Students Volunteer at Nonprofits Hit by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina

A building sat empty with its interior walls and flooring torn out down to the concrete foundation. A strange faded brown line about 20 feet high ran along the exterior of the building’s walls.

The line marked how high the waters had risen around the Veterans Restoration Quarters (VRQ) in Asheville, North Carolina. Entire living units of the building had to be gutted.

A group of UW-Milwaukee student volunteers arrived at the site not sure if they were at the right place, because one of the entrances was blocked off with shelving damaged and dirtied from the storm.

The volunteer coordinator walked everyone through the devastation and reminisced about the brand-new gazebo and outdoor landscape work that had just been donated before the hurricane wiped it all away. There was a strange shape in the dirt where the gazebo once stood. 

UWM students were tasked with picking up debris on the property and helping salvage shelves for reuse.

Student volunteers had decided to dedicate their spring break to volunteering rather than going home or on a trip with friends.

Alternative Spring Break

The Student Experience & Talent (SET) office sponsors this annual alternative spring break trip to Asheville for UWM student leaders to volunteer at various nonprofit organizations in the community.

Most students on the trip don’t know each other, which allows them to make new connections on campus that continue after spring break.

Students explored Asheville’s downtown business district, participated in daily reflections on the impact of their work and visited nearby art centers and historical exhibits.

“The idea is to go in with an open mindset, see how different communities are working together and building community,” said Andy West, program manager of SET. “We want students to come out of it with a camaraderie but also ideas that they could bring back to Milwaukee.”

This year, the trip was different; It took place after Hurricane Helene.

Effects of Hurricane Helene

In September 2024, Hurricane Helene was a Category 4 storm that caused damage throughout several states when it made landfall in Florida.

On the alternative spring break trip, it’s tradition to visit the River Arts District, which is a community of local artists who open their spaces to the public to explore, take classes or make purchases.

This unique space for creatives to share art was decimated in the storm.

It was located near the French Broad River, which saw historical flooding.

“The recovery hasn’t been the best,” said Asheville business owner Danny Garza. “I would say federally speaking, there’s not been as much help. I feel like most people have probably been getting assistance from community led organizations or the community itself raising money.”

UWM students experienced their first peek at the extent of the hurricane damage when they visited this location expecting to see vibrant art, but instead were met with collapsed buildings, piles of rubble and abandoned art materials.

“I think initially the morale obviously was completely gone, but the community came together quickly,” Garza said.

What was once a lively space full of people was now abandoned, except for some teenagers on skateboards messing around.

Nature had taken these art galleries and established its own art exhibit of destruction.

All this damage left non-profit community organizations in need of even more help this time around when UWM students arrived.

Veteran Restoration Quarters (VRQ)

One of these sites was the VRQ, an organization that provides transitional housing, meals, counseling and personal development services for homeless veterans.

“They really care about every person, everybody that lives here,” said VRQ resident and maintenance worker Mark Owen. “And their goal is to help everybody move forward.”

The VRQ operates out of a location that was once a functioning motel, which allows for 160 beds of transitional housing, 40 beds for emergency shelter and 50 units for permanent supportive housing.

The resources the VRQ provides veterans are intended to be a steppingstone toward independence.

Volunteers are the bulk of the VRQ’s workforce. They help with preparing meals, doing administrative tasks, teaching classes and providing maintenance repair.

“One of the reasons why I like working in the maintenance department is because every time I work on something, I’m helping one of my fellow veterans,” Owen said.

Ruth Lolo started out as a volunteer before assuming her role as volunteer coordinator, and she has helped lead the organization through recovering from the storm.

“I believed in what they’re doing here, and I really enjoyed it,” Lolo said. “I enjoyed working with the guys who come through and just getting to know them and work alongside them.”

Before Hurricane Helene hit, there was already heavy rain that left the ground saturated, so the water had nowhere to absorb.

The levee in Asheville couldn’t hold the water it was receiving, so the dams were opened to ensure it didn’t break.

In a sudden gush of water one structure at the VRQ was demolished.

The water came in, clearing everything out in the building, and knocking out the back wall pushing through the entirety of the building.

The main structure where residents lived was salvageable, but everything inside was ruined.

“It was a bit like a washing machine inside, but it was muddy water,” Lolo said, “just throwing furniture around.”

Since then, the VRQ has received help from a disaster response organization called Team Rubicon, which has the expertise and professional equipment to help with tearing out what was ruined.

Some veterans with personal vehicles lost them to mud reaching the top of the vehicles. Water rose as high as the second floor of the building.

“They’ve all been very, very impacted and retraumatized by this,” Lolo said. “Many of them have histories of trauma and PTSD, and this definitely didn’t help.”

The VRQ pivoted to operate out of 84 rooms in the nearby Quality Inn while the property is renovated and restored.

“We’re restricted to a much smaller area, but we are very grateful to have that space and be able to all be in one place again together where we can support each other and be a community again,” Lolo said.

The plumbing and electrical wiring was aging, and the building was not easily accessible for the disabled residents, so they plan to rebuild the quarters back better.

“It’s going to be nice to not have to worry about the old infrastructure anymore,” Lolo said. “That’s the silver lining in all this.”

Costello House

The Costello House of Asheville is a recovery living ministry for men in the community experiencing homelessness who also suffer from substance use disorder and struggle with mental health. 

Costello House is a transitional facility where residents are housed for two years and led by a peer with the goal of finding employment or gaining education.

Before the hurricane, Costello House had three men graduate from the program.

“To see these men be celebrated surrounded by friends, family, sponsors and volunteers from Costello House,” said volunteer coordinator Leigh Ann Bridgman, “it was really, really touching.”

In 2023, 263 men received service from the Costello House and 31 of those men gained employment, with the help from 425 volunteers giving 4,750 hours, according to the Costello House website.

The house currently has 24 beds with a goal to expand the space to 40.

Residents share a dining space where they are provided with free meals cooked by volunteers in the home’s industrial-sized kitchen.

Hurricane Helene left the house out of power for two weeks and out of water for two months.

On the night of the storm, the house and its residents were impacted by severe flooding, with water rising up through the basement.

The residents worked in two-hour shifts squeegeeing water and attempting to keep water off the floors to prevent damage.

“We were scared,” Bridgman said. “We didn’t know what was going to happen. We had no communication really to the outside world because the phones were down, radio was down, so the only information we were getting was from each other in our community.”

Residents also assisted the elderly neighbors living across the street by picking up branches and removing trees.

“It was a time for everybody to really pull together, and our guys did that in the community as well, helping neighbors,” Bridgman said.

Along with a place to live, Costello House offers residents free dental/vision care, psychiatric care and acupuncture. 

Chad Mabe is a senior resident recovering from 21 years of opiate use and helps new residents transition to living at the house.

Mabe first arrived at Costello House with some opiates, but quickly he flushed them down the toilet after the second day.

“I kind of got a feel for the energy,” Mabe said. “I found out, like my teeth were all jacked up when I got here, and they told me about how they got a dentist that’s going to start doing free work. So, I was like there’s a lot this place has to offer.”

Since Mabe’s time at the house he has enrolled in courses online to earn a degree in computer science with an interest in web development and programming.

UWM student volunteers helped prepare the exterior of the house for spring by mulching and laying rocks on walking pathways.

Residents came outside to work alongside the students.

“I met a guy named Randy,” said UWM student Joshua Hecht. “We were just having a good time out there working, cracking jokes. As we just shoveled mulch and, you know, these are just people. They’ve had a rough time and they’re just looking to get back out there. I really appreciate all the work that everyone’s done for them and the work they do for themselves.”

Asheville Greenworks

Asheville GreenWorks is an environmental organization focused on climate equity with programs revolving around urban forestry and water quality.

The organization has a team of trained volunteers who lead different programs that contribute to their overall goal.

Their work in the community has shifted from field work to more of a nursery role with a focus on providing seedlings for planting.

UWM students helped GreenWorks at one of their nurseries to pot bare root trees that will grow over the course of three growing seasons before being distributed to members of the community.

“Greenworks was definitely my favorite,” said UWM student Kaitlyn Lund. “I’m an environmental science major, and anything outdoors that lets me get in touch with nature is always a major plus for me.”

The demand for these native trees has increased since many trees were lost to Hurricane Helene.

They’re trying to meet the demand for trees caused by the 40% loss in Buncombe County due to Helene, according to GreenWorks volunteer tree keeper and board member Philip Blocklyn.

The organization was unable to do anything for the first month after the hurricane hit because roads were closed and areas were deemed unsafe.

GreenWorks was surprised by how much of an emotional connection people in the community had to their trees.

“Along with all the physical healing, we want to be a part of the broader healing,” Blocklyn said. “We want to let people know they aren’t alone; they have a place to go if they loved their trees.”

GreenWorks plans to reconstruct native plant life taken by the storm.

“The path forward isn’t all that clear, particularly in terms of economic development,” Blocklyn said. “So, it’s an exciting time and we all know exciting and interesting times can be the hardest to live in, but I’m very hopeful.”

MANNA FoodBank

The MANNA FoodBank is a member of Feeding America and services 16 counties of Western North Carolina by distributing food from their warehouse out to local food pantries and agency partners.

Volunteers at this location participated in date-checking food and sorted produce to ensure that MANNA’s partners receive the best quality products.

MANNA’s previous facility was declared a total loss after the hurricane, which led to them losing two million pounds of food and for a few days they were unable to operate.

Community members, volunteers and employees worked together to set up a temporary site at the Western North Carolina farmer’s market, where they operated out of a parking lot taking donations that were immediately distributed.

Within a week, MANNA got their current warehouse facility up and running after getting an emergency lease.

“We’re still working as hard as we can,” said volunteer center associate Matthew Miller. “We’re still trying to get as much food out to the community as possible.”

MANNA has distributed about 10.8 million pounds of food since Hurricane Helene and in February 2025 alone they distributed 1.8 million.

“This is going to take years of recovery,” Miller said. “I hope people understand that, and there’s still a lot of people in need. I hope that we’re just not forgotten.”

UWM Students Explore Asheville

After one morning of volunteering, exhausted UWM students hiked up the steep and rocky Lookout Trail in North Carolina to reach the breath-taking view of the Seven Sisters Mountain range that waited at the top.

The buildings from nearby communities sat comfortably within a sea of trees that seemed to stretch far across the hilly terrain and into the vast blue sky.

“I’ve never climbed a mountain before,” said UWM student Kayla Hiland. “It took me awhile, but I got there. It was really cool.”

It was succeeding in activities like this that brought a group of students, who had generally been strangers before, together over the course of spring break.

“I think I would say the hiking, it was very tiring, but I think it was kind of rewarding at the same time,” said UWM student Nancy Lor, “and I really enjoyed the group photo that we did.”

The hike was more than just walking up some rocks. For many of the students, it represented the transformative experience of the alternative spring break trip.

Another day, everyone went to a dance class in a gymnasium at Warren Wilson College.

By the end of the night the music was loud, the smell of body odor was pungent. UWM students alongside people from the North Carolina community danced to live folk music.

This was Contra dancing. It’s like line-dancing but made up of long lines of couples with dance instructions that got more complicated as the night progressed, with the hum of the stringed instruments influencing the tapping of feet on the dance floor.

“I feel like there’s more of a connection between people here,” said UWM student Avery Peters. “This is going to sound trivial, but just when dancing with them they maintained eye contact.”

The ages of the dancers ranged from small children to a man in his 90s who continues to come even after the passing of his wife.

This was the type of compassion and resilience that UWM students found in the Asheville community over spring break.