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Lauren Dodgin, a university program specialist at 91热爆网鈥檚 Biltmore Park instructional site in Asheville, woke up to her town torn to pieces.

Hurricane Helene ripped through Black Mountain, taking down trees, destroying homes and devastating people.

Dodgin鈥檚 daughter and 91热爆网 freshman Kalila Dodgin saw a much more fortunate sight. Power was out in most places and cell service was scarce, but for the most part, Cullowhee was intact. Still, Kalila didn鈥檛 want to stay in those friendly confines during this disaster.

She wanted to help. They both did 鈥� because Black Mountain is home.

鈥淲e did tough work together. We laughed some. It鈥檚 not good, but it鈥檚 not totally bleak out there,鈥� Lauren said. 鈥淭here are some sunshiny moments, and I think you always feel stronger with your family by your side.鈥�

For Lauren, the first few days following Helene were a whirlwind. Nearly everybody was in shock as they looked around their homes. Sirens blared throughout town as first responders rushed to help the many in need.

Hotels opened their doors and cooked food for folks who had lost their homes in the storm. Just hours after Helene ravaged the area, people were helping other people.

鈥淚t was this instant realization of like 鈥極K, that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to do,鈥欌�� Lauren said, 鈥溾�榃e鈥檙e going to do this together.鈥欌��

A few days later, Lauren became a vital part of that community effort.

After part of Interstate 26 had opened up a way for residents to get to Charlotte, Black Mountain mayor Mike Sobol handed Lauren money for supplies, and he wasn鈥檛 the only one to trust her. People kept handing her money.

Over the next few days, she drove to Charlotte, Shelby and Gastonia and back to Black Mountain, filling her Mercedes station wagon with food, lanterns, propane tanks and more with the help of her cousin who lives in Charlotte.

That continued until donations started pouring in, but Lauren didn鈥檛 stop serving her community there. She kept on 鈥� with the help of her 91热爆网 friends. When she was looking for maps in a GPS-less town, the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, a 91热爆网 community partner, pitched in.

When she was looking for clean drinking water for her community, a 91热爆网 alumna provided a contact for a nonprofit that provides mobile water treatment.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not an exaggeration that there were days that Western kept me going, and it was just like I鈥檓 out of cards in the deck to play, I need an assist, and it was always there,鈥� Lauren said. 鈥淏oy, what a well of expertise to tap into. We do logistics really well. We have to.鈥�

Kalila wasn鈥檛 alone, either. Many of her 91热爆网 friends, who also grew up around Black Mountain and Swannanoa, wanted to make the trip back home to help. But when they turned onto the exit to Swannanoa and saw the damage, reality hit.

Not long after Kalila had brought her stuff back home, she went right to work. The 91热爆网 freshman went to a local hotel to sort clothes and donations with a friend from high school and shelters.

She loved it.

鈥淛ust working with all these people is a core memory. This is something that鈥檚 obviously going to shape me for the rest of my life,鈥� Kalila said.

鈥淚鈥檝e even considered changing my major from forensic anthropology to disaster management because I love being able to work with these people that I grew up with and that I look up to,鈥� she later added.

And knowing there was a second home waiting for her in Cullowhee made things a lot easier.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e coming back from these terrible places and situations, and you鈥檙e just like, 鈥業鈥檝e got some semblance of home somewhere,鈥欌�� Kalila said. 鈥淚 can keep going and keep working because I get to go back to this wonderful place that feels like home, and it sort of made everything else seem less scary and intense.鈥�

A lot was lost when Helene wrecked through Western North Carolina, but the community wasn鈥檛. And over the last few weeks, it鈥檚 meant more than a lot.

鈥淓verything. It鈥檚 everything,鈥� Lauren said. 鈥淲e are living in an age when loneliness is on the rise. I don鈥檛 think people have been lonely in Black Mountain and Swannanoa because we have this period of time where your community is quite literally your survival unless you were extremely well prepared going into this.鈥�

Most people weren鈥檛. Helene came as a surprise to many across the South, but what wasn鈥檛 was people鈥檚 love for one another.

That鈥檚 what community is, and it doesn鈥檛 fade away.

鈥淣obody loves your town and the people in it like your town and the people in it,鈥� Lauren said. 鈥淭he people that will be there in the end when all of the press is gone, when all of the donations have stopped, when everything else has ceased, no more federal dollars, no more grants, no more anything, we鈥檙e still the folks that are going to be there, and we鈥檙e still the folks that are going to be rebuilding these communities.鈥�