HENDERSON COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — More than a year after Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina, nonprofit leaders say recovery is still far from over — not because of broken buildings alone, but because of lasting trauma, staff burnout and sustained demand for services.
A new regional survey of hundreds of nonprofit leaders across WNC paints one of the clearest pictures yet of what recovery looks like behind the scenes. Nearly six in 10 nonprofits reported physical damage during Helene, with total losses exceeding $100 million. But leaders say the hardest part of recovery now is human, not structural.
“At this point, we’ve fixed the buildings,” said Lauren Wilkie, CEO of Safelight in Henderson County. “Now we’re in trauma recovery mode. And that takes years — sometimes decades.”…