Here’s how Asheville and North Carolinians are showing up for each other after Helene

n the week since Helene pummeled western North Carolina, many people have moved to offer a glimpse of hope to displaced residents.

In the week since Helene pummeled western North Carolina, many people have offered a glimpse of hope to displaced residents. They have deployed mules with supplies to places isolated by the damage. They have given shelter to dozens of stranded residents. And they have found alternative ways to distribute food after losing everything. While hundreds of first responders and National Guard troops have been deployed to Asheville and nearby communities to help with the anticipated long recovery from Helene, here’s how both neighbors and strangers are supporting each other: Hoyt Johnson turned his lodge in North Carolina’s Little Switzerland, an unincorporated village perched high in the mountains about 30 miles northeast of Asheville, into a shelter. The 42-room Big Lynn Lodge became a safe haven for dozens of stranded residents and travelers after the storm. “I’m doing what I can do for people,” said Johnson, who has owned the 100-year-old lodge for 14 years. He said many of his neighbors and his staff have lost everything. “I never, ever would imagine that something like this would happen.” The lodge has hot water, Johnson said, and while it doesn’t have power, helicopters have delivered a generator, water, food, diapers and medical supplies. He’s designated eight rooms for use of their showers, a first aid station, a charging station for cellphones and has started to cook hundreds of hot meals.