Rural Economy
-
OPINION: Where Western NC stands a year after Hurricane Helene
This week, as we approach the first anniversary of Hurricane Helene–one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit western North Carolina–it’s important to take stock of how we’re doing. Where do we stand and what do we still need?
-
One year after Helene, western NC residents reflect on what their communities have been through
Hurricane Helene left at least 108 people dead, over 100,000 homes damaged or destroyed, and over $60 billion in total costs. A year later, communities across western NC are still picking up the pieces.
-
Marshall sees small business comeback after Hurricane Helene
Last fall, communities across western North Carolina were devastated by Hurricane Helene. A year later, the town of Marshall has reopened and is forging a path forward.
-
How Trump’s ‘One, Big Beautiful Bill’ will impact jobs, investment in rural NC
In the mountains of western NC, local renewable energy company Sugar Hollow Solar is already working through contingency plans to avoid laying off staff.
-
A North Carolina bookstore offers a ‘third place’—a growing trend across the US to bring people together
In Murfreesboro, North Carolina, a local bookstore wants to be a ‘third place’—somwehere in town that’s not your home or your workplace. The idea is to bring people together.
-
‘Come hell or high water’: A harm reduction team amps it up in response to a disaster
A community-based organization focused on drug use harm reduction turned its headquarters into a refuge for all seeking help in the face of a hurricane.
-
Opinion: From gas stations to gardens, rural communities step up to help as Congress slashes SNAP
As Congress looks to cut SNAP, better known as “food stamps,” we go inside Greensboro, North Carolina’s “People’s Market,” which runs on vendors and customers who rely on the federal aid.
-
Gwen Frisbie-Fulton: ‘The people closest to the problem are often the ones who can find the solution’
About two years ago, tents started to show up in my neighborhood along the creek beds and in small stands of trees. Most only became visible when the leaves fell, exposing their orange rainflies and blue tarps. This increase in houselessness didn’t feel surprising to me or to my neighbors: The rent has nearly doubled…
-
A love letter to the working class, from Gwen Frisbie-Fulton
It started in the back seat of my family’s Jeep Cherokee, the one with the broken AC and vinyl seats that stuck to my thighs in the late summer heat. After school we would wait, all the doors flung open, for my dad to get off work. My mother reading in the front seat, her…
-
‘Some people work their butts off and other people get rich’: Gwen Frisbie-Fulton’s view from rural America
My dad raised us to work hard and do good for our families, but he was also going to make damn sure we didn’t step on anyone else along the way.
