Chris Grigg said he was never supposed to end up in Clyde, a small town west of Asheville. He moved from Kentucky after the storm last year to be close to his parents and started Camp Restore Hope to support people throughout the region.
The hub operates on residential land, which conflicts with local zoning rules, and its temporary permit will expire Aug. 26. Grigg said he isn’t going anywhere.
"A lot of people come through here and they'll tell you, if it wasn't for us being here, they have no idea what they would have done," Grigg said. "No idea. So how do you leave that? I'm not willing to do that."
Gintar Senfeld lives about 50 feet from the Pigeon River. His home was ruined in the floods, and his neighbors put him in touch with Grigg after they realized he was living out of his car.
"I was believing I am standing now in the bottom of life," said Senfeld, who is originally from Lithuania. "This is my bottom, but I need a start, I need one step, please give me one step and I can go up. That is Chris. He helped me and he found me, God bless him."
Grigg gave Senfeld a camper, where he’s been living for the past nine months. The town says Restore Hope’s days are numbered.
"Their permit ends the end of August," Clyde alderwoman Amy Russel wrote in an email.
For now, however, the hub is operating as normal. Multiple camper donations arrived this week, even as that Aug. 26 deadline looms.
"There's just so much need," Grigg said. "You can ride up and down the road and see these people are still hurting."
