helene – RVing With a Purpose

Tuesday October 14, 2025

When we last posted, we had just arrived at the Covenant Community Church RV Village in Asheville, NC. Due to tremendous shortage of affordable housing after Hurricane Helene struck, the church has installed 36 RV sites on their property. Six of the sites were designated for volunteer relief workers such as NOMADS. The remainder of the sites are for displaced residents. Most of the people in the village lost everything, home, cars, and often their land. It all washed away. We were very impressed by the loving assistance the church has showered on the community. The RVs, mostly travel trailers have been donated to the church or furnished by the UMC conference. Some of the sites saved for volunteers had electrical problems when we first arrived so we spent the next two days running our generator when needed. The site manager was a great help and we determined the problem but then had to wait for the electrician to come change out the GFCI breakers in those sites. After that was done, all has been great.

The RV Village at Covenant Community Church

Sunday service the Covenant Community Church. There were no seats that Sunday because the local high school had their homecoming dance the night before. Also, it was a special “the church has left the building” Sunday where the pastor holds a brief worship service and then sends the congregation out to do service projects in the community;

Most of you have probably seen news stories of all the damage that has occurred in North Carolina as a result of Hurricane Helene in September of 2024. It was and is worse than we saw on TV. There was over 14 inches of rain which caused catastrophic flooding and loss of life. It will take many more years for this part of NC to recover. Hopefully NOMADS will be able to help with the healing process for some of the people.

Saturday, we welcomed Anne and Dale to the RV Village at the Covenant Community Church. Angela and Jake arrived Sunday afternoon. The six of us began work on Sandy’s home in the Waynesville area on Monday morning. Sandy had a lot of roof damage which was repaired prior to our arrival. We are now working to repair the interior of her home – drywall work, and flooring. We returned to work on her house on Thursday. It will take several more days to complete all of the work. We have enjoyed getting to know Sandy. She has chickens in her backyard and has given the team two dozen eggs this week.

Jake, Anne and Angela installing flooring in the living room.

There were several transition strips required

It’s nice to have taller NOMADS that can finish the ceiling drywall without a ladder.

Some of the drywall had been partially mudded, but it all needed a second coat.

Annette, and most of the rest of the team, did a lot of drywall sanding.

Tuesday and part of Wednesday we were tasked with installing the insulation in a home in the Swannanoa area. A number of homes in this area have interesting patches in the roofs. We were told that the families in these homes climbed into their attic, cut their way out, and climbed onto their roof to await a water rescue. There are visible water lines above the tops of windows on numerous homes. There is so very much work to be done. We are just beginning.

Our first job at Swannanoa was to move some bundles of siding for one of the affected residents.

We are very grateful that Jake handled the insulation of the firewall in the attic.

In one area of the ceiling Angela and Jake had to add some extra framing for the insulation and drywall.

The patch on this roof was to repair the hole made to rescue the people trapped in the attic.

Our team is great! We are accomplishing a lot of work. Covenant Community Church could not have been more welcoming and helpful. Our teams will enjoy their time here at the RV Village. In our off time some are enjoying the sites around Asheville, fly fishing, and the beautiful fall leaves on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Please remember our teams and all the families struggling to recover from the storm in your prayers.

Thursday, October 24, 2024

After leaving Selma, on our way to South Carolina we made a too brief stop to visit Anne’s brother south of Atlanta. We had a great time visiting some sights around Peachtree City, sharing meals and catching up.

City Hall Fountain in Peachtree City. The tubes gradually fill with water, then tip forward and spill the water.

Since we arrived at Max’s brother’s house we have been enjoying our time here catching up and clearing trees downed by Hurricane Helene.

One of many trees down at Max’s brothers house. We were actually very blessed that none of the trees fell on the house or on our motorhome that was parked there.

The tree in the picture above pushed to the right-of-way for pickup

The four of us did take a weekend camping trip to North Carolina to see the Carolina BalloonFest in Statesville. We camped at Blake Farms RV Resort which is a small family-owned campground. There are large full hookup gravel sites, a short hiking trail, and all the miniature golf you want to play – at no charge. There is also a general store. We recommend it to anyone needing a campground in the Statesville area.

Our campsites at Blake Farms RV Resort

Saturday was our day to spend at the BalloonFest. We were up early to be able to see the first balloons go up at about 7:30. There were about 25 balloons in the morning flight and there was a competition to see which pilot could drop their streamers closest to the center mark. Later in the day there was a mass ascension of balloons and later still there was an evening glow. It was a day of great fun. We particularly enjoyed the special shape balloons.