Perspective: ‘Plenty of families still struggling’ in North Carolina

Editor’s Note: Juliet Vibert, recipient of the 2024 AmeriCorps Excellence in Disaster Services Leadership Award, leads SBP’s disaster response deployment teams. In this article, she shares her account of SBP’s role in the national AmeriCorps Disaster Response Team (A-DRT) deployment in western North Carolina.

By Juliet Vibert, SBP Disaster Corps Manager

SBP’s Disaster Corps is proud to support the AmeriCorps Disaster Response Team (A-DRT) deployment in Western North Carolina to support communities devastated by Hurricane Helene. Serving alongside 71 other folks from the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa (CCMI), Conservation Corps of North Carolina (CCNC), American Conservation Experience East (ACE), AmeriCorps St. Louis (ACSTL), Utah Conservation Corps (UCC) and National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), the team was instrumental in assisting warehouse distribution operations at three major state-run facilities. The mission expanded to include mucking and gutting, mold suppression, and debris removal—areas where SBP’s expertise made a significant impact.

For 30 days, we led the field operations as the resident muck-and-gut experts. Our team taught the other corps how to muck and gut homes and empathetically connect with survivors. Almost every single day, the field crews came back with dirt on their boots and smiles on their faces.

Along with the smiles, come heavy hearts. The people of western North Carolina are still actively reeling from the impact of Hurricane Helene. Traveling to work sites means bearing witness to the destruction and lives upended by Helene. The state and counties are working at maximum capacity to re-establish safe roadways, inspect homes for structural stability, and assess residents’ most basic needs as the weather turns colder. 

“We are beyond grateful that SBPUSA and AmeriCorps showed up to save the day…Words cannot express the feeling of relief. We can’t say enough about SBP/AmeriCorps and their band of hard-working humans. We are so grateful and forever indebted.”
—Scott and Becky, North Carolina

I had the privilege of connecting with homeowners Scott and Becky, whose house on the South Toe River in Burnsville, North Carolina, suffered severe damage after seven feet of floodwaters inundated their basement. The raging waters reshaped their neighborhood’s landscape, tore off their basement doors, and deposited over a foot of toxic muck throughout the space. This muck created hazardous moisture levels and an ideal environment for mold. Scott and Becky were already experiencing respiratory issues and headaches, tell-tale signs of dangerous mold exposure.

Over two days, SBP and A-DRT suited up in Tyvek suits, cleared out the debris, and gave Becky and Scott the ability to catch their breath. The couple later sent a heartfelt email describing their journey—a recovery path that SBP knows all too well:

“Scott is a police officer and we are both used to being the people that help others and not used to being the people that ask for help. We are beyond grateful that SBPUSA and AmeriCorps showed up to save the day…Words cannot express the feeling of relief. We can’t say enough about SBP/AmeriCorps and their band of hard-working humans. We are so grateful and forever indebted.”

While we were able to provide immediate services to Becky and Scott, there are plenty of families who are still struggling to find their footing more than two months after Hurricane Helene impacted the mountainous region. I’m proud to be a part of this short-term AmeriCorps response team, and I’m energized to be a part of SBP, which is actively finding ways to support these communities as Western North Carolina begins to structure its long-term recovery path. 

In just 30 days, SBP’s Disaster Corps team made a significant impact on North Carolina’s disaster recovery efforts:

• 810.5 Hours Served
• 241 Cubic Yards of Debris Removed (1 Cubic Yard=Standard Washer)
• 126 Wellness and Safety Checks Completed
• 13 Projects Completed