Help the Gavins after Hurricane Helene

To offset the recent loss of income and unexpected costs due to evacuating our area, which was devastated by the recent storm (Hurricane Helene), I am humbly requesting assistance from friends and family. Our home was spared, but we did lose water and power on Friday, September 27th. As of October 3, it's still out.

I'm Tamara Gavin, and have called Asheville my home since 2005. It's a special place. My kids were born here. All my dreams have been born here. My husband and I live in West Asheville, just up the hill from the French Broad River. This river is a part of our life.

Currently, we are staying with some close friends on Amelia Island in Florida, which is about a 6-1/2 hour drive from our home in Asheville. Jaga went back last night (October 2) to bring back supplies and help our community. He's not sure when he will come back to Florida and we really don't know how long we will be here! Schools have been closed since Thursday, September 26, and they say it could be weeks before they can safely reopen. That has been one of the more challenging pieces of this recovery puzzle. Now that we've found a comfortable place to land, I'm working on finding some programs and activities that my kids can do during the day. Jack is in 5th grade (age 11) and Euna is in 3rd grade (age 8).

I am an interior designer and am self-employed. I also run an Airbnb out of my home. The storm has impacted both of these. While I can perform my interior design business remotely, all of my current clients are in Asheville. It may be a while before their projects resume.

We will be fine and we absolutely have everything that we need. This is not a critical request by any means. But we have been asked by many of our friends and family members on how they can help, and I absolutely know the feeling of wanting to help.

Money that is raised here will be used directly by our family to get through the next few weeks. That includes groceries, child care expenses, bills, travel, and lodging if necessary. I've applied for FEMA and my application wasn't immediately approved. They have some tricky questions on their form so I've been told I will need to try again. This isn't my first time with FEMA; we received funds from FEMA during tropical storm Fred in 2021.

Onward,

Tamara Gavin and family

Additional Places to donate:

Oh my heart is so heartbroken to see my friends and neighbors put up these pages and plead for help from those "out there." These are just a few that I myself have visited and donated to

THE WEDGE https://gofund.me/8b9a2cea (my neighbor's business - his son is in the same 5th grade class as our son Jack.)

ATOMIC https://gofund.me/aea1bc20 (dear friends of mine Megan and Todd who worked SO hard to build their business. Their house and car were also destroyed)

NEW ORIGIN BREWING https://gofund.me/5a9f078b (awesome brewery started by Minnesotans - Jaga and I went last month for the first time and now it's gone)

THE OLD MARSHALL JAIL HOTEL https://gofund.me/4c004740 (Jaga and I were able to stay at the Old Marshall Jail earlier this year - it was such a cool experience. We are so saddened to hear that this place and the other local cafes we enjoyed on our weekend away were either destroyed or severely impacted)

DAYTRIP https://gofund.me/ede7f934 (This is a new restaurant that just opened up about a month ago in our neighborhood that we can walk to. I went a few weeks ago and am so so sad to see another business washed away. I watched as they repainted the building and had put so much work into it)

ASHEVILLE COMMUNITY MOVEMENT https://gofund.me/ac42a512 (this is where Euna goes to gymnastics. She's been going for 2 years now and she loves and misses it. They have to rebuild)

https://www.riverartsdistrict.com/donate/