A Letter from Will Yeiser, Executive Director & Co-Founder
Greetings FBRA Community…I hope this message finds you safe and secure as we all adjust to life post-Hurricane Helene. Our FBRA staff are all safe and accounted for, and I am getting to see some of them daily at our South Campus where they are volunteering to help with hurricane relief efforts being coordinated through the Helene Recovery Collaborative (HRC), a grassroots effort to provide relief spearheaded by FBRA staff member Sam Iatarola and his roommate and friend of FBRA Lance Buskey. Never before have I been more proud to be part of such an incredible effort with such amazing people. Please visit the relief website for more information about the project and how you can get involved.
Both of our buildings and campuses survived the historic flood waters. There is quite a bit of cleanup on our North Campus where flood waters completely surrounded our building and flooded the basement. Luckily, the water did not enter the conditioned, interior spaces. The basement is designed to flood, but we did lose a lot of equipment that was stored below. However, compared to many friends and community members who lost entire homes, cars, and businesses, we are fine and will be able to replace lost items and resume full operations in the future.
Minor repairs to the deck and stairs are happening as I write this update and Woodfin water service is back on at both campuses. Electrical power and internet service have been restored at both campuses and the professionals from the ServPro team are working hard to clean up the basement and surrounding areas.
We are on track to reopen and welcome families back on both campuses next Tuesday, October 15th with some modifications to programming to accommodate families and staff as we continue to work through hurricane-related challenges throughout the region.
Thank you again for all of the outpouring of support and resources. Despite the difficulties of navigating a natural disaster of this scale, these moments bring out the best and most beautiful aspects of humankind and I have been fortunate to see and experience so much of it firsthand in my community.
Onward and upward Salamanders!
Sincerely, Will
Scenes from the North Campus flooding & cleanup, and the relief efforts based out of the South Campus:
