BeLoved Asheville shows love to Texas after devastating flooding
North Carolina nonprofit reciprocating compassion it received after Hurricane Helene
LOUISVILLE — A grassroots organization known for being instrumental in helping the people of western North Carolina to recover from Hurricane Helene is giving back to flood-ravaged Texas as a reciprocal gesture of love.
BeLoved Asheville, a North Carolina-based grant partner of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, recently sent cleaning supplies and other goods to beleaguered Texas, where more than 130 people died as a result of catastrophic flooding in early July, and where scores of others are still missing.
The outreach by BeLoved Asheville is the group’s way of giving love back to one of the states from which compassionate volunteers showed up when Helene devastated western North Carolina last September.
“Probably more than nine months ago, one of the first people that came to Asheville … were people from Texas,” said Ponkho Bermejo, a co-director of BeLoved Asheville. “So when all this happened in Kerrville, our first reaction was thinking how we can support them because they supported us in the darkest time in western North Carolina.”
The outreach to Texas is documented on BeLoved Asheville’s Facebook page, which says in part, “After driving over 20 hours, we reached Kerrville, TX — and it felt like returning to that September 27th when Hurricane Helene tore through our WNC community. The devastation, the heartbreak ... but also the memory of Texans driving 20+ hours to bring us supplies. … Love given can only be repaid with love.”
The Rev. Amy Cantrell, a co-director of BeLoved Asheville, said the desire to help was “visceral” when they heard about the destruction and loss of life in Texas. Among the casualties were at least 27 children and staff at Camp Mystic, and Jane Ragsdale, a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville who was camp director at Heart O’ the Hills Camp for Girls in Hunt, Texas.
“We felt it in our bodies, that trauma and what those folks are going through, and we wanted to show up,” Cantrell said.
She added that BeLoved Asheville also is "supporting organizers on the ground in the wake of storms in Texas and central North Carolina, sharing wisdom and support as people who have been through disaster.”
Reaching out to others in need is a way to bring about unity and also to foster healing, Bermejo said.
In the days following Hurricane Helene, “I remember people coming from all over the country, and us being wowed, like, oh, people came from North Dakota, they came from Texas, they came from California, New York,” Cantrell said. Also, “I remember saying to people, ‘If it happens to you, we're coming.’ … We have this deep sense and understanding of mutuality, of kinship.”
BeLoved Asheville was a key source of help in North Carolina in not only Asheville but throughout devastated parts of the Appalachian region.
“Our impacted zone was so wide,” Cantrell said. “We were serving about 15,000 people every day throughout the impacted area here in western North Carolina, which is about two hours in either direction.”
“We shared millions of resources — food, water, hygiene, first aid. We had hike teams going out hiking five miles into inaccessible areas," Cantrell said. "We set up temporary water infrastructure for schools and childcare centers and communities to be able to function again, so we were just doing all sorts of different things,” including getting medication to people.
And the work is continuing. The group just completed its 100th major home repair/rebuild, Cantrell said.
BeLoved Asheville's day-to-day work focuses on creating home, health, equity and opportunity for all, according to the group's website. Projects include building an affordable housing village in East Asheville, and there’s a second village slated for hurricane-ravaged Swannanoa.
Jennifer Evans of PHP said the work that BeLoved Asheville does is particularly important at a time when the powerful are unraveling the country’s social safety net.
“BeLoved Asheville is living out the call of Matthew 25 — feeding the hungry, clothing the stranger, and showing up in the midst of crisis with radical love,” said Evans, an associate for PHP communications and national partnerships. “They embody what it means to be a beloved community, rooted in justice, responsive in compassion and committed to collective care — not just for their local neighbors, but for those facing disaster across state lines. Their witness reminds us that community can rise up to stand in the gap when systems fail.”
For more information about BeLoved Asheville and how to support the organization, go here. The Presbyterian Hunger Program is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Interim Unified Agency.
Go here to donate to disaster relief for U.S. flooding. Funds in this account will help communities’ overall relief and recovery efforts associated with flooding to include assessments, clean-up efforts, and rebuilding. Your prayers and faithful giving are deeply appreciated.
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