Charlotte clergy organize to deliver help and hope in Hurricane Helene’s aftermath

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As longtime ministry colleagues in the Presbytery of Charlotte in North Carolina, the Rev. Dr. Lori Archer Raible and the Rev. Dr. Amantha Barbee have maintained a close friendship through the years, united in their love of neighbor and their shared passion for justice.

Both of which propelled them into immediate action this week in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

“If we have a relationship with the pastor in the affected area and they let us know exactly what they need, we deliver on those immediate needs,” explained Raible, who serves as pastor/head of staff at Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. “In this case, our church responded to a request from [the Rev. Dr.] Allan Purtill at Tryon (North Carolina) Presbyterian Church. We’re going out again [Thursday] to First Presbyterian Church of Spruce Pine (North Carolina), where they are really struggling. We know that any action we’re taking this week is triage in the hope that larger efforts will kick in by the end of the week.”

Barbee, a ministry engagement advisor for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) based in Charlotte, had only just returned home from vacation to heavy rains, strong winds and a loss of power and internet service when she immediately contacted her friend at Selwyn Avenue.

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“I knew we had to do something,” Barbee said, “so when Lori told me that they were gathering supplies to bring to the folks in Western North Carolina, I started talking to neighbors. There’s also a bike shop across the street from the church, who saw the ongoing effort and offered the use of their van. And since even with that I saw that they still didn’t have enough transportation, I volunteered my own, huge pickup truck.”

Not only did she contribute her truck, Barbee made the trip to Tryon herself.

“Driving from Charlotte to Tryon, at first it was nothing, then the closer you got …,” said Barbee, who paused to take a breath.

“I had an image in my head from Sunday evening when I was pulling some weeds out from the roots,” she continued, “and to see trees that looked exactly like that was very sobering. Huge trees that looked like my weeding. The beautiful stream was a muddy mess with uprooted trees. The Tryon church parking lot was filled with mud. I could see concrete pointed to the sky, just snapped in half.”

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Once at the church, Barbee learned that the small group of volunteers leading the relief effort were all without power themselves.

“God bless them for doing the work,” she said. “To be able to help others when you are suffering yourself was inspiring.”

Both Barbee and Raible understand that while such grassroots efforts are critically important in the short term, the recovery will be lengthy.

“This is the connectional church at its best, doing what we can do while we’re waiting to hear what long-term displacement looks like,” said Raible. “It will be a long road.”

Barbee said that while society as a whole has become numb upon hearing news of such disasters as raging wildfires in California and devastating mudslides in the U.S. and across the globe, “it’s a different feeling” when disaster strikes so close to home.

“As siblings in Christ, we’ve got to get back to a place where I have the same feelings when I see the forest fires in California,” she said. “I didn’t sleep for three nights because I didn’t hear any news about my friends in Western North Carolina. Because we’ve become numb to those we don’t know, it was good for me to have a conversation with the members of the Tryon church, whom I didn’t know, in order to realize that even in their pain, they’re out there helping others.”

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is one of the Compassion, Peace & Justice Ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. You can donate to help with the hurricane response of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance by clicking here, or you can text HELENE24 to 41444.