Getting People Home: Bridging Together.
After Hurricane Helene, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) quickly realized that there would be a tremendous need for replacing private bridges in western North Carolina, where many families need bridges to cross small creeks between the state-maintained road and their homes. MDS invited Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) and LDR Carolinas to partner with them to fund and build the needed bridges.
This is not a new partnership. In early 2024, MDS learned of the need for a private bridge serving a neighborhood of over twenty families in Lincoln County, NC. Their engineer began planning for a bridge which would be a permanent solution for the neighborhood and provide access not just for personal vehicles, but also for the full tanker trunk of the local fire department. Partners including LDR provided financial support for this project.
There are estimated to be over 5,000 of these private bridges that need to be replaced because of Helene. We are inviting you to be part of this project by donating financially or volunteering your time. Please help us get these families home!
For more information about Bridging Together, please call (704) 633-4862 or email [email protected]. To submit your bridge project, please fill out this form.
$2 Million EDRF Grant Awarded to Support Bridge Repair
Grants totaling $3,341,100 were awarded last week from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC)’s Emergency and Disaster Response Fund to support continuing relief and recovery services in Western North Carolina. With this round, more than $12.8 million has been awarded to nonprofit organizations across 18 counties, including the Qualla Boundary.
A $2,000,000 grant was awarded to Lutheran Disaster Response Carolinas, a ministry of the North Carolina Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) to partner with Mennonite Disaster Service in rebuilding private bridges destroyed by the hurricane. The project will prioritize the hardest hit areas in Avery, Mitchell, Yancey, Madison, Rutherford, and Buncombe counties and bridges that impact multiple families or critically vulnerable persons. An estimated 5,000 private bridges were damaged by the storm.
“Lutheran Disaster Response and Mennonite Disaster Service have the track record and expertise to respond to this need and are set to break ground on the first bridge in January,” said CFWNC President Elizabeth Brazas. “They are in communication with local leadership and have support to process permits needed to avoid delays.”
Bridging Together Update
As we approach the holiday season, we want to provide an update on a major upcoming event! Work on the first bridge in our Bridging Together partnership with Mennonite Disaster Service is planned to begin on January 6 near Hendersonville, NC. A flyer can be found here.
This first bridge will be an opportunity to show partner organizations how to build using this resilient bridge design, as we begin gearing up to have multiple teams planning and building bridges at the same time. Some of the participants will be from partner organizations through VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster). Others come from the commercial world with equipment and knowledge of bridge design and construction. Volunteers are essential for this project, and we hope new ones will be trained during this event.
We know that many volunteers and others who have been responding to Helene will be taking some well-earned time off during this holiday season. We wish everyone a joyous season and a time of rest.
We encourage anyone who wants to make end-of-year donations to consider supporting the Bridging Together project. Online giving is available at https://buy.stripe.com/8wM4ikaAbdP9fy88ww
Recent MDS Bridge Project in Iron Station, NC
Let us know you need a bridge.
Use this form to let us know that you need a bridge.
Volunteer
Sign up here to learn more about volunteering to help build a bridge.
Donate
Donate financially to either LDR Carolinas or Mennonite Disaster Service to help purchase the necessary materials.
Lutheran Disaster Response Carolinas shares God’s hope, healing and renewal with people whose lives have been disrupted by disaster. Grounded in faith, we are focused on helping individuals and congregations prepare for disaster and on building a network of resources across North and South Carolina to respond when disasters occur.
Mennonite Disaster Service recruits, organizes and empowers volunteers to repair and rebuild the homes of those impacted by disasters in the United States and Canada. Our goal is to restore hope and bring people home.
Be sure to choose “Bridging Together – North Carolina Bridge Program” in the drop down menu.