Jillian here, owner of The MerTails beverage company and The NOHM Elixir Bar with updates and our call to action in response to Hurricane Helene.

Sales from our small bizz beverage company and elixir bars have always provided accessibility in the form of free herbal medicine to touring artists, volunteers, staff and producers of our beloved event industry. With the recent flooding and strain on resources in Western NC since Helene hit we are having to pivot during these uncertain times where our local business is halted and utilities // fresh food // potable water are an around the clock effort.

A week later our team has found stability in this new normal and we are activated in raising funds to support our mutual aid plan to service our direct community of organizations on the ground who are distributing resources.

As a beverage forward company it’s our goal to hydrate and nourish the nervous systems, digestion and immunity of these folks who are working countless hours. We have secured clean potable water to make herbal tonics in our production facility, which now has power and was not physically affected by the storm.

Our ask is for your help to gather funds to cover the continuing cost of labor for our team to produce these herbal tonics and distribute them appropriately as well as to cover the cost of the materials; organic herbs, aloe, vinegar, honey, coconut nectar, citrus juice, salt, clean water and gas. We will also expand our inventory of beverage dispensers and water vessels so that we can process large volumes efficiently. Lastly, we are raising funds to upgrade our water filtration system so that when our water system is restored we can access potable water at our facility.

Meanwhile we are stomaching the loss of one of our elixir bar collaborations with Asheville Dispensary that was swept away along the French Broad River with our inventory and appliances and are just getting power back at our WAVL location. We experienced a lot of loss but our team is safe and we are in high spirits, fueled by your love, prayers and the ability to keep filling cups... more on that soon as we gather ourselves.

With your support we aim to fill the cups of those at Beloved Asheville (who is our largest distribution hub currently), The Chemist Distillery (who are offering free filtered water daily from 12-5pm in the south slope), Firestorm Bookstore (who’s been holding neighborhood meetings and providing resources to locals) and Grassroots Aid Partnership (who are offering three free meals a day and showers) as well as folks in our backyard assembling river clean up.

It’s going to be a long road to bring this town and our economy back into balance. We thrive as a small business hyper local focused economy and we are all taking care of each other best we can. Community is everything!!

Special thanks to our partners near and far for your constant support, aligned values and medicine; Asheville Dispensary, Cacoco, Kejiwa Creations, Greenfield Water Solutions, Celtic Sea Salt and Evo Hemp.

With love,

The NOHM Collective & The MerTails team