This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.
Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene left mountain towns across North Carolina and Tennessee devastated, the signs of recovery are everywhere thanks in part to the determination of local residents and the helping hands of volunteers, including a team from Centre County.
Thirty volunteers from Watermarke Church, Zion Community Church and Wingate Faith Church recently returned from a weeklong mission where they partnered with relief organizations to help families rebuild and move forward.
From the start, the team saw both the magnitude of the destruction and the spirit of the people who lived through it. Businesses and homes are being rebuilt, but there was no shortage of optimism.
“Eighty to ninety percent of the businesses and homes are still being worked on,” said Brad Heltman, Watermarke’s family and youth minister.
Every day, the volunteers would drive for more than an hour into towns that were affected by the aftermath of the storm where they took on projects that stretched from construction to creative restoration. They shoveled out basements filled with sediment, laid electrical wiring, put roof trusses in place and even helped repaint an art school whose classrooms had once been underwater.
At each site, they met people who had endured incredible hardships and yet, were greeted with gratitude and determination.
One woman who lost nearly everything in the storm shared how her faith carried her through. Though her home was destroyed and a beloved pet bird was lost, she rejoiced when reunited with her emu, Bobo, who was found alive downstream after days of uncertainty.
Another family told of how floodwaters rose so quickly that they were forced to climb out of second-story windows to escape. Today, with the help of church volunteers, they are rebuilding and moving forward.
“Some of the amazing things to see there were the resilience of the people.,” said Scott Devore, Watermarke’s men’s ministry coordinator.
The mission was more than just construction projects. For the three churches, it was also a chance to unite in a shared purpose.
“We may not come together every Sunday morning to worship in the same building, but we can come together and partnered with Christ in a common goal for His kingdom’s sake,” Heltman said. “And that was huge to me too, seeing the different churches come together. I hope it has a community impact,” Heltman stated.
The effort was supported by donations, a silent auction and prayers from back home. Each volunteer invested their own time and resources, but community support made the trip possible.
“I would say first and foremost, prayer is absolutely a must,” Heltman said. “God brings the rest. He brought the community together and he brought our churches together, built our relationships to help us spend a week ministering and serving others in a very healthy way, and showing Christ’s love through that.”
The group is already planning to return next year, eager to continue the work and strengthen the partnerships they built with the Marshall Relief Alliance and Mountainside Homestead Ministry.
“The fact that we were able to connect with those people down there. They were very grateful for all the time we put in. We’re grateful that God sent us there. There’s a reason we were there,” Devore said. “We know that there’s so much more work to be done.”
For the people affected by the disaster, progress is measured not just in rebuilt homes but in the friendships formed along the way. And for the volunteers, the mission was a reminder that even in the face of disaster, hope has the power to rise higher than the floodwaters.
