Dreaming Big: Why Helene Could Be Western North Carolina's Rebirth

I stood in a ballroom full of exhausted, determined people this week—elected officials, nonprofit leaders, government workers—all of us carrying the weight of the past year. All of us rebuilding from Hurricane Helene, the worst storm in our state's history.

And you know what I felt? Hope.

Not the toxic positivity kind that ignores the pain. Real hope. The kind that comes from seeing what's possible when a community refuses to just go back to "normal" and instead asks: What if we could build something better?

At the one-year anniversary summit, I said something I truly believe: "I hope that 10 years from now, we'll think about Helene as the rebirth, the new birth, of Western North Carolina."

Let me tell you why I believe that's not just possible—it's already happening.

We're Not Just Rebuilding. We're Reimagining.

Mayor Esther Manheimer said it perfectly: "We're going to be employing different sources of grants, opportunities, and funding over the next several years to build back better."

Not back. Better.

That means tackling the issues that were already hurting our communities before Helene hit—issues the storm made impossible to ignore.

Housing That Actually Serves Our People

Before Helene, our service workers, retail employees, and the people who fuel our tourism economy were already being priced out. They were trading housing costs for transportation costs, commuting from farther and farther away just to afford a place to live.

Now, with significant federal grants coming in to rebuild homes, we have a chance to do it differently. More multi-family housing. Housing closer to jobs and amenities. Housing that reduces the burden on our workforce instead of adding to it.

As one expert put it plainly: our workers are "continually battling growing prices and a really limited amount of housing stock." We can change that. We must change that.

Transportation That Connects Us

Here's where I'm going to let myself dream out loud: passenger rail service to Asheville.

I know, I know. We've talked about it for decades. But here's the thing—as critical rail infrastructure is being rebuilt east of Asheville, the new design could accommodate passenger rail in a way the old system never could.

As one rail leader told us, "The conversation is alive and well." Friends, that's not nothing. That's a door opening.

Imagine connecting our communities. Imagine reducing transportation costs for workers. Imagine what that could mean for economic opportunity, for quality of life, for the future we're building.

It's worth pursuing. And I think we need to do it.

Infrastructure That Can Weather the Storm

A leader from the Department of Agriculture said something that stuck with me: "We have got to get serious about focusing on infrastructure to deal with flooding. As a state, and as a society."

He's right. We can't keep rebuilding the same vulnerable systems and hoping for different results.

That means flood-resistant infrastructure. Resilient water and sewage systems. Roads and bridges built to last. Local and regional supply chains so we're not left stranded when disaster strikes.

Asheville is putting significant federal grant funding toward infrastructure repairs. That's a start. But as I said at the summit: "There will never be enough public dollars to do all that needs to be done. There will never be enough philanthropic dollars. We've got to do it collectively."

This Is Our Moment

I won't sugarcoat it—the exhaustion is real. The road ahead is long. There are thousands of homes, businesses, and farms still to rebuild. There are communities still hurting, still waiting, still wondering what comes next.

But here's what I know: we don't have to settle for going back to the way things were. We can build the Western North Carolina we've always needed.

Housing that works for everyone. Transportation that connects us. Infrastructure that protects us. A community that takes care of its own.

That's not just recovery. That's rebirth.

And 10 years from now, when we look back, I believe we'll see this as the moment everything changed—not in spite of Helene, but because we refused to let the storm define us.

We're defining ourselves. Together.

What part of this vision speaks to you? What would you add? I'd love to hear your thoughts—because this rebuild belongs to all of us.

With hope and determination,

Sharon

P.S. If you want to be part of the rebuild, there are so many ways to get involved—from supporting local businesses to advocating for smart development to simply showing up for your neighbors. Let's keep the conversation going. What does the Western North Carolina of your dreams look like?