West Asheville, NC (SYP) – July 26 – 31, 2026

On Sunday afternoon a group of young people and their sponsors arrived from IN with hearts ready for service.  They were from the same church as the group who served here from July 12-17. 

The bridge was completed on Monday with curbing put up (no easy task).  There was a great sense of accomplishment after a lot of hard work. 

Having an experienced mason was another example of how God provides the right people at the right time for a job.  They dealt with heat, humidity, and mud as they finished the 5-course stem wall. 

On Wednesday the Hillman house job was completed as laid out on the job card.  Volunteers shingled the roof (with an experienced roofer taking the lead).  Unfortunately, they couldn’t paint the siding as it wasn’t delivered to the site.  Window and door frames were framed, but the windows hadn’t been delivered.  Brandi came to eat supper with us on Wednesday and shared her Helene experience.  Her survival led her to subsequent volunteer work to help other survivors.  That work helped her recover from the trauma and her own losses from the storm. 

Our roofing volunteers moved on to a “new” job that was assigned to MDS in Swannanoa, where MDS had previously worked on restoring homes.  Zoey’s porch roof was reroofed and the west half of her house was repaired and shingled.  On Thursday evening  at supper Zoey shared her Helene experience.  You could hear a pin drop in the room as she shared her tears, hardships, and post-Helene journey to recovery.   

A “rainy day” job at the Graham house in Marion saw a continuation of drywall work—on non-rainy days.  Even though the volunteers had no previous experience, they did an outstanding job. 

We were able to complete all ten of the job assignments we set out to do during the month of July.  None of that would have been possible without the efforts of ALL the volunteers who came to West Asheville.  For all of that we are grateful! 

For all of us at West Asheville, 

Edith, Rex, Bruce, Conrad, Dave, Anita and Sovilla