Unsung heroes is an often used description of those who do heroic things without recognition. It so perfectly describes our local independent business owners who used their skills, expertise, and love of community, to help their friends, neighbors and community recover post Helene. You’ll find some of their stories below. Click on the business name to learn more.
All Day Darling
We cooked everything that didn’t go bad and gave it to the neighborhood, used the restaurant as a donation and distribution center for goods and water before we could reopen, and served free hot meals out of the window when we were able.
Amp’d Designs
From November through February, I collaborated with Nicole McConville (Nicole McConville Photography) to co-host a free, virtual, monthly event called “Resilience Roundtable: WNC Business Pivot Chats.” These were guided group discussions to connect and brainstorm new marketing ideas and practical strategies for reaching customers beyond the Asheville area while WNC recovered from Helene.
This series came about because we noticed a lot of businesses creating new offers and products post-Helene to help sustain their income. Because many of these businesses rely on local customers and tourists coming into Asheville, there was a huge need for these businesses to reach customers/clients in other places that were more readily able to spend and support them while Asheville’s economy recovered.
The topics we covered at the Resilience Roundtable events included tapping into your network and existing relationships, driving more traffic to your website, and collaborating & cross-promoting with other businesses.
These events were a great avenue for local business owners to connect and relate to each other’s experiences, while proactively helping each other find new ways to sustain our businesses and thrive again. Great ideas came out the events!
Devil’s Foot Brewery (The Mule Taproom)
Within a day of the storm we knew we needed to do something, so after cleaning up flooded areas of the building we turned our taproom (The Mule) into a hub for relief efforts. We received and distributed thousands of cans of clean drinking water from our friends in Charlotte to individuals, families, and businesses. We also started connecting with breweries and other smaller businesses in Asheville to figure out how to get the much needed water to keep their facilities somewhat operating. Our partners and friends across the beverage industry came together in a big way, and we were so proud to be a part of such an amazing community during such a scary time.
Our staff, friends, family, and neighbors showed up every day at The Mule to help, organizing donations, reaching out to contacts in other cities, and driving supplies to areas that needed them most, whoever had cell service used every minute to figure out who needed what and where. What started as a few people chipping in quickly grew into a full-blown grassroots network of care and connection. We witnessed true kindness as strangers drove hours to come and drop off what they could to help our community, to experience such love firsthand is something we will never forget!
Throughout it all, we witnessed the true strength of this community, and we’re honored to have played a part in the recovery. We cannot thank Go Local enough for shining a spotlight on the businesses that did so much during this time and we greatly appreciate that, that’s what makes our community so special!
Dragon Phoenix
In the aftermath I (the owner of Dragon Phoenix) spent some time in downtown Marshall digging out mud and gutting buildings to help clean up. Once we got our electricity back on we offered free Tai Chi and Qigong classes to the community for a couple of weeks. It was hard to know what to do, but it didn’t feel right to operate in some sort of business capacity so what we could offer was free classes. The hope was that through Tai Chi we could help people to process the trauma and move it through their bodies to get them in a better place to start the healing process.
Fox-N-Otter Adventure Escapes
We invited in Crisis Response International to come help, set up operations in our parking lot, and hosted them for 3 months. We did 3.4M dollars in impact serving more than 30,000 meals from a mobile kitchen in our parking lot in Arden and empowered more than 990 volunteers. We closed or business for months to provide crucial leadership leading us to us find a larger parking lot at BB Barnes where we became the largest distribution center in South Asheville.
Franny’s Farmacy
In the face of natural disasters, communities are tested, revealing the very fabric that weaves them together. Western North Carolina recently underwent such a test when Hurricane Helene unleashed its fury, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Among the myriad tales of resilience, one narrative stands out vividly – the story of Franny’s Farmacy and how adversity brought a community closer than ever before.
When Hurricane Helene struck, it showed no mercy, flooding areas and shattering lives. Franny’s Farmacy’s Merrimon location was directly in the hurricane’s path, suffering extensive damage that forced the store to close its doors for an agonizing 47 days. This closure not only impacted the business significantly but also displaced employees and affected their families, with one heartbreaking instance where part of a family’s home was lost to the storm.
In these trying times, Franny Tacy, CEO of Franny’s Farmacy, demonstrated unwavering leadership and compassion. Refusing to be defeated by despair, Franny stood at the helm of her farm, transforming it into more than a place of refuge for the displaced. It became a beacon of hope, feeding the community and offering support to those who had lost everything. This act of kindness and solidarity became a testament to the indomitable spirit of the people of Western North Carolina.
The hurricane taught us a powerful lesson about unity, encapsulated in the quote, “Come hell or high water, we all stuck together.” This newfound sense of community did not emerge without its challenges, but it underscored our collective strength, showing that, together, we could weather any storm.
As we embarked on the journey to recovery, our resilience led to the opening of a new Franny’s Farmacy location on Haywood Road. This strategic move not only aims to serve our West Asheville community better but also heralds a new beginning as we rebuild our Merrimon location. This initiative is not just about restoration but about reinforcing our commitment to our loyal customers, whose unwavering support through the hurricane has been nothing short of inspiring.
During the closure of our flagship Merrimon store, we have been deeply moved by the dedication of our customers, many of whom have traveled from near and far to support our Hendersonville store. This show of solidarity has been a beacon of light in our journey towards recovery, fueling our drive to come back stronger.
As we look to the future with optimism, Franny’s Farmacy is excited to serve our West Asheville community and eagerly anticipates the reopening of our Merrimon location. Our journey through the aftermath of Hurricane Helene has been a profound reminder of the power of community support, resilience, and the strength found in unity.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to you, our loyal customers and community, for standing by us “come hell or high water.” Your support has been our guiding light, and as we rebuild and reopen our doors, we do so with a shared sense of purpose and an unbreakable bond that defines who we are at Franny’s Farmacy.
Together, we are stronger, and together, we will continue to grow and thrive, no matter what challenges lie ahead.
Friends of WNC Nature Center
In addition to individual employee efforts, the Friends of the WNC Nature Center volunteered as a team to support the community during Helene. On November 18, the team volunteered at a distribution site, moving, sorting, and handing our emergency supplies, and helping operate a comfort station with access to showers, laundry, etc. This was a great bonding opportunity that allowed our team to see each other, spend time together, and give back.
Fuegos Grill
The first week after Helene, when there was no power, we started our open-fire grill and invited the neighbors to join us for dinner. After the power was restored, we took our equipment to The River Arts District Brewing Co. and cooked meals for free for our community. We are planning another event for this summer, offering free food and accepting donations to support our neighbors who are still affected by this devastating disaster.
Green River Woods
Both on our own and with a professional tree service company, Green River Woods worked from September through the spring to help clear roads and remove trees from homes, cars and yards. After people were no longer trapped and the immediate danger subsided, our focus shifted to removing hundreds of logs that we could invest in milling and drying into furniture-grade lumber. We helped many fellow woodworkers in the flood zone, salvaging and cleaning and donating what we could.
House of Black Cat Magic
After the hurricane, we gave out pet supplies to the public, the ASPCA, and the Red Cross. We were open 7 days a week to make sure everyone had everything they needed for their pets. We gave away 3 moving trucks full of supplies to anyone who needed it. We also brought kittens to some of the Red Cross shelters to help boost morale and visit the survivors. We also offered free/ low-cost veterinary clinics in partnership with Paws Mobile Veterinary- one in West Asheville and one in Weaverville.
Lark About Design
Immediately after the storm, my normal operations as a web design business were put on pause. I started teaching people without water in Asheville how to safely manage their waste (yep, their poop!) with DIY dry toilets.
“Poop Crew” rapidly grew to over 30 people and my emergency sanitation update videos garnered over 30,000 views online to help raise awareness of the, uh, urgency of the situation. We raised over $5000 for supplies and provided dry toilets and emergency sanitation supplies and education to several thousand people (we estimated we gave out over 1000 complete toilet kits, and partial supplies for many more).
I was so glad to be able to put my design skills to work by creating information leaflets, dry toilet instructions and the www.toiletsofavl.com website to help people poop- safely, and with dignity.
Level 256 Classic Arcade Bar
We, Anna and I, raised over $58,000 for our three employees by raffling a pinball machine. All proceeds went directly to our employees. We sold 2,957 tickets and did the drawing live on Instagram on October 8, 2024, which was our 4th anniversary. We donated to local businesses as well but primarily we took care of our employees while we were closed.
We are not fans of seemingly local media businesses charging exorbitant amounts of money to promote other Asheville businesses, locally-owned or otherwise, on social media. Because of this, we do not do a lot of self-promotion or advertising so our Helene support for our employees is not known by too many people; perhaps 20 or 30 local people know about it.
I suppose it is time for others to learn what we did if any media outlets are interested in sharing the story. We are not trying to get undue attention. We simply did what we thought was right.
Liberty Locksmith
We have helped get generators back online because they use keys sometimes, which people have lost due to lack of need (and use).
We have given discounts to people in the community who have been directly affected by the hurricane and we still do.
Morgan’s Comics
From Sept 27th on, we entertained (& distracted) children and adults in the colorful, happy environment of Morgan’s Comics. We offered peaceful and lively celtic music, live music, radio disaster reports, art supplies, snacks, water bottles, hot tea, iced sodas, a (refillable well water) toilet & a place to drop off donated supplies 11am-6pm, 6 days a week. We watched other’s children while they stood in line outside of Ingles to get food or utilized the free Starlink Wifi offered at our neighbor business, Itto Ramen.
After we brought together a significant amount of supplies we would load them up and deliver them to nearby towns (esp. those who weren’t in the news) that were on the rivers. *The photo we’ve included was from our trip to one of our favorite camping spots near our home in Asheville, Hartford Tn. It is a tiny town, typically 1 1/2 hours from us, but due to the drop off on 40 the trip took almost 4 hours to get to them.
Natural Pathways
We collaborated with the nonprofit Acupuncture Without Borders, setting up mobile clinics throughout Asheville and offering free acupuncture, trauma and PTSD pain treatments for anyone who came to help people process what happened to them.
Old Europe Pastries
The day after the hurricane (September 28th) we opened our front window and began to give away and feed as many people as we could.
After that, the owner Melinda Vetro, made the decision she needs to show up and support her community and help those who cannot help themselves. As a business, we never lost power. So she dipped into some of her personal funds and we gave away free breakfast and essential goods for the next month. We became a small distribution hub / safe haven for those who could get to us. Connecting people who had needs with those that could fill them.
Patton Avenue Pets
We were super lucky to have retained power and internet service at our Downtown location (thank you to ERC Broadband!) and we quickly realized what a gift that was, being one of the few places in the city with connectivity. We opened our downtown location to the public for charging phones and connecting to WiFi, posting our WiFi password on our front door so it could even be utilized after hours. Our business became part pet store, part internet cafe, and for several days we were able to help hundreds of people connect to loved ones, find safe routes home, file insurance and FEMA and unemployment paperwork, and unfortunately also find out hard news. We also became a donation center in the first days after the storm, receiving and distributing food and water before larger donation sites got up and running. Once others were caring for the people in our community, we shifted our focus to receiving and distributing pet food and supplies from our vendors to those in need in our community. Our team were rock stars, going above and beyond their job descriptions and expectations, and we all felt so blessed to be in a position to help the people and animals in our community.
Positive Transformations
I accepted a grant from the Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina to provide trauma therapy for foster families impacted by Hurricane Helen. Through this grant, I was able to offer therapy at a significantly reduced rate, with the grant covering the cost of services for the families.
So far, I have worked with five foster families who would not ordinarily be able to afford trauma therapy. These families were deeply affected by the storm—experiencing flooded homes, loss of access to clean water, food, clothing, and medical care. Many were caring for children with special needs and faced the added trauma of not having the resources to meet those needs during and after the crisis. It has been an honor to support their healing.
In addition to those served through the grant, I also accepted four more clients at a very reduced sliding scale for up to three months following the storm. These individuals were temporarily displaced from Asheville due to loss of housing, employment, or storage. I have also worked with several children struggling with nightmares and anxiety after seeing disturbing images related to the storm.
As a local small business owner, I am committed to standing with our community in times of hardship. Mental health care should be available to everyone, especially those most impacted by trauma. I’m grateful to the Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina for making this work possible, and to our community for supporting local businesses that strive to give back.
Purl’s Yarn Emporium
We were very privileged that our business did not suffer any physical damage. We had no power for a week, and of course no clean water for two months (which made yarn dyeing impossible). Internet access was problematic for a while but we got creative. As soon as we could start texting, we started connecting with our stitch group members, sharing information and resources by group text. After not much more than a week, we reopened so that our community of crafters could have a place to gather, connect, support one another, and share resources. It was extra important for our Sunday night group which is largely made up of young adults without a lot of local connections. We rearranged our store to make more space and times for gathering and we welcomed groups that had lost their spaces.
A post we made online went small-scale viral so we weren’t so worried about paying our own bills, which allowed us to use all those eyeballs from the far flung fiber arts community to raise funds for local fiber farmers who’d had severe damage on their farms. People could contribute through our online store or go directly to any GoFundMe we found out about and shared links for on our site, and we donated back all sales of local yarns back to those farmers. We bought a new professional-grade sewing machine for Jennifer Woodruff, a fiber artist whose studio (with all her tools, supplies, and finished art) had been destroyed. Between our customers and our own donations, we gave over $5000 to Marcia Kummerle, whose barn was damaged and goats had been washed away, about the same to Jennifer, and $2500 to several other local fiber farms and artists.
We also invited far flung customers and fiber artists to buy gift cards which we then passed along to anyone who came into the store in the weeks after Helene to give them some support and comfort in the aftermath we were all dealing with. It was touching to have locals come in to buy yarn and tell them it was free because someone across the country wanted to brighten their day, and we got to hear so many stories of people and their Helene experiences. Sometimes just being able to share and be heard is a big help by itself. We ended up being able to give out over $2700 of products free to locals because of this program.
An annual tradition we used to have was yarnbombing Wall Street twice a year to bring joy to the neighborhood, but we hadn’t done it since the Covid era chased us out of downtown. But when Wall Street shops hosted pop-up holiday spaces for flooded-out Biltmore Village businesses, we knew we had to pitch in. Our store community came out to share messages of love and support and lots of colorful yarn. Another tradition we have is a holiday fundraiser for Beloved Asheville, and this year we went all out, taking no profits for the pre-Christmas weekend, donating all proceeds to Beloved, who stepped up so much during the disaster. Our customers really responded and we were able to give them almost $10,000.
Red Fiddle Vittles
We raised more than $60,000 and provided more than 8500 free meals for Red Cross shelter residents, first responders, and volunteers. You can read all about on our blog:
https://www.redfiddlevittles.com/s/stories/101224
https://www.redfiddlevittles.com/s/stories/101824
https://www.redfiddlevittles.com/s/stories/102324
https://www.redfiddlevittles.com/s/stories/121524
https://www.redfiddlevittles.com/s/stories/122824
RiverRock Clinic
Hurricane Helene turned the quiet stream behind Dr. Lok’s clinic into a river that flooded the building with three feet of water. That Sunday, as the storm struck, Dr. Lok was the first physician to arrive at a local medical shelter, stepping in to lead care for dozens of vulnerable patients. When she eventually needed to return to her flooded clinic, she coordinated a rotation of other physicians to ensure the shelter remained staffed—though none were originally planning to come. In the weeks that followed, she volunteered daily at a nearby LatinX community center, providing care and medications to people left without access to healthcare in the wake of the storm.
Starboy Creative
Teryn and I raised $6,000 in those first few days from friends, families and our extended network. Most funds were used to fill our rented U-Haul with needed supplies to take to smaller mountain towns.
You can find the full story on their blog: https://starboycreative.com/hurricane-helene-asheville/
Studio A (at Pink Dog Creative)
At the River Arts District RADFest/ grand reopening in November 2024, I had a t-shirt fundraiser at my studio/gallery, Studio A, at Pink Dog Creative, where I raised money for RAD artists who had lost everything. I made $500, which I was able to donate $50 each to ten different artists. This March, my husband Chris Wilhelm and I organized a Singer Songwriter ROUNDup Benefit Concert at the Grey Eagle. We found an amazing sponsor, the Jazz Foundation, we were able to pay each of the 16 musicians, and we raised over $3,000 for BeLoved Asheville for hurricane relief.
The LaundroMutt
We loaned out our grooming space on weekends completely free, table, tub plus utilities to the team of Fetch Dog Spa RAD whose salon was completely destroyed in Helene. We thought it was the least we could do to help make sure they had income and somewhere to groom. We didn’t know them at all at the time and have now become wonderful friends. We also offered for our customers to fill up water here (with or without coming for business services) or even shower in our home we had very few take us up on it but we wanted to help anyway we could.
Vintage Kava
We take pride in serving our community and opening our doors as a place to gather and coordinate when it was needed most during all of the days that followed Hurricane Helene. We knew our community would be showing up here and we all needed a place to come together to make the biggest difference. Here are some pictures of our kava community’s Hurricane Helene recovery journey. So many people put others’ needs before their own and everyone found their own way to contribute. We coordinated helicopter landings in our field, and a group of heroic people consistently took those supplies to nearby harder hit areas like in Burnsville, Spruce Pine, Black Mountain, and Marshall areas where there were so many people that had nothing. Our group drove up mountains in their trucks and motorcycles as the roads were all damaged, they cut down trees with chainsaws to find stranded people and bring them supplies- even hiking in supplies when necessary. One thing everyone in our community has been saying is how lucky we all are to have found each other. We hope our efforts may encourage more people to find their community like we have. You never know when or where the next disaster will happen- you need people like this by your side!
Our days at our kava bar during the month after the hurricane consisted of daily community cookouts, we put together rescue missions for some of our community members we knew were missing, we coordinated helicopter supply drops and planned daily distribution routes to areas that were not getting supplies, we planned supply runs as a group for medical needs, pooled our resources, and most of all our community came together in the most beautiful way- that was the best gift of all ❤️ there are truly too many people to thank for their hard work and dedication. Thank you so much to everyone who had a hand in this recovery process. We luckily had a Starlink and generator ready to go which allowed us to see information from social media of what areas were bad off so we knew where supplies were needed, the Starlink allowed our community to check in with their loved ones early on, and the generator powered our fridges making the daily community cookouts possible. A shout out to all our amazing staff at Vintage Kava- we truly have the best crew! Thank you to the Town of Weaverville for giving Vintage Kava a certificate of recognition too!
Wake Foot Sanctuary
Donated foot soak and massage experience to many local volunteers and nominees within our communities, partnered on collaborations for marketing with many local businesses that we had not worked with before, & raised retail sales funds for local donations.
Waxon Batik and Dye Studio
I turned my storefront into a small distribution center for a few weeks! I collected goods from out of town friends and then put the word out, meeting other locals at my shop so that they could take what they needed.
Woodwitch Arboriculture
Emergency Tree work. We worked for pay but also did lots of volunteer work for folks that needed trees removed from their homes, roads, vehicles, etc. After losing my own home to catastrophic flooding, I was fortunate to find a temporary rental, and able to swiftly shift into action to mitigate the disaster.
After Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, we took a moment to pause and ask ourselves: how can we truly support our community in this moment of recovery?
A few weeks later, we hit the pavement—literally—visiting 90+ small businesses in downtown Asheville. Our initial idea was to create a Holiday Gift Guide that would spotlight local shops and make it easy for shoppers, both near and far, to support our city with the click of a button. As we gathered interest for the guide, a new idea took shape: what if we helped bring more foot traffic downtown with a Late Night Asheville shopping event?
The response from local businesses was overwhelmingly positive. So, while we built out the digital infrastructure for the gift guide, we also began planning this special evening, where retail stores stayed open until 9 p.m. on a festive Thursday night.
To elevate the experience, we reached out to LEAF Global Arts, who graciously connected us with their network of performers to sing holiday carols on the streets. We also partnered with the Asheville Choral Society, Asheville Beer Choir, and even Gray Line Trolley Tours, all of whom enthusiastically joined in. Retailers offered snacks and festive drinks, and ZHOOSH handled the planning, coordination, and PR efforts to bring it all to life.
For the Holiday Gift Guide, we built a dedicated website that allowed each participating business to feature three products linked directly to their site. We wanted it to be as easy as possible for people to shop Asheville local. To further amplify visibility, we created promotional reels hosted by Tammany Mills and Brandi Andrade, spotlighting nearly every shop featured.
Our efforts may have been small in the grand scheme, but they were heartfelt—and we were honored to serve our city during those challenging days and beyond.
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