ABCCM

The Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM) provides much needed housing and support for Homeless Veterans living in the Asheville-Buncombe County region. Legerton Architecture is a local Architecture firm located in Asheville, NC, and we have been working with ABCCM to help them increase their Veterans Housing units when Hurricane Helene destroyed their existing primary housing complex, the Veterans Restoration Quarters (VRQ). Money raised by this campaign will help ABCCM rebuild this building to house our veterans.

Since the storm, the veterans living in this building have been displaced and it will require extensive flood remediation and renovations in order to once again serve our community. Restoring this building will cost millions of dollars.

Built in the mid-1970s, the VRQ is nearly 55,000 sf. When Hurricane Helene dropped over 24 inches of rain on the WNC region, the entire building was flooded with five to six feet of water from the Swannoah River. This flooding has rendered the building and site unusable and deposited mud and debris throughout the building and across their parking lot, courtyards and open space. The entire building will require extensive mold mitigation, new interior finishes furniture, electrical, mechanical and plumbing fixtures. All housing units, offices, common spaces, dining hall and kitchen were severely damaged. Fortunately, the structure appears to be stable.

Western North Carolina critically needs housing. This building alone provided 160 beds of transitional housing and 40 beds for emergency shelter and 50 units of permanent supportive housing for a total of 250 beds. It also had a kitchen and dining hall used for feeding these veterans.

Legerton Architecture believes in the mission of ABCCM and we hope we can help raise awareness of the storm damage and help them recover from this terrible disaster. Thank you for your support!

You can also donate directly to ABCCM at www.abccm.org/donate/helene

UPDATE: Thank you all SO much for your generous donations! As more information comes out about the best ways to help and the best organizations I will continue to share that with you.

ORIGINAL POST:

My name is Windsor Hanger Western, and I grew up in Asheville, NC, and lived there until I left for college in 2006. Almost my entire extended family lives in Asheville, including my sister and her family, my mom, my dad, my grandmother, aunt and uncle, and cousin. I share all of this to help you understand my close personal connection to the city. Watching these recent floods has been incredibly devastating. I have been unable to get in touch with anyone because the entire electrical grid collapsed and cell service was cut off. I have been able to speak to my mom, who is an RN at Mission Hospital, which has limited cell service. The entire area has no water, no electricity, no internet, and no cell service. Most roads are impassable.

You can read about the devastation in:

The Asheville Citizen Times

The New York Times

Fox Weather

The Washington Post

CBS News

Many of you have asked what you can do to help, and I have felt the same strong desire to do something. From what I understand, it is not currently safe to go to Asheville as most roads are impassable due to mudslides and/or being completely washed away. When cell service and power are eventually restored, the hard work of rebuilding will begin.

I have decided to raise money for Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM), one of the key non-profit organizations addressing poverty, hunger, homelessness, and access to health care for the underserved in Buncombe County. These donations will specifically go towards their Crisis Ministry. They are operating shelters in Asheville, NC, and we will be in touch with them once their administration offices reopen in order to administer funds.

My father, Howard Hanger, founded and led Jubilee Community Church in Asheville for 30 years, and Jubilee was a regular donor to ABCCM's important work.

Thank you so much for your consideration and gift. Please also consider sharing this fundraiser widely. Every little bit helps!