Rebuilding Hope: Chimney Rock’s Faith-Based Revival

Chimney Rock is a small village in Western North Carolina with around 150 residents, situated in a valley at the base of Chimney Rock State Park. The quaint downtown, lined with storefronts, was a stop for tourists visiting the state park and nearby Lake Lure. When Hurricane Helene hit the area, the downtown was devastated. Floodwater from the Broad River rushed through the town, washing away whole buildings and flooding others.  

The flood destroyed infrastructure too, tearing up US Route 74, the main road in the village. The only bridge in town was destroyed, leaving Chimney Rock severed from the state park it’s named after. The flooding left the whole town in shambles, and many wondered how they would be able to rebuild. Chimney Rock is a town that relies on tourism, but this flood destroyed the businesses that tourists frequented. 

“If we can get open this summer… most of us might be able to make it,” said Chimney Rock Mayor Peter O’Leary. “But if we don’t, it’s going to be very difficult.” 

As the citizens of Chimney Rock scrambled to figure out how they were going to bounce back, their saving grace came in the form of Christian outreach programs. Christian non-profits from across the country descended on Chimney Rock in the months after Helene, looking to help rebuild in any way they could.  

Among these groups is Great Needs Trust, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based non-profit that was founded in October of 2024, in response to the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Great Needs Trust mobilizes groups of Amish youth from the area and gives them a chance to travel and help with relief work in Western North Carolina.  

“Helping other people is part of helping bring people closer to God, part of expanding the kingdom,” said Great Needs Trust Board Member Chris Glick. 

Great Need Trust offers Amish youth the opportunity to go somewhere new with their peers and do work that helps those in need. The young Amish are eager to volunteer because the trip is an adventure, taking them on a nine-and-a-half-hour bus ride, away from the insular community they grew up in. 

“Young folks love to be together,” said an Amish elder in Chimney Rock, who declined to give his name. “Another thing is for them to be able to connect with each other.” 

Since the beginning of the year, the group has sent a busload of 35 to 75 volunteers every week to hard hit areas like Hendersonville, Black Mountain and Chimney Rock, according to Glick. The young men help with construction projects, while the young women work to help keep the town fed. The women work alongside another non-profit, Spokes of Hope, to cook meals for volunteers and residents in Chimney Rock.  

“The ladies from their community have been hugely instrumental,” said Connie Humenik, National Outreach Coordinator for Spokes of Hope. “We’ve been serving anywhere between 300 and 400 lunches a week, especially now that the weather is getting nice.” 

Spokes of Hope is based out of Longs, South Carolina, and it was founded in 2018 in response to the destruction and flooding of Hurricane Florence. Wanting to help their community, Humenik and her brother, Shane, partnered with a friend who owned a disaster relief company and began working on distributing supplies to those in need. Humenik found that she had a passion for this work, and the organization has continued to grow ever since.  

Spokes of Hope and Great Needs Trust are two very different groups from different parts of the country, but they are both motivated by the same thing: faith. 

“We are led by the Lord, and we just go where God is calling us to go,” said Humenik. 

Both of these non-profits have the same core motivator, and it has brought them together in the small town of Chimney Rock to help those in need. Everyone with these non-profits is doing volunteer work, and they aren’t looking for praise for what they are doing. 

“This organization doesn’t want any glory or for the little bit of what we’re doing,” said Glick. “I want all the praise, honor, glory goes to God, and we’re just little aspects of that.” 

Spokes of Hope and Great Needs Trust have been working in Chimney Rock for months now, and while their progress has been monumental, there is still much to be done. Both organizations have made it clear they are in for the long haul, as Great Needs Trust continues to send busloads down every week and Humenik continues to make the trip frequently to help manage Spokes of Hope’s work in the town.  

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This story is part of a semester-long investigative reporting project into the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. It was created by an advanced reporting class in the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program at UW-Milwaukee. Other stories from the project are available here.

This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club.