by Sharonne Hayes
Tom Reimuth, originally from New York, first moved to North Carolina in the late 70s to be close to family after serving as a combat veteran in the U.S. Army National Guard.
“The sun goes down on that mountain over yonder and so many colors shining on the mountain,” said Tom, gesturing over to the nearby Blue Ridge/(Appalachian?) mountains. “I really can’t explain it but it’s always beautiful to see. I just fell in love with it.”
A resident of over 40 years now, Tom says what kept him rooted to the area is what helped him find peace after his years of service overseas – the sense of dedication and homage towards western North Carolina’s abundant natural beauty and rich mountainous culture.
Even more than that, Tom says he also found comfort in the eclectic WNC community – particularly his close-knit veteran family who had been living at a group home in east Asheville.
“In military service -- whatever branch you’re in -- you create a bond,” said Tom. “It’s an unbreakable bond. I still miss it – I still miss my friends [in the service]…But I make new ones.”
Tom says all these things provide comfort and help ease the sobering look ahead at a long road of recovery for many Carolinians, following the devasting impact of Hurricane Helene in fall 2024.
Tom says he’s never experienced a storm like this in his decades of living in NC.
“We just sat there and watched things float down the river,” said Tom. “Then the police came by and said ‘mandatory evacuation…“This hit us hard, this hit us really hard – I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Hurricane Helene hits the southeast
Hurricane Helene hit the southeast on September 26th, 2024, ultimately causing massive, widespread, and historical damage and impact across a span of 800 miles and ten states, including in the Carolinas. Helene was not just a coastal storm — one of the fastest, intensifying storms on record, the storm caused flash flooding hundreds of miles inland away from the storm’s center, destroying homes and neighborhoods in the southeast, particularly in western North Carolina communities.
Tom and his group of veterans were staying at the Veterans Restoration Quarters (VRQ) in east Asheville, located off the Tunnel Road bridge and adjacent to the Swannanoa River.
They were among many who found their homes in the direct path of heavy rain, extensive flooding, and river overflow sweeping through Asheville neighborhoods from the storm.
Kenneth Clanton is another resident with the VRQ community -- a U.S. Army veteran and transportation driver for the group, he says he was one of the last people to be evacuated from their home after returning from a drop-off.
“The water was coming down the road really bad,” said Kenneth. “I came out of the driveway and I was going straight, but the water was pushing me sideways. I didn’t know if I was going to make it or not.”
Kenneth continues his role driving veterans back and forth to appointments, jobs and more today – a position even more essential as many roads and businesses remain inaccessible and/or destroyed in the WNC community and after many survivors lost their vehicles in the storm.
But the veterans find hope not just in each other, but in the community determined to pick up the pieces from the unprecedented storm.
Both Tom and Kenneth join dozens of other veterans now staying in intermediate housing in east Asheville provided by the VRQ, part of the Asheville Buncombe Christian Community Ministries (ABCCM) and supported by the American Red Cross of Western North Carolina and other grassroots and hyperlocal government and community groups.
Here, the veterans find access to not only regular meals and shelter, but also transportation and laundry services, and a personal case manager that assists the veterans with job searches, certifications, and medical support and access.
It’s a welcome but temporary solution for the group, while their home – and many others – undergo the process of being rebuilt.
Still, the close-knit group of veterans remains a connected and resilient group, helping each other to overcome socioeconomic vulnerabilities and challenges even before the storm hit.
The Veterans Restoration Quarters of Asheville
“I think this is a time where God is taking the opportunity to get people’s attention,” said Marcus Laws, Director for the Veterans Restoration Quarters (VRQ). “If we only focus on the tragedy, we’re going to miss the opportunity we have to come together, be a part of a greater community, and really support one another.”
Laws says the VRQ is a transitional and permanent supportive facility for veterans who have experienced homelessness and/or displacement in their general lives.
It’s one of the outreach principles of the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministries (ABCCM), which provides aid and support to thousands of community members in need, with the help of other local churches, partnerships, and numerous volunteers.
“What we’re doing during this recovery is making sure every veteran we were responsible for in our program continues to have the opportunity to get support,” said Laws. “Support for their mental health/substance use recovery, access to housing and resources within the community…and [that] we continue to support them on their journey.”
Reverend Scott Rogers, Executive Director of the ABCCM, says that journey includes “intentional missional communities”, social networks for the veterans focused on things like mental health and emotional support, skill-building, faith groups, professional job networking and support, case management, and more.
“We want everyone to leave us with a faith family, a work family, a civic family, and a healthy, biological family,” said Scott. “All ABCCM does is fill in the gaps. They are the leader in their lives…but also none of us do that alone very well. We thrive when we are connected and ground in family.”
That commitment to support and community, he says, doesn't end when it comes to disaster relief — it amplifies. Scott says the veterans’ journey through the devastating aftermath of Helene reflect the veterans’ commitment to the bonds they’ve created with each other through the program.
“We were with the veterans from not only moving them to and from the emergency shelters to helping them stabilize up until now,” said Scott. “The consistent independent voice was, ‘We want to be together again.’”
In the immediate aftermath of Helene, the group of veterans were among hundreds transported to local emergency shelters at the WNC Agricultural Center and eventually A/B Technical College, supported by local community and government groups and American Red Cross disaster-trained volunteers with immediate aid and support.
The Red Cross also worked with the group of veterans and the VRQ and the local VA on specific unique challenges the veterans faced early on in the disaster – including being cut off from the nearby VA hospital and vital, lifesaving medications needed to manage mild to severe illnesses.
It’s at the A/B Tech shelter where our disaster teams met Darrel Coffey, a U.S. Army veteran and cancer and stroke survivor, as well as another member of the VRQ group.
Though Darrel says he lost nearly all of his belongings in the storm, his car was still in 'tip-top shape' and he used it to continue to support his fellow veterans with the VRQ and other survivors in the shelter.
In one of the only vehicles that wasn’t washed away by flooding, Darrel spent what time he could shuttling veterans back and forth from A/B Tech to the destroyed VRQ to salvage items and keepsakes.
Darrel is now also finding support at the group’s new intermediate housing in east Asheville.
American Red Cross and Long Term Recovery efforts
“The Red Cross only plays one role in recovery,” said Carrie Norton, Senior Director with the American Red Cross Long Term Recovery team. “It really is about organizations and communities coming together so that communities can identify what their needs are and what they want their recovery to look like.”
Carrie says the focus initial is on the immediate response needs and activities following disasters like Helene – addressing emergency needs, feeding/sheltering, locating loved ones and helping residents get access to safety. After, the Red Cross Long Term Relief team shifts to providing support by closely collaborating with the community and partners to support individual and household recovery, and address community-wide needs.
The Red Cross long term recovery team worked with the VRQ and the ABCCM to ensure the veterans not only remained connected to their support circle, but found housing close to the old facility which was conveniently located near the local VA and other business and restaurants nearby.
Their temporary home sits just across the bridge from their previous headquarters.
“Our philosophy is for recovery to be community led and Red Cross can support,” said Carrie. “We’ll be looking for additional partners like the VRQ who have very specific, technical mission spaces that may need some support in their recovery efforts, or with expanding their capacity since needs are so great."
Here at the VRQ's temporary intermediate housing, the residents can find scheduled hot meals and snack times, potable water, support services, and even access to a gaming area to relax, listen to music, and play a game of foosball with their neighbors.
Carrie also says the Red Cross has plans to support recovery efforts over the next few years, standing alongside local volunteers, individuals and families, and community and government groups at each step of the journey.
A hopeful look ahead
The veterans with the VRQ continue to stay at the temporary housing and find support, as the Tunnel Road bridge gets repaired and their old facility undergoes restoration from the extensive rain and flood damage that damaged their apartment homes, along with several support facilities.
Tom now shares a room with a fellow veteran and friend, with keepsakes put here and there to make the place homely -- a patriotic American flag and a small bunny he got at the shelter that he refers to as ‘Buttons’.
“I have my days, sometimes – everybody does,” said Tom. “With me, the Lord Jesus Christ keeps me going.”
Tom says the days have been filled with the routines of normalcy – catching a shuttle to work, checking the mail for updates – mixed in with the uncertainty and, sometimes, frustrated moments of waiting that come with disaster recovery.
Many of them frequently walk across portions of the Tunnel Road bridge that remain standing, visiting the United Way Grocery Outlet where some veterans work and buy food, and seeing how progress is coming along across the street at their old home.
Tom says he finds new faith every day that things are still moving along according to plan…even if he may not be able to see each step of that progress.
But he says he’s honored to share the hope he has in tomorrow with everyone he passes, as the western North Carolina slowly rebuilds together.
“It’s not like looking into a microwave where you can tell things to hurry up,” said Tom. “You’ve gotta have patience. And you’ve gotta trust.”
Support all the urgent humanitarian needs of the American Red Cross.
Find a drive and schedule a blood donation appointment today.
Your time and talent can make a real difference in people’s lives. Discover the role that's right for you and join us today!