Asheville – Kyle Gillett is overseeing the incident response of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Western North Carolina. The house of worship on Sweeten Creek Road has been converted indefinitely into a clearinghouse, where requests for service are turned into work orders and distributed among volunteers willing and able to assist. Until future notice, members are worshiping through helping their neighbors in need.
When it was evident that Helene was going to wreak serious havoc, supplies were sent immediately to the local command center from The Church of Jesus Christ’s regional offices. These included “real” pantry food items, water, shovels, chainsaws, hard hats, etc.
Most requests for service are sent to the Church via an organization called Crisis Cleanup. Gillett and Asheville Stake Communication Director Steve Stay said they’ve been trying to get the word out about crisiscleanup.org and would appreciate any help the Tribune could give. People in need may call 844-965-1386 or complete and submit an online form at https://forms.office.com/r/dtgMfmJaQP.
Orders don’t have to come via Crisis Cleanup. Gillett told of a walk-in visitor who was at a loss for what to do and saw the shovels and chainsaws outside. A crew accompanied her back to her house, where they opened with a prayer for comfort and presented a food box with enough to feed a family of four for three days and a case of water. Then, they got to work clearing the trees off her roof. That’s the pattern: pray, deliver some food, get to work, and then see if other neighbors need assistance while the crew is deployed.
The food boxes have been distributed to the eleven congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ in the area as well as other strategic organizations. Manna, for example, received a significant shipment after their food storage “all washed out.” The Church of God in Christ was another recipient. Gillett explained that the Church has great working relationships with a lot of faith groups in the area, and many of these have received food boxes as well. Valley Hope Church in Swannanoa and the local Episcopal Diocese in Western North Carolina, especially Calvary Episcopal on Hendersonville Road, have particularly been terrific collaborators in this work.
Gillett sometimes leaves the command center to work with teams, and he’s seen a lot of damage. One time, a road was impassible, leaving residents stranded. One man that couldn’t get out had cancer and needed to get to frequent chemotherapy appointments. The team first chainsawed the fallen timber. Then they started shoveling the mud by hand. As they did so, a landscaper from Blairsville, Georgia, showed up with a tractor and six men. They reported to the command center looking for service opportunities, and the dispatchers knew exactly where to send them. Gillett and his wife even took one of these devastated families into their home for the time being.
“I’m grateful to be here,” said Command Center Lead Burke Hunsaker. “People don’t wait.” Hunsaker said he could really feel a spirit of people wanting to lean into problems and solve them to help their neighbors.
“Ultimately,” said Gillett, “the greatest part of what we’re doing is trying to serve all Heavenly Father’s children as Jesus Christ would.”
Asked what bottlenecks the teams were running into that readers might be able to help clear, Gillett said that, frankly, “The church provided such good organization and resources, we haven’t had any bottlenecks.”
One lesson learned from the church’s centuries of experience in disaster relief was to not take more orders than can be filled. Gillett said almost every church in the region is looking for ways to help, so it makes no sense to make people wait a week if somebody else can get to them. Another was for crews to stay in their lane. Their job was to help make homes accessible and habitable. The EMTs and search and rescue crews handle medical issues.
Speaking of EMTs, the church has been working with Senators Tim Moffitt and Jim Perry. Moffitt, in particular, has been helping to identify first responders in need so crews can be sent to clear their properties. With first responders hauling hard to rescue people all hours of the day, it is only fair to help them have a place where they and their families can rest easy between shifts.