North Carolina disaster recovery site celebrates its first volunteers, invites more to come

A volunteer group from the Maine Conference of the United Church of Christ traveled to the mountains of North Carolina in March, ready to assist people whose homes had held 6-8 feet of water during the unprecedented Hurricane Helene in 2024.

Pam Burnham, one of the volunteers, described how a homeowner had resourcefully removed all of her home’s doors and framework and set them outside to dry and prevent mold after her home flooded. This created one of the volunteer group’s initial tasks: getting to work sanding, cleaning, and painting the ones that could be reused, and then helping to reinstall them.

The Rev. Bruce Burnham and Pam of Maine’s Katahdin Association coordinated the volunteer group of nine people from four different Maine churches. They were the first official volunteer group to stay in the High Country UCC Disaster Relief Volunteer housing.

High Country UCC, located in Vilas, North Carolina, has prepared this space within their church to become a UCC volunteer site, which is available to groups seeking to offer disaster recovery work, through support from the UCC Global HOPE’s Hurricanes 2024 appeal.

High Country UCC invites more volunteer groups to schedule visits in the available spaces this summer and fall.

Celebrating the volunteering spirit

Bruce Burnham, with a seasoned history of over 20 years of coordinating various disaster recovery volunteer groups, always aims to schedule in a Sunday on volunteer trips to worship with the hosting congregation. The volunteer group received a special worship experience with High Country UCC: on March 15, the church held a commissioning service of the volunteer site.

Two members of the Global HOPE team of the UCC National Setting were present to bless and celebrate the volunteer site with the congregation: UCC Disaster Minister Katie Howe and UCC Minister for Volunteer Engagement, the Rev. Kelly Burd.

Burd reflected on the excitement in the air when celebrating both the congregation’s commitment to housing volunteers and the first visiting volunteer group.

“There was a real vibe of warmth and informal hospitality. I felt a graciousness that felt characteristic of the discernment of this decision to serve as a host site,” Burd said.

Responding to ‘hidden devastation’

Eighteen months have gone by since Hurricane Helene severely affected areas of North Carolina, and this is when long-term recovery becomes essential for the needs that remain.

Howe emphasized that community members shared about the “hidden devastation” that remains at this point.

“Some of the rebuilding work that needs to happen is not clearly evident in the community anymore, but there are people still living in houses that may be unsafe. They’ve got mold or are not structurally sound because they didn’t have the resources or the money to be able to repair it, but they also didn’t have an alternative housing option, so they have remained in those houses,” she said.

Members of High Country UCC have been part of the local Long-Term Recovery Group, said the Rev. Sarah Parker, the church’s pastor. This engagement, together with funds raised with the UCC Hurricane Relief Appeal, has allowed them to support members of their surrounding community, particularly in Wautaga County where there are large wealth disparities.

“I don’t think people realize how impactful that is,” Parker said. “To be at the table of the Long-Term Recovery Group and say yes to those needs that fall through the cracks – that has been an amazing thing to be part of. We know the real impact of helping to pay the rent for that month that got behind because of all the hurricane expenses, or because they got taken advantage of by a contractor – contractor fraud is huge. It has been a really impactful thing for us to get funds to the community, and I would encourage churches to do that more if they’re able too, because that kind of mutual aid is really impactful for folks who are living paycheck to paycheck.

“We want to make sure we’re really seeing the folks who are around our church and in our community.”  

Parker expressed gratitude to the UCC and all those who donated to the Hurricane Relief Appeal, noting how “it does make an impact on the ground.”

A collaboration of abundance

When groups make plans to volunteer through High Country UCC, they work with the congregation’s volunteer coordinator to plan out their time.

And the site is newly equipped with a wide assortment of tools, thanks to a donation from Keystone Conference UCC to house one of their tool trailers at High Country. A member from the Maine volunteer group delivered the tool trailer from Pennsylvania to the North Carolina Church.  

“There’s so much cooperation between High Country, the Maine Conference, the Keystone Conference, and the Disaster Ministries from the UCC – that’s what made this week and all that will happen possible,” Bruce Burnham reflected.

The Maine volunteer group was able to put these tools to use in efforts like installing drywall, repairing window trim, and painting walls, all while getting to know the folks whose homes they worked on.

Volunteer groups ‘short-term church’

The Burnhams believe in the way that disaster response work moves people out of their comfort zones and creates a community among those involved. Pam Burnham described how the volunteer experience of “taking your hair down and no make-up on” with fellow volunteers, and playing games in the evenings with the group, can build a special kind of connection.

“You can be this person with this group you’ve never met before, but they’re all there for the same reason and mission around faith and helping others. That becomes part of the reality of creating a communion of believers that reminds us who we are and why we’re doing it,” she said.

“For the short-term, you literally are creating a little church,” Bruce Burnham said.

In disaster recovery, Parker noted, there is the gift of people coming together, making connections, and continuing to pay attention to their community and the crises they face.

“We have a great team at the church of about 10 folks who are really invested in this work within our church community so we could make this happen,” she said. “The money is great, but if we don’t have people behind it on the ground – making sure the shower is set up and that groups know how to use it, and that we have everything coordinated – we wouldn’t have anything. It’s been really great to see my people say ‘Yes, this is important, and then really plug into it.’”

Those interested in planning a volunteer trip to High Country to participate in the long-term disaster relief work can find more information here.

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