
Help Derek and Amanda Rebuild Their Business After Helene
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Hello, we (Derek and Amanda Flynn) own a small business located in Swannanoa, North Carolina. We have a paint and collision shop, Liquid Design Paint and Collision LLC. We opened our doors in Swannanoa in October of 2022. For two years my wife and I have worked tirelessly to get our business up and running. There have been MANY nights and weekends where I had to remain at the shop just to get projects completed.
My wife got laid off from her teaching job due to budget cuts a few months back and has since been able to put in more efforts to help the business. But we went from two incomes to one. Within the last month we were able to purchase a 2005 travel trailer camper so she could help at the shop doing office administration while also homeschooling are two young kids (5 yr and 2 yr). I was able to have a place to sleep on those long nights. We worked so hard and saved as much as possible for that camper. We sure loved that camper.
While we were still just barely making it from month to month, things were finally starting to get better. Then Hurricane Helene ripped through WNC and Eastern Tennessee. The flooding we all experienced was unprecedented. Just awful. Swannanoa has always been a safe haven for us. We even considered staying in our camper the night of the storm because we were advised to evacuate our home. The flood waters forced through the garage doors, pushed through our building, and measured at least 5 ft deep. Once the water receded we were left with a foot of mud over everything. My dad, who passed away a few months ago, left me his tool boxes that I had just moved in and they were submerged. The camper we bought as an office had filled with water, lifted off the ground, started to flip, and landed on top of cars in the back parking lot. The 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe restoration I had worked on for almost 2 years was completely filled with mud. Not to mention the several other vehicles I had been working on. My 2005 GMC truck, which I just got back from the mechanic after a month, was in the parking lot and was fully submerged.
While we did not lose our home, we lost our livelihood. The last couple of weeks have been rough, but we are grateful to be here. We are thankful for the help we received with shoveling mud out of our shop. Now, we are faced with the challenge of not having income and still having payments due. Our option to rebuild is not reliant on insurance because we don’t have “flood insurance”, despite this being a natural disaster that no one could have predicted. We are looking into loans to rebuild, but we are still paying off our initial loans to open our doors 2 years ago. Please, any support you can provide is appreciated more than you can know. Your donation will be used to help us rebuild our business. We lost some tools due to flood damage, but also lost some tools that got washed down the river. We don’t have power, so we don’t know if our paint booth is working. Funds could be allocated for the restoration of the paint booth or for purchasing a new one. Our sign (which was in about 3 ft of concrete) was ripped out and crumbled in the water. We need a new sign and a new post. I also need to find a way to purchase another vehicle. We would like to think that one day we could afford another camper to have as an office. Although we might be living in it until we can get our feet back on the ground. If you’re near the Swannanoa area, please feel free to come by and view the shop. Maybe we could line up a vehicle you need repaired! Thank you for reading our story.
You can visit our Facebook page if you want to view the business and the destruction. Liquid Design Paint and Collision Facebook
What we saw when we first opened our door.
1941 Chevy Restoration
Back door that the waters pushed out.
Paint booth with parts that had just been painted.
Our camper and sheds from the business next door
Camper
My truck
In the middle of shoveling mud.
Amanda and the kids taking a break to watch the outside clean up. You can tell we are getting the mud out!
Picture of our family last year around Christmas.
We know this storm has devastated our community and many others. We still cannot believe this happened. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for any consideration and support.
Fundraising team: Fundraiser Team (1)
Derek Flynn
Organizer
Swannanoa, NC
Hannah Hosemann
Team member