West Asheville, NC – Nov. 30- Dec. 6, 2025

Sunday evening, November 30, we welcomed a group of three men from Alberta, a man from Ohio, and a man from Pennsylvania to work on housing repairs. A long-term volunteer decided to stay an extra week, and a man from the local area, John Murphy, came to help on Thursday. He will be volunteering one day each week.

One team worked with crew leader Doug, caulking and painting in Ron’s and Susan’s houses, and leveling a floor, priming, and painting at Joi and Morgan’s.

The group at Judy’s house, under Nathaniel’s direction, was disappointed on Monday to learn that many components for the “puzzle house,” a prefab, were too weathered to use. Replacement parts will arrive sometime in January. They helped at Tarin’s for the rest of the day, then spent the remainder of the week working on Marissa’s house: leveling and adding support to the foundation, tearing out moldy insulation and drywall, cleaning gutters, and working to divert water away from the house in the future.

Simon’s crew continued their “high-wire act” and finished replacing the roof on Christi’s house. She was very grateful and sent a lovely letter of gratitude.

David and Lukas installed Ashley’s countertop on Friday, much to her delight.

Wednesday evening, Torre, Executive Director of the Reparations Stakeholder Authority Asheville (RSAA), joined us for dinner and spoke with us about RSAA’s history and goals. We appreciate her affirmation that our work is reparation.

On Thursday evening, Judy, the homeowner of the puzzle house, came for dinner and shared about what she has experienced since Hurricane Helene.

Electricians continue to work on updating the wiring in the RSAA building, moving us closer to obtaining the permit that will allow us to use the building for lodging. Duke Electric, the local utility, now has a firm date for cutting over to the new three-phase, 800-amp, 208 VAC service on December 16. The final electrical inspection is scheduled for December 15.

The shower trailer was finally hooked up to the building sewer and passed plumbing inspection. No more sewage removal fees.