Anyone that knows me knows this is a hard ask to make. I am accepting that while our loss is not as significant as others, this storm has deeply impacted my family and we still need help. For family and friends asking how they can support us, this is how.
We are safe and adapting to this life, but we are so rattled. In addition to all the limited resources in the area, the brain space and time to think straight is the probably the most limited resource. The devastation is everywhere you look and it will take a long time for us all to be okay.
Before the storm, my family and I had an extremely tough few years with health issues and a major water leak that gutted our home and finances and we were recovering. Thanks to our family and friends, we were starting to feel a hopeful turning point this summer and were looking to wrap up the work on our house by the end of the year.
After the storm, we are so incredibly grateful to have our home intact at all and that the lives of everyone we love were spared. For that reason, it feels hard to write this. But now that we are out of immediate crisis mode we are evaluating our losses, and they were still substantial. If any family or friends would like to support us in this way, we would be eternally grateful.
In the flood, we sustained three major losses: our van, our HVAC unit, and our income sources.
Our Honda Odyssey was in a shop getting some repairs in preparation to be sold. The shop was located near the Swannanoa River and Ken found a picture of the van on a random Facebook post. The area is still inaccessible by vehicle. We were about to sell this car and unfortunately had already transferred the insurance to our other car just days before, so it is a total loss. We were really, really counting on the sale of this van.
Our HVAC is mysteriously knocked out by the storm as well, and we are being told by multiple trustworthy sources that we need a new one altogether, which we have to do before it gets cold. It is already getting cold. There is no obvious storm damage to it, so insurance is not being helpful. The cost about 12K because it is a split unit.
We lost two major sources of income through this. Our Airbnb, which has been crucial for living in Asheville with kids through all of our family’s health needs, flooded and has to be repaired.. again. It will be weeks before we even have water again to begin these repairs. This is an especially hard during peak travel season. Unfortunately Ken was laid off a few weeks before the storm as well and while he is looking for another job, he is also taking care of our family while I am the sole income until schools open next month. My income has temporarily reduced but will bounce back eventually, and I am grateful to still be employed. But.. it is a heavy time to be a therapist in Asheville.
We are committed to staying in the area with our community and serving those less fortunate than us in surrounding areas. I am volunteering my therapy services starting next week at a local nonprofit offering free mental health care. While our Airbnb is not rentable, we are offering it as shelter when we for displaced families and emergency workers in the area. Ken is skilled at construction and is planning to work in the rural community in any way he can. We want to be focused on giving to our community, and supporting this effort will help us do that by reducing these major stressors.
If you donated separately through my Venmo for supply donations, please don’t feel the need to gift here. Those funds went to supplies for Beloved in Asheville and were delivered to families in need that day.
Thank you so much for reading ❤️