The winter that wouldn't end

It's felt like winter since September.

My best friend died at the end of August. Already under a dark winter cloud of grief, Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina on Sept. 27, leaving more devastation that any of us could have imagined. Entire towns washed away by the floods. Thousands of people displaced as their homes floated down the rivers. Some of those people still haven't been found, and if they were, it was too late.

It's been a lot of grief to carry, and I am one of the fortunate ones who only sustained minor damage. I'm still able to live in my home. I didn't lose my job or a loved one or anything like that, but every day since then I have heard others' stories of loss and seen the look of hopelessness in their eyes.

Here we are nearly five months later and so many areas of the region still look untouched since the storm. Driving down Swannanoa Road to Black Mountain last month felt like a fresh punch in the gut. Driving my favorite route up to Hot Springs, many of the landscapes are almost unrecognizable. People are still unhoused. People are still waiting for financial assistance to come through. Others have given up. Many haven't even applied.

Seeing how slow recovery is happening and knowing this region will be recovering from this natural disaster for the next decade - that's heavy. I don't even remember October, usually my favorite month full of hiking, being with friends, and craft beers by the creek at Frog Level. We didn't get that this year.

I think most of us were still in shock. Those of us in the nonprofit world were too busy helping people get their basic needs met that we didn't have time to process anything. Before we knew it, those election results were rolling in Nov. 5. I won't speak for others here, but for me it was another devastating blow.

Another Trump presidency didn't give me any new hope for a quicker recovery. It didn't give me hope for the millions of people struggling in my state or the rest of the nation. I wasn't hopeful the price of groceries would go down, and also that was my least concern. I knew the first Trump administration cut funding for ACA healthcare navigators (part of my job) and I knew our immigrant communities would be at risk. I knew it would mean more funding cuts for those who are most vulnerable.

More dread and fear followed me around, feeling like there's not much I can do about it. The holiday season hit different this year. We went through the motions, purchasing new Christmas ornaments and decor (since ours were lost in the flood) and we put up a little tree. We cooked and spent time with family. We exchanged gifts. It all felt so frivolous. It felt like being in complete denial of what was to come in 2025.

More winter.

We got word last week that 90% of ACA healthcare navigator funding is being cut. News that ICE wants help from IRS agents to identify undocumented workers despite the fact that those residents pay millions in taxes each year. I can't even keep up with the bad news coming in each day.

But it doesn't mean we hang up our hats and do nothing. We push forward. We do what we can to help others. We helped people apply for FEMA assistance. Pisgah Legal Services formed a Disaster Recovery Team to help people with FEMA and insurance denials and direct them to the resources they need to survive.

I continued to help people sign up for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act so they'd have the health insurance they need to survive. Our immigration team has been flooded with requests for assistance since Trump was inaugurated and vowed to deport millions of people. We're doing our best to educate people of their rights so they know how to protect their families if they find themselves facing deportation.

I feel like I'm doing all I am mentally able to do right now, and yet it's never going to feel like enough. I'll continue to support my community in meaningful ways. And on a more macro level, I can be more intentional about where and when I spend my hard earned dollars. I canceled my Amazon Prime account and my Audible account (also owned by Amazon) because I don't want to support billionaires who aren't paying taxes or paying their employees a living wage.

I can stop shopping at big box retailers that don't pay their employees a fair wage and benefits and that don't support the local community economy. I can refuse to order cheap clothing made off the backs of child labor in China.

I also plan to take part in some upcoming boycotts, including an economic blackout on Feb. 28 to show the power we the people have when we all work together. Here's a few more:

Amazon boycott March 7-14

Nestle boycott March 21-28

Walmart boycott April 7-14

Economic Blackout #2 April 18

General Mills boycott April 21-28