Support Ryan, Aris, and their hound through Hurricane Helene

Hello all, my name is Aris Coltabaugh and I have lived in the Asheville area for the last five years. I grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina all my childhood and experienced hurricanes regularly, including Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Hurricanes are not new to me, but hurricanes in the mountains usually means some small amounts of flooding, lots of rain, maybe some power outages. Hurricane Helene has decimated Western North Carolina, especially the surrounding rural areas of Asheville.

My partner, Ryan, and I have both been working in the Food and Beverage Industry of Asheville as a cook and baker for the last several years. Due to Hurricane Helene, we no longer have jobs in Asheville and while the community is thriving to support each other with what little food they have left/can get sent in, employment will not return for several weeks, at the earliest. We live paycheck to paycheck, as so many of us in Food and Bev, do.

Asheville is also still without running, potable water which prevents us from being able to shower, clean our dishes, or wash our hands. The city won't be able to open any restaurants until the water treatment plants have been restored.

Ryan and I are very grateful to be alive, safe, and together with our dog, Riley. We had both been expected to go into work, off the French Broad River, Friday morning. My usual route was blocked by flooding already and when I did get there, I watched the water of the FBR slap against the sides of Second Gear well above the door level as I baked pastries Friday morning, hoping I would be able to leave before the water crossed the train tracks. What is normally a 20 minute drive home took us 1 hour and 40 minutes, we spent the first 40 minutes trying to rescue our dog from our sitter's house, but were forced to leave her overnight when every route was blocked by flooding, fallen trees, and down power lines we could not safely traverse. We had no way to contact anyone to let them know when we did make it home. We were able to rescue Riley the next day after trees had been cut to provide one-way traffic. After a few days of boiling and filtering water, rationing what little food we had, and carrying pool water up to flush our toilets, my partner and I were able to get gas to fill one of our cars and evacuate to my mother's in VA.

Our future is full of uncertainty as we try to figure out next steps. We are fortunate that we have been able to get to safety and are grateful to everyone who has been able to help us thus far. There are so many people still left in rural areas that need more immediate help, if you are able, please donate to those fundraisers and relief teams.

Any money donated to Ryan, Riley, and I will go directly towards helping us buy food, essentials, and short-term lodging through this displacement and possible relocation. We would be very grateful to anyone who is able to support us, as we will be trying to find housing and employment as quickly as we can.