Hurricane Impact

On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina and devastated areas of Swannanoa and Black Mountain. Our community experienced widespread loss of life, property, infrastructure, and security that we are still navigating.  Our meetinghouse was damaged in the flood, but we continue to meet weekly in other places of worship that have offered us sanctuary. Please see the sidebar for up-to-date information about where we are meeting.

Apply for Assistance

The hurricane has had a profound impact on us all. Other meetings have reached out to offer assistance and the finance committee has set up a fund for accepting donations. If you have financial needs or other needs that our meeting may be able to help with please let us know by using the link below to complete our form. We are also happy to assist in getting the information if needed. Ministry and Counsel will review the requests and respond to you.

SVFM Hurricane Relief Request

Donate

Thank you so much for your interest in making a contribution to the Swannanoa Valley Friends Meeting Disaster Relief Fund. As with many in our community, we were devastated by Hurricane Helene. Our beloved Meeting House and property which sits at the confluence of Flat Creek and the Swannanoa River in Black Mountain, NC were heavily flooded and destroyed beyond repair. We were able to salvage a few items, but for the most part we have lost everything. The difficult and emotional decision was made by our Meeting to demolish the building. We are currently meeting for worship and business on Sunday afternoons in the St. James Episcopal Church. Several of our members were also directly impacted by the hurricane and have lost their homes and/or livelihood or have suffered extensive damage to their property. We are gratefully accepting contributions to help with the cost of the meeting house demolition, as well as offering financial assistance to those who are in deep need of support. Our next steps beyond this action are still being discerned over the next couple of months: what to do with the cleared property; whether to seek new dwellings in a local church or college or other building; whether to buy a building or land on which to build anew. Thank you for holding us in the Light and for your generosity.  We are deeply grateful.

Online contributions can be made through the platform Zeffy at https://www.zeffy.com/donation-form/hurricane-helene-disaster-relief-fund

Note: Zeffy automatically adds a 17% fee to your donation to support their work. If you would like to remove that contribution, go to the “Summary” section, choose “Other,” and type 0 as the amount.

or checks can be made out to Swannanoa Valley Friends Meeting and mailed to PO Box 1032, Black Mountain, NC 28711 (and please note in the memo that it is designated for the Disaster Relief Fund)