ASHEVILLE, Ga. — Dozens of people are living in the one remaining emergency shelter in Asheville, North Carolina.
Some of them are families with children.
The shelter is providing warmth from the chill of a mountain autumn, three meals a day, bathrooms and even a place to do your laundry.
Jean Gibbs told Channel 2′s Bryan Mims that she lost everything she owned in Hurricane Helene’s wrath. A swift water rescue team lifted her out of the deadly water. Her wheelchair was swept away.
“I mean, you don’t know until you lose everything you have, and you’re taken out in a boat. You spend the first two days after that in a towel because you have nothing to wear,” Gibbs said.
The Red Cross provided her with clothes and shelter. She has a wheelchair again.
Justin Thornton’s mobile home was mangled in the storm.
“The whole house, the trailer was gone. I found my dog and my cat. They were dead,” Thornton said.
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He lost his home and his fast-food job. Ever since he’s lived in an emergency shelter.
Nearly 70 people, some of them children, are staying at the former Gold’s Gym.
Red Cross volunteer Sarah Scheidler said most children and their families have found homes.
“We worked hard, and continue to work hard, to find housing for the families,” Scheidler said.
In the back of the building, studio spaces that were once used as workout rooms are now make-do homes for families with young children.
“We try to find a housing situation, which is tricky, but we’re having a lot of success,” Scheidler said.
Hester Hatley lived in a tent before the storm. A tree crashed into it.
The shelter has now provided her with warmth.
“What are you most grateful for right now?” Mims asked Hatley.
“Being out of the cold. Being alive,” Hatley said.
The city of Asheville is running the shelter and plans to keep it open at least until Dec. 31. For those staying there, they hope beyond that to have a place to call home.
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