Happening Now

The City of Asheville is partnering with Thrive Asheville to document and analyze the network of resilience hubs and efforts that activated during Tropical Storm Helene. This comprehensive mapping project will:

• Document the responsive networks that emerged during the crisis, not just locations, but the relationships, trust, and adaptive capacity that made them effective
• Center community voices through participatory research including listening sessions, interviews, and hands-on mapping with hub organizers and residents
• Analyze the resilience ecosystem to understand how information flowed, where gaps existed, and what enabled rapid community-led response
• Create an interactive asset map showing hub locations, services, network connections, and recommendations for strategic investment

Why It Matters

This project goes beyond creating a list of locations. We're exploring the relational infrastructure which includes connections, trust, and community knowledge that enabled Asheville's remarkable response.

By understanding what worked, we can:

• Provide a framework for City-led resilience and infrastructure investments to be aligned with and supportive of community-led strategy
• Support and strengthen existing community networks 
• Identify gaps where communities faced barriers to self-organizing, communications or resource flow, or cross sector coordination 
• Guide strategic investments in the resilience infrastructure that already exists
• Prepare more effectively for future disasters and community challenges

Community-Driven Approach

This work is being led by community members with lived experience of the Helene response in close coordination with City staff active in response and recovery. Thrive Asheville has been deeply engaged in post-Helene recovery work, convening over 120 hub organizers, co-leading the Buncombe County Long-Term Recovery Group, and facilitating community exchanges through the Lessons for Recovery series.

Your voice matters. Throughout this project, we'll engage residents, hub organizers, and community partners to ensure this documentation honors the extraordinary efforts of neighbors who responded in crisis while identifying how to support these networks for the future.