 | Welcome to Rebuilding Hollers Foundation |
About us...
Four days after the storm we were finally able to get out of our own mountain holler.
We weren't expecting the total devastation that was everywhere.
We didn't realize the apocalypse had happened in our very own town.
There was no cell service, no power, no internet, CASH ONLY society.
No water in town, No water at home. It was Apocalyptic.
We were not prepared for the total devastation that had occurred in our most extraordinary Small Mountain Towns & Hollers.
Our neighbors didn't have any food for their children, themselves or their animals.
It all started with my family & best friend being willing to help, an empty parking lot & a tent in the middle of town. Up on a hill, overlooking the Bypass, aka Hwy 19E in Burnsville NC. Roses Parking Lot distribution was born, completely accidentally. No way could we ever have known how much help our neighbors truly needed. But we knew we didn't want them to come out of the holler and feel alone or abandoned like we did. We wanted to have a place for them that had whatever they needed. And we did it. We supplied thousands of our neighbors in Yancey & Mitchell County with whatever they needed for seven weeks after the storm. In an open parking lot.
The response from all of America is what got us through those first seven weeks.
I would make a video and folks would bring us what we asked for. We were able to give our neighbors hundreds of chainsaws & generators, no property escaped without tree damage, some lost hundreds of trees... everyone lost at least ten. I also personally wanted everyone to have a generator, so as long as you live in these two counties, you would get a generator. Our power is still sketchy in a lot of places, and folks need back up generators especially through this winter. We also gave out endless amounts of food, baby items, over the counter medications, hygiene, animal supplies & food, camping supplies, thousands of bins. Everyone needed bins to get their personal possessions and items out of their damaged or destroyed homes. It was so sad, so many stories, so many tears, so much loss. Everyone was shell shocked and didn't know what to do, so they pulled into Roses and got in line with us for supplies & hugs.
Hello, my name is Stephanie Johnson and I was just a local mountain realtor the night of the storm; #MountainFabulous with Mountain Adventure Realty in Bakersville, North Carolina.
Accidental Organizer of pure chaos four days after the storm...
Founder of Rebuilding Hollers... Come Hell or High Waters seven weeks later.
I love my community, I love these mountains & we are rebuilding my favorite place in the whole world!
I would be so very thankful for you to follow along as we work with our neighbors to get them everything they need to rebuild their lives, homes, barns, workshops, businesses and family farms!
It is of the most importance & we need your help!
It seemed like an impossible task
Just make sure no one felt abandoned the first seven weeks after the storm.
The Roses Parking Lot..
No Power, No Internet, No Credit Card Payments.... Everyone was poor, except the folks that had cash. For weeks!
The first days and weeks in the parking lot was nothing short of remarkable... folks from all over the country came to help us.
Family, old high school friends, amazing life long friends, other realtors and small businesses came every single day they had off.
I will forever be so very thankful for their support, it kept us going.
My favorite memory of the parking lot will always be the praying, I have never been prayed over so hard EVERY.SINGLE.DAY...
I will forever be so very thankful for those prayers, they carried me so I could pour love into my neighbors.
Check out our First Two Months:
All of America Came to help us..
God touched the hearts of thousands of people and told them to come to WNC and bring supplies.
It is still a complete miracle how many people came from states all over the country to help us!
We will forever be thankful for their love and support.
Amongst the misinformation that it was dangerous and bad things were happening, folks still kept coming. They decided nothing would stop them from getting to their beloved mountains & bringing us whatever we needed. It kept us going. It kept us alive.
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And then God sent 100 Doors...
During a normal Saturday distribution day on November 2 a shipment of building materials came in. The building material went so very quickly, I understood that My community was desperate for BUILDING MATERIALS...
I'll never forget thinking, "God, you want me to get into building materials?".. four hours later 100 doors showed up!
That's how it all began..
Its gotten a little better every single day! Tools joined in & our Mountain Men & Women began to smile again.
They began to realize that God was sending what they needed and it was okay to accept it.
And then the Sheetrock showed up!
And then God sent loggers from Alabama with loads of rough cut lumber... and more friends with TOOLS!!
We have been so thankful to be able to supply our neighbors with everything you have sent since the storm.
We are most excited about the next chapter of this rebuilding effort..
After 104 very long days... we finally HAVE A HOME BASE!
We have been so very thankful that the Roses Parking Lot allowed us use of their space. By giving us a space to help our community we were able to understand their needs and evolve to make sure we were meeting those needs. It also gave me an opportunity to be brave enough to try. Our time there was up and in Gods perfect timing, he sent this hidden gem. It did suffer some water intrusion and the owner has worked tirelessly to put it back together. We were thankful to be able to help her finish up the repairs and lease the space for our HOME BASE.
We are so excited that at the same time we are finally building the perfect website to tell our story, we are also moving into the most fabulous location! We now have 2,400 sqft heated space + almost 2 acres of yard space. We are so excited to be able to get trucks into our location, unload them and get that material out to our neighbors that need it to rebuild!
We are all moved in and in the process of setting up our Material & Equipment Yard
Keep checking in for updates and do not hesitate to give us a call anytime if you need anything - 828-208-6404
Our Team is so amazing & we wouldn't be able to do this without them!
I am so very thankful for this incredible team that God sent to walk this very difficult path with me.
Our teams commitment to Rebuilding Hollers Foundation and their love for this community and for what we are doing is expressed in every single interaction with our neighbors and friends that continue to need our assistance. Each team member brings a unique skill to the group and together we have been able to accomplish what seemed absolutely impossible.
These are my favorite humans in the whole world, they have showed up every single day to work hard and help us help our neighbors.
Our Organization
Once we understood that we needed to organize in a way that would serve our community best, we decided to create the Foundation and apply for a 501(c)3 Non Profit. We established a seven member Board of Directors that are all local community members of Yancey & Mitchell County to over see our efforts to stand with our neighbors to make sure they are receiving all the help they need.
Our Board includes:
President: Stephanie Johnson of Mountain Adventure Realty
Vice President: Lisa McCourry of First Citizens Bank
Treasurer: Cindy Casper of Mountain Adventure Realty
Secretary: Tyler Johnson of Mountain Adventure Realty
Finance Officer: Erica Deaton of Whispering Pines Accounting
Board Member: Jeremiah Teal of Teal Construction
Board Member: Jonathon Williams of Roan Mountain Drafts