Rise UP! Part 1. From Crisis to Collaboration—Lessons from the Frontlines

How do communities hit by disaster emerge even stronger and more connected than before?

In this month's episode of “The UPLift,” we explore how Asheville, North Carolina, came together after Hurricane Helene, transforming adversity into a powerful lesson in unity, support, and renewal.

We dig into lessons learned by those spearheading collective response, featuring community leaders including Andrea Golden from PODER Emma, Philip Cooper from Operation Gateway, Jess McLean and Toshia Sitton from Read to Succeed Asheville, and our very own Tamiko Ambrose. They share how grassroots organizing, mutual aid hubs, and collective action nurtured community resilience as individuals of all identities came together to overcome the crippling challenges and hardship left in Helene's wake. Their firsthand accounts illuminate the lasting bonds that can form when communities choose love, equity, and shared humanity over isolation, competition, and discrimination.

Join us as we honor Asheville’s unwavering spirit and celebrate the healing power of solidarity. By embracing these lessons, we can carry forward a vision of interconnectedness, empowerment, and liberation—one that endures long after the storm has passed.

We'll see you same time, same place next month. Until then, peace.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:04

We're profoundly, profoundly interconnected. We don't always live that way, we don't always acknowledge it, but if we're going to heal, we have to live it, experience it and create institutions that celebrate it. Can we create a we where no one's on the outside of it? Welcome to the Uplift with Zedek Real talk for real change.

Speaker 2 0:24

Before we jump in, a quick reminder of why we're here and what we hope to achieve. We're here to build authentic community relationships and help fuel social transformation in Asheville, north Carolina. We believe collective liberation is not only possible but probable as we share, listen and learn together. We're here for the process. However, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent. Welcome to the Uplift, where we amplify the voices shaping community response and resilience.

Building Community Resilience After Hurricane Helene

Speaker 2 0:55

In our first episode since Hurricane Helene devastated our region, we're taking a unique approach. Hurricane Helene challenged our community in countless ways, but it also brought forth incredible acts of resilience and collaboration. This month, libby Kyle, executive Director of the Zetik Social Justice Fund, sits down with five remarkable leaders to share lessons from the front lines. Together, they reveal how collaboration fed, secured and inspired our local communities in the storm's aftermath. In this episode, we've grouped our guest's reflections into key themes emotional recovery, mobilizing resources and building stronger communities for the future. Stay tuned for insights from Andrea Golden Poder, emma Philip Cooper of Operation Gateway, jess McLean and Toshia Sitton of Read to Succeed and our board chair, tomiko Ambrose. Let's start with how they process the emotional toll of the storm. Andrea Golden, co-founder and co-director of Podare Emma. Community Ownership is first on the mic.

Speaker 1 1:51

How are you doing today? I'm doing all right. Can you tell me what have been some of the most challenging things that you've had to deal with?

Speaker 3 1:58

Just like everybody. It was just the world as you expected it to be stopped, you know, and figuring out both what we could do and what we were called to do. For Poderda Emma, we are a neighborhood-based organization, but we knew that the hurricane didn't just hit our neighborhood. We had to very quickly assess what we could do, what we would do and how all of our staff and all of our team go to action really quickly while also living through the hurricane themselves and with their own families and their own kids. And so that was a lot.

Speaker 2 2:35

Please welcome the founder and chief change agent of Operation Gateway, phillip Cooper. I'm big, blessed, big blessed, big blessed.

Speaker 4 2:42

What does that?

Speaker 1 2:43

mean big blessed.

Speaker 4 2:44

Big blessed means that I'm accepting whatever comes at me as an opportunity to be a blessing.

Speaker 1 2:50

Oh, I love that.

Speaker 2 2:51

Awesome Read to Succeed. Co-executive director Jess McLean and community engagement coordinator Tashia Sitton shared their experience.

Speaker 5 2:59

We both grew up here and I know like having grown up in Asheville, going around and just in our own city seeing the destruction it's hard for my brain to equate that with what I knew was there before. And then also hearing stories and knowing folks who are out in the likes of Swannanoa and Old Fort as well, that's been the hardest part, is just kind of living in a new reality and wrapping your head around what happened to the place that we grew up in, have loved, loved and you know and been trying to even better support over the years.

Speaker 6 3:33

And I agree, born and raised here and I stayed all over the city, shallow Southside, just driving through, like me, coming here today, and I took the Bibbleside driveway. I was just like whoa, you know, it's pretty amazing, like how things can be here one minute and then it can be gone the next minute, kind of mind boggling. It's kind of like messing with my mental a little bit, you know. And so I had got some rooms out of town but I decided to stay here because I wanted to be a part of the community and help distribute food supplies. I really wanted to help with the kids, try to get like some worksheets going so the kids could be able to take some worksheets home while they wasn't in school and so forth. So I've just been just taking my car, just loading it up with everything and just taking the different people. That wasn't able to get out. It was really a great feeling, you know. In the same time it was sad. You know, it's overwhelming, but I'm glad I was here, absolutely.

Speaker 7 4:25

And last but definitely not least, racial equity strategist and Zedek board chair, Tamiko Ambrose, joins the conversation. You know, I I'm okay, I feel blessed, grateful and also like I am looking forward to my next therapy session. That's how I am.

Speaker 2 4:44

For many, the storm brought not just challenges, but also an opportunity to connect more deeply with those they serve. Next, our guests reflected on the practical side of disaster response, mobilizing resources to meet urgent needs. Here's what they shared.

Speaker 1 4:58

What were those first moments like, when you all knew you had to jump into action and you knew that this space had to transform into something different to support community?

Speaker 3 5:07

Gosh, what day was that? Friday morning and really early, and the trees were just kind of coming down and cell service was starting to like get a little bit patchy. And I talked to Henny on the phone and Henny is one of the directors of La Milpa, which is like the collaborative that Blair Demma participates in, and she said are we going to have to set up a shelter because trees are going to come down on homes? We were, like we're not equipped to be a shelter, like we don't have like the beds, we're all going to lose water. Like how would we be a shelter? And then she said, well, then we have to be a distribution center and kind of a mutual aid hub. And it was just in that moment that was said out loud and I knew in my gut, like that's what we're about to do. It took people a couple of days. We had to kind of drive around to the different mobile home parks and check in with people one by one. We met on Sunday for the first time and then Monday we got to work From that first day that we met here. I think something that really gave us the sense of like we can do this and we will do this. It was, you know.

Speaker 3 6:14

Marty Sol showed up from day one All right, how do I support and plug in. Michael Hayes showed up day one, like how are we connecting in this? Philip Cooper showed up right away. Of course we all know each other, we love each other, we respect each other's work, we collaborate sometimes. But to see that happening in the middle of one of the worst things that we've lived through, that feeling of we walked in and we all hugged each other and we looked each other in the eye and said we're going to get through this together, that was huge.

Speaker 3 6:47

Sure, like we could figure out operationalizing a warehouse, but the sense of overwhelm around the scale of the devastation was so heavy and to know that we weren't going to be figuring out alone and I just want to name so many people showed up. It's not limited to them, and I just want to name so many people showed up, it's not limited to them. But when I think back to that like first kind of day and that opportunity to see each other and hug each other, to get on the phone with Miss Sophie and say like all right, we love each other, what are? What are we going to do? How are we going to stay connected? Those phone calls and those visits were so important to not feeling alone. We need to continue to build those relationships because that's what gives us the courage, the creativity and the resourcefulness to build things that otherwise feel impossible. I just think we have to amplify that, and that's what continues to give me hope.

Speaker 1 7:38

Yeah. So I feel like it's really important that we we uplift the collaborative work that's happening. Oftentimes there's a narrative that exists that says certain groups can't work together, we don't do this together, not true? One of the most heartwarming things that has happened in this disastrous time is watching how communities have come together, how neighbors are taking care of neighbors. Monday, that first Monday that we were able to get out, the first thing we did was we emptied out that ex-office of water and chips and all the stuff, and Tori went in one direction, I went in one direction and just giving stuff out to people, recognizing that we could do this.

Speaker 3 8:16

We could do it together. My experience was mutual aid hubs popped up around the region and got connected to each other. You know Rohwer in Madison County, tierraferti in Fletcher and Hendersonville. Everybody just kind of started to reach out to each other and some of those were relationships we already had, but some of them weren't new. Everybody literally kept saying what do you need? How can I get it to you? It very much felt like we have to respond together to what happened to our region and that's what I truly hope if we're going to allow ourselves to be transformed in the face of what we just lived through.

Speaker 3 8:54

I think we have to think like that about all of our work. We have a home repair program. It's not about us building the best home repair program. It's about contributing to the home repair need in a way where the collective impact is that all residents in Buncombe County's homes are in dignified condition. It's about us contributing what we're able to contribute to amplify each other. It's not about building one nonprofit. Don't think most of us work for nonprofits because we wanted to build a nonprofit. We use these structures as a vehicle to get something done. And to get that truly done we have to work together. I hope that that's one thing, that we all walk away saying like all right, we're ready. It's about collective action. I hope so too?

Speaker 1 9:37

What were you feeling when all these different organizations started to come together after Hurricane Helene to kind of make sure we're taking care of all our people?

Speaker 4 9:45

I was, like it's about time, Self-familiar. I mean what, to be honest? Like the ones that really really came together strongly and consistently were people who already had a love for each other, even though we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time in community together. It was people who we love each other. We can't run into each other nowhere without chopping it up and checking it in, so this was an opportunity for us to fully bring our organizations and our resources together.

Speaker 5 10:14

Toshi and I saw each other in the first few days after the storm, so we were able to meet up here, which was good, get supplies, figure out where we could be supporting distribution centers, both at Pisgah View at the community center as well as at the Eddington Center. And then, when you and Phillip made the call for community groups to come together and really think about streamlining efforts, adopting neighborhoods, getting even more on the same page around support, which was honestly a stunning thing to witness, that was very cool. I knew that some of the skills that I had that could be helpful included spreadsheets, so I was happy to help coordinate hot meal distribution with Michaela Mills from Impact Health and all of the HACA property managers, the YTLs. My Daddy Taught Me that Emojas, rsaas of the world and then being able to work with United Way to get volunteers and that collaboration was phenomenal.

Speaker 5 11:03

And to just paint a picture, by probably two and a half weeks really after the storm hit, we had a system where World Central Kitchen was delivering a ton of food to the Eddington Center and come to the auditorium. Bianca and Dasani, who worked with Chosen Pods, would come in there. They'd help me get the list and the numbers together, toshia, some of our other team members from Read to Succeed would come. United Way volunteers showed up at the distribution center to also just help organize and it became this really beautiful system where they were actually able to get hot meals pretty efficiently out to neighborhoods. So folks had hot food to eat, which I think goes beyond just nourishment and having something, but also seeing like there's a difference when you've had no power, you've had no water, you cannot cook, you can't get out easily to being able to have someone say hey, I care about you, I see you, here's some hot food, and being able to engage that way. So that was really a special thing to be a part of.

Speaker 6 11:53

That was a thing that really touched my heart. I'm 48 years old but by me being a native here, I have seen a lot of different changes in our communities. You know, from bad to worse, from worse to worse, you know. So, however, that go a lot of segregation was going on here also, this hurricane happening it literally what I have been seeing which is like really touched my heart is that everyone has come together. All civilians from Asheville literally came together. It wasn't anything like, oh well, I'm just here to help this person, I'm just here to help that person. No, they literally came together and like, still, even now, people are way much nicer.

Speaker 6 12:31

You know, it's like they hold the door open for you. How are you doing? You have a great day, are you? Ok, you know, and that's what I appreciate too.

Speaker 7 12:43

So I hate to say that this happened, you know, but you know it did bring this community together a lot more. I was both thinking and I was feeling. The thinking was wow, people are coming together literally across lines of difference, like we are not a monolith. We are of different faiths, you know, have different politics. Some of us might not get along, or have history, some of us might not get along, or have history beef. And all of those differences were transcended because folks had one shared goal and it was to take care of our people. You know, a lot of times people don't agree on what that looks like or how, and I think in this case, all those differences were laid aside.

Speaker 7 13:19

Anytime you have humans that come together, there's going to be bumpiness, and it was. You know chaotic moments, and it is chaotic moments and responding to crisis and all of our nervous systems are on edge. And even in the face of all that and folks not being okay in their own homes, yeah, folks were really showing up and working together. It just felt right and it felt like, if we can do this now and if we can build this infrastructure now that is community-led, led by the people who are most impacted by oppression and racism and all the forms. If we can do this in this moment, how can we maintain and continue deepening and growing this network of folks who have shown up seven days a week? Can?

Needs, Challenges & Successes in Collaboration

Speaker 1 14:04

you tell me what specific needs or challenges were you facing, as we were all trying to come together and work as a team?

Speaker 4 14:12

Well, I mean, there were some people that still didn't like become the best team players. If you ask me, I'll say just a lack of communication between some of the other organizations, because there was like duplicative efforts and without communicating, without sitting down, without making time, it continued to happen. And there was still, you know, some communities that were not getting consistent wellness checks. That pissed me off because I believe in supporting those who can't support themselves. I believe in helping single parents, especially single moms. I just feel like those wellness checks could have been better coordinated to have some consistency with each household. You dig yeah, that would just be the one I would say. For me is those duplicative efforts because of the lack of the communication.

Speaker 1 14:53

Well, and that was the whole purpose of us coming together, so we wouldn't duplicate, and make sure that all our areas were safe, and what some people might have thought of as being fragmented really was a lot of different people trying to support everybody and what it wasn't. So much that we were fragmented as that we needed to organize so that we weren't all in the same space at the same time, but we were really pushing out in like every possible direction to make sure that all of us were okay. Collaborating with other communities as we all recognize this is work that we've got to be in for the long haul. Can you see places where your community might be able to work with other grassroots organizations and neighborhoods to be able to really think long-term about the sustainability of all of our neighborhoods?

Speaker 3 15:40

Yeah, I mean, I think that that's something that we were already thinking about before the hurricane and particularly through Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition. Like literally right before the hurricane, we had just had this strategic retreat to talk about what are our shared strategies across the neighborhoods. There was so much hope and so many brilliant ideas. Then the hurricane hit and it was like, okay, well, now our relationship hit and it was like okay, well now our relationship to each other is like who needs diapers, who needs water? And now I think we're kind of coming back to this.

Speaker 3 16:10

All right, how do we reorient to the connection between our neighborhoods and now other neighborhoods that we hadn't been organizing with before, outside of legacy neighborhoods that we ended up connecting to around delivery of supplies and food and water? And so, yes, there's so much need to then look at how do we learn from each other on building community infrastructure. What we saw very clearly in the hurricane is communities that had strong grassroots community infrastructure already built were able to activate that really quickly and connect to each other, and all communities deserve that and all communities need that, and I think that's all of our responsibility to play a role in figuring that out. I have no idea what it will look like, but I know that that's part of it.

Speaker 1 16:56

Where are you in this recovery effort now? What are some challenges and what are some things that are going really well?

Speaker 4 17:02

I'm going to start with what's going good, because you know I'm still knee deep. You dig what's going good. There was some like rapid funding, and it wasn't like taking forever, it was coming. We was able to help people. This is the time when a change agent rise up. This is what I do, and so now I have ways to tangibly support people and able to have a quick support for them. You dig, that's what's going good the opportunity to pray with people and show people a different way that the church looks, because the church has done harm to many people.

Speaker 4 17:31

Another thing I would say that's going good is the way that we was able to pivot with some of our other initiatives. So, like at Operation Gateway, we got this digital champion grant and so we had access to laptops already that people could use to be able to do this work in community, especially with the FEMA applications. There's still a significant amount of people that hadn't got their serious needs assistance. There's still a significant amount of people that didn't know what to check or they was rushing. I mean, who can really think clearly when you just lost so much? So us being able to step in and help people navigate technology, that has been such a blessing Shout out to Zedek. Y'all came through with that grant and that was helpful for us because we was able to rent some trucks and we was doing a significant amount of deliveries, because you can have these big centers but everybody couldn't get to those centers. So we was able to have people in our trucks, OGs in our trucks, go and get supplies, get supplies to halfway houses, get supplies to wherever needed.

Speaker 4 18:26

What the challenges were I would say I mentioned it a little bit just now is the FEMA piece. Another thing that has been a challenge is that some of these churches I'm just going to say it some of these churches that got a lot of product but they don't have connection in the community, they're just sitting on some stuff you dig. Now it's about how willing are they to work with other organizations to make sure that this product don't just sit in and get out to people, because there's still a need? Just to be clear, this is an opportunity for some churches to rethink some things and repurpose some real estate, If you ask me, because you got these nonprofits that are doing good work that don't got enough space to operate like open up your church.

Speaker 7 19:05

Yeah, that's, that's what I yeah, I think it's a beautiful thing. A gap I'm seeing is in a disconnection between the work that's happening on the ground, the folks who are closest to the pain, having a voice at these decision-making tables, including how funds are being spent. I feel very strongly that there are opportunities in this moment being missed, and I'll specifically name within the philanthropic sector. You know mistakes are being made that will have impacts on our community, on our systems. We need to look at the big picture of the state of affairs of our region. There are mistakes being made, but those mistakes can be reversed, especially when folks say that they are committed to equity. Now is the time to actually show that you can put your money where your mouth is by committing resources to where they are needed most and listening to the people who are closest to that work.

Speaker 7 20:35

And I could go on about decisions being made, but I think there are opportunities for people to do better in implementing an equity lens across our region. I think what's been working really well is the relationships, and I say this because you know we've been convening the space for however many weeks, different people dropping in and out as the weeks have worn on, seeing folks who are closest to the front line, showing up representing my own neighborhood rather than a nonprofit representing your neighborhood. Seeing that kind of shift happening is really beautiful to me. Yes, we want to have folks who are most impacted in that room. Yes, and I feel like when folks come back, that it means that they feel like they belong. Yeah, that feels like something that I hope continues to blossom. Yeah, that feels like something that I hope continues to blossom.

Self-Care

Speaker 1 21:29

One of the things that has really challenged me is some people want to rush us back to what they think is normal. The reality is there is no normal now. I can't even imagine what a normal would look like, because things have shifted so much. How are you?

Speaker 3 21:47

making sure that you are OK. We have had a well-being rule that's been kind of coordinated by someone who lives in our community who's an acupuncturist. She has been working with different acupuncturists, massage therapists, chiropractors. We've been working closely with Aflorard, Sarah Nunez and her organization to make sure that we have resources kind of here on site, to make sure that we have resources kind of here on site. I would say.

Speaker 3 22:12

Equally as important and what I feel like I'm hearing a lot from folks on our team and with all the organizations RAICES, Mangan, Ki Hu, Entelar, everybody is that almost equally as important to that was being able to go out and visit families that they work with and bring food and water and to be able to hug each other and make sure people were okay, because we need to see each other and we need to kind of reaffirm that in the midst of all of this, we are there for each other. That like tending to your heart, which is seeing the people that you care about and you love. In that way, the relief work was medicinal to people. We all went through a traumatic experience and not getting isolated in our homes and filling up with fear, but being fortunate enough to take collective action and to love each other was, I think, equally as important.

Speaker 1 23:04

And so it sounds to me like what is so beautiful, what I hear, is that a part of being able to manage your own emotions, your own health and your own needs is connecting with other people that you love who are also going through the same trauma, and being able to love on them.

Speaker 6 23:20

I'm still my mental is messed up. I'm just going to be honest, like my mental is all over the place. Seeing the kids is what really like brought my faith up a whole lot more. Right now I'm just focused on just like these communities and like my family and my friends, and it's like kind of overwhelming because it's just like I want to just make sure everybody's okay right now, and so I worry about everybody else more than I worry about myself.

Speaker 5 23:44

This stuff doesn't happen without the people behind it. It really is leaning on the people and knowing that folks can lean on you, the connection and relationship. I don't know how people would do it if they didn't have friends or team members or a church, family or a neighborhood. That is the only thing that kept us going.

Speaker 4 24:01

In January I lost Kenzie. I lost a daughter and the pain from losing my girl and anybody that know Kenzie know the impact that she would have on people, even if it wasn't her parents. So just imagine the impact that she had on her parents. And when I lost her, the pain and what I had to figure out how to survive day by day is basically a superpower. Now, when I lost Kenzie, it was like it gave me a guardian angel and a superpower.

Speaker 4 24:27

And I'm not normal. You know I'm not trying to say I'm special. I've been weird my whole life. I was weird they talk junk about me when I was in high school, you know, when I was on drugs, trying to sell dope. You know I always been talked about. But like now, I've embraced my weirdness and it has become like a superpower. So not saying that I'm not human.

Speaker 4 24:44

Self-care for me. It looked like I get massages. I like to go to the gym, read my Bible, worship music I love listening to music and what I do. Man, I know it might sound crazy like what fills our cup drains some other people Like we'd be all out in the mix and people like when are you going to rest? When are you going to rest? It's like I'm really like living my best life right now, like I'm having a blast. You want me to stop? Do I need to stop for a little bit? I'm having fun.

Speaker 4 25:09

Even when I took my nap yesterday, it took me a minute to go to sleep. I wanted to keep going because I had like three more emails to do. And it's just, let me get a W-9 and an invoice to pay your bill. You know what I'm saying. Oh my God, and I got access to the resources and these people are in need. So for me, what I'm an executive director. You know what executive director's life consists of, with the Zoom meetings and the budgets and the board meetings and the executive meetings and the personnel challenges. Right now I'm living my best life, helping people. Fema know me now. You know what I'm saying. I'm having a blast. I am in my grace right now, fam.

Speaker 1 25:47

There is a certain type of joy that people don't understand that comes with doing the work that we do, and not just doing the work, but it's about building relationships right and it's about supporting people and discovering their best selves and making sure that these people, who are really supposed to be in it with us, supporting us, are doing the job they're supposed to do. So I just want to say thank you. I know I'm one of those people who's always on you, like, ok, you take care of yourself, what you doing, but I, like I really feel it right now. I feel the joy emanating from you and I'm very excited for you and I'm happy that you're in that space, thank you for that question.

Speaker 7 26:24

I definitely had some days of being like wow, I know I'm really associated right now. I know I'm not really fully in my body, but I'm doing things. And, yeah, just like awareness of the trauma responses that are happening in real time in my body has been helpful. Yeah, and then also taking time to rest, giving myself space to cry yeah, the reality is that things are not okay. Space to cry yeah, the reality is that things are not okay, and so it's actually appropriate to allow yourself to feel your feelings and rest.

Speaker 7 26:56

I know I have tools, but if you don't pick up the tools, an area for growth for all of us could be having more intentional conversations and space for healing, because this is long haul work and we want to be well as well as we possibly can or we're not going to be able to do it. Part of how I'm staying well is listening to myself and listening to other people, like yourself, who is reminding me like, are you taking care of yourself? Like with this question. It's a great question. It's one that we should be asking ourselves every day when we wake up.

Speaker 1 27:33

And it's kind of weird, you know, as I was speaking with someone earlier, that that same question they're like I'm living my best life right now because this is what I live for. I live for supporting people and helping people, and all of that is true. And even in the midst of supporting and loving on community and making sure everyone else is OK, we can be really blind to ourselves and what our needs actually are, because we have that emotional high of support. These are my people. I love people, and a part of loving your people is loving yourself. Yeah, and a part of loving yourself so that you can love all your people and making sure you do the things that you need to be healthy.

Speaker 2 28:12

That's right. Wrapping things up, our guests shared their hopes for the future and what they believe it will take to build a stronger, more resilient Western North Carolina.

Speaker 3 28:20

Given that we for a long time had no phone and no internet, we did a pretty fabulous job. I think we need to not undersell ourselves. We lost communication systems and we still mobilized a grassroots, regional effort to respond. I think that's phenomenal. I think we should be proud, very yeah.

Speaker 4 28:39

For the community. I would just say, like, have some grace. You got to take care of yourself to the point that you can have grace. Grace and gentleness, two G's, double G, grace and gentleness. You know, and if you too busy to have grace or you too busy to be gentle, that's when you got to check yourself. You dig what I'm saying. Yeah, be patient with people, y'all Be patient with people. Yeah, that gentleness is what I've been working on too.

Speaker 7 29:04

Yeah, part of what has kept me going is this fierce love that I have for my community. Yeah, I think that is what has kept me going and then also being inspired by all the beautiful work that's happening around me, all the people who have been so dedicated to keeping our folks safe.

Speaker 6 29:23

I have to say this because it really shocked me when this storm happened you know my granddaughter we always dance on TikTok, like she'd come on and let's dance. This time, all I seen was people talking about Asheville and Swannanoa. They were pretty upset all over the world and so it went from one person to the next and the next and everybody started sharing to where the whole world found out about what happened here, and so they went and they was talking about getting volunteers. People's on there like, oh, we need to go help. They went and they was talking about getting volunteers. People's on there like, oh, we need to go help. People like called each other. They came down here volunteers with trucks and all types of stuff and this humbled me to the fullest, like it definitely humbled me to the max.

Speaker 6 29:58

I would never take things for granted like I used to. Anymore we have a tendency of like material, material, material, not thinking like stuff, that this can happen and all that can be taken away, and so now my mind is just more like bump the material, forget the material. I need to focus more on like living, helping these kids live, teaching these kids reading. I just hope that this brings our communities back together. I hope that we all can continue to be like where we are right now. If everybody can just be that way and have the same heart and care for each other, you know, and just have the love for each other, protect each other, I think it'll be okay. We're going to have to work together. You know we got to come together. You know we got to be a family. We got to be a team. It took a village it definitely took a village for all this stuff to be possible. That happened in this past month.

Speaker 5 30:46

And as an organization, I mean Read to Succeed literally in our mission. It's about closing the race-based opportunity gap through community-powered programming. Community-powered literally means it's the community powering the work. So I think we've seen what community-powered looks like in action at a greater scale. What we've experienced here in Asheville is a bit of a reset, but if folks can honor what that looks like and really recognize the fact that my wellness is tied to your wellness, we only benefit one another If people can keep that in their hearts. Like you were saying and let's not forget this, don't let this become a memory. Let this become something that propels us forward. We have to raise the city together. Yeah, we're excited about that and that's very, very possible. It's not even possible. It's going to happen. It's going to happen.

Speaker 6 31:29

It's going to happen, because we're going to put forth the effort and we're not going to give up.

Speaker 2 31:34

Beautiful people. Thank you for joining us on the Uplift. We hope today's reflections are a reminder of the power we hold. When we hold each other in our liberation vision Together, all things are possible. We'll see you, same time, same place next year. Until next time, peace.