frighteningly unmanageable, and I was really at a loss for how I was going to get through weeks or months more of the water outage. So thank you thank you thank you for organizing and to your volunteer brigade for delivering this truly wonderful aid!”
As increased relief infrastructure has been established, the Family Assistance Center is handing over operations to other organizations.
Key Information to Know:
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FEMA and Local Search and Rescue Teams are responding to high priority cases.
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To report a missing person in Buncombe County, contact the Sheriff’s Office at (828) 250-6650
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Flush Brigade is meeting at Beloved Asheville, 32 Charlotte Highway from 9am-1pm daily.
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Donations and volunteers can be directed to the following organizations:
Donations: https://bit.ly/wncdonations
Volunteers: https://bit.ly/4eRc5kZ
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