Support Carlton and Kathleen's Hurricane Helene Recovery

Hello everyone and nice to meet all of you. My name is Carlton and my mother is Kathleen. We are wanting to try and raise some funds to help with our hurricane relief from the damage of Hurricane Helene.

My mother and I live in Arden, NC. just outside of Asheville, NC. We got power back after 8 1/2 days and as a result, lost all of our refrigerated food. We attempted to save what we could in ice chests but ended up running out of ice to keep things cold and lost that food as well. We had to spend what cash we had on hand and the money we had set aside for bills. We had to use the money to buy food, gas, and equipment to help with recovery. During the storm, we had a tree come down on the back of our home, which destroyed the deck, flattened our HVAC unit, and did some damage to the back of our home. We do rent our home, so at the moment, we are at the mercy of the landlord for all the external repairs. We attempted to apply for FEMA relief and were denied help since we are renters. For renters, only your internal home belongings are covered. After speaking multiple times with them, this has even been a challenge to get reimbursement for the chainsaw I had to purchase to cut up the tree off the back of our home. I was permanently locked out of my disaster assistance account due to verification issues, which makes it almost impossible to even appeal their decision outside of sitting on hold for hours and hours just to have the call dropped and sit in queue yet again.

This storm has been terribly destructive. The amount of damage that has occurred from this storm is beyond anything we could fathom being so far inland and in the mountains. No one could have imagined this would happen here, let alone be prepared. Our small communities have come together as much as we can to help each other out with damage and temporary repairs to our homes. We've done our best to clear roads as much as possible to help people try and get to stores until the utility companies and outside volunteers reached us all. Some places are damaged to the extent it requires helicopters or hiking teams to carry supplies to help people. Now that the waters have receded, we are all starting the slow recovery to get the towns and people back on their feet again.

As of recent, I was injured at work and have been on short-term disability and FMLA. My mother has had to file for disability for her own medical issues. Because of my injury, it has been a challenge due to our financial circumstances to pay the bills. The storm damage that Helene has done has made things even more difficult to deal with.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. If you're unable to financially help, your prayers are welcomed. The funds raised would be spent to help us with the bills that are due such as rent, utilities, phone, and any damages we would need to repair ourselves.

My mother and I want to thank everyone that has dropped by this page from the bottom of our hearts.

Thank you!