My Davidson | A Student Blog Lessons from the Land: Davidson College Students Support Hurricane Helene Recovery in Avery County
July 13, 2026
Following Hurricane Helene, Davidson College students spent their spring break in Avery County with Habitat for Humanity. Read how Margaret Orten ’29 and Yoonjung Chae ’29 gained hands-on skills and a deeper understanding of long-term disaster recovery through service and teamwork.
About the Authors
Margaret Orten ’29 (she/her), from Middlebury, Vermont, is an intended medical ethics major through the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS). On campus, she plays French horn with Davidson Orchestra, volunteers in Prof. Julio Ramirez’s animal research lab and serves as treasurer of Habitat for Humanity. She also rows with Club Crew and is a member of Rusk Eating House.
“Why Davidson? Opportunities to work with professors, to create my own major, and to build community.”
Yoonjung Chae ’29 (she/her) is an intended environmental studies major on the natural science track from Yongin-si, South Korea. On campus, she is a member of the greenhouse gas emissions and climate action plan (GHG) team in the Sustainability Office. She is also secretary of the Davidson Bird Club, co-social media chair and incoming president of the Korean Student Association (KSA), social media chair of the Davidson Badminton Club and a library information and research assistant (LIRA).
“I chose to attend Davidson because of a strong sense of community where I envision myself learning, connecting, and engaging deeply with my peers, mentors, and professors in the classroom and beyond.”
Margaret Orten ’29
It’s not spring break until you’re shoveling gravel on a snowy morning, ripping mud-caked roofing out of a field of debris, or holding a stranger's cat you picked up at a job site.
Last March, Davidson’s Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter traveled to Avery County to support families still grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Each morning, 12 students loaded into a van before sunrise and headed through the windy mountains to a new location.
From prepping a site littered with what the water lost hold of in the storm to sanding off the porch of a house the day before final inspection, we got a glimpse into every step of the process. One of the days, our team was able to transform the entire exterior landscape of a house. We leveled the ground, removed debris, planted tulips, berry bushes, ferns, wildflowers, and grasses, and lined the landscape with neat rows of rocks. I was struck by how little time it took to make that much of a difference. More than that, I was taken aback by how long that family had to go without. I came away with a new understanding of how long-lasting the effects of natural disaster truly are.
Hurricane Helene hit Avery County on Sept. 27, 2024. For almost two years, the people living in these rural communities have seen aid surge initially and then leave them behind. Our site supervisor for the trip, Eric Engstrom, is a resident of Avery County. On the last day of our visit, he took us out to his house and reflected on his first-hand experience with the hurricane. Pointing to the top of a tree line up on a rocky ledge, he remembered, "That's where the waterline was at the peak of the storm.” In disbelief, he continued, “Those boulders you’re sitting on … none of it was here before.”
I’m so grateful to Davidson and for our Habitat for Humanity chapter for providing students the opportunity to support local communities and learn valuable skills. If you’re interested in being a part of it, there’s more work to be done. Email me at maorten@davidson.edu to get involved.
Yoonjung Chae ’29
From the beginning of the semester, I looked for notices about alternative break service trips because service with fellow Davidson students sounded like a meaningful way to spend my break. Service at Davidson has been on my radar as I became more involved with volunteer work, including Davidson Community Garden and Davidson Land Conservancy tree planting projects.
In Avery County, where Hurricane Helene devastated many houses, roads, and trees, we went to different sites to clean up, build banisters, paint, spread gravel, garden, and more. With no prior experience, I learned how to use a jig saw, drills, a miter saw, and a circular saw. Moreover, I enjoyed the fellowship I had with the Habitat for Humanity site supervisor, Erik, and fellow Davidson students, as we have shared time of reflection, games, cooking, and meals together.
Through this trip of restoring communities affected by Hurricane Helene, I was once again reminded of the power of teamwork: teamwork is in every task of our work – from spreading gravel and building a banister, to cooking good food and sharing meals. Teamwork makes our work much more fun and motivating. Lastly, learning the stories of people who were directly impacted by Hurricane Helene refreshes my views toward natural disasters and unconventional weather patterns, about which I learned in my class, "ENV 225: Physical Geography of the Southeast." We still need more attention and volunteers to help recover the sites and communities affected by Hurricane Helene. All of this is real!
