Good morning, I am writing to you with reverence for all that has been lostβand with gratitude and hope for all that remains. RiverLink is grateful to have our entire team up and running out of the Wildlands Engineering offices as they graciously offered to share their space with us. Although our office contents, equipment and vehicles were destroyed in Heleneβs floodwaters, one of the few items we were able to rescue was our large, original βPast, Present and Future of the French Broad Riverβ painting, which now is displayed in our temporary space. Our visionary founder, Karen Cragnolin, launched RiverLink over 35 years ago to champion the French Broad River as it rolled through Asheville, when the river was defined by heavy industry, dilapidation, neglect, and chronic pollution. Thanks to the efforts of many over the decades, the river has been treated with more care, and abandoned warehouses and other structures became home to hundreds of artists, breweries, restaurants, and river businesses flanked by a ribbon of parks and greenwaysβall anchoring the vitality and creativity that defines Asheville. Unfortunately, the sequence of unrelenting rain followed by the massive inland Hurricane Helene tested all human inventions throughout the region; few structures in the floodplain could withstand this catastrophic event. As we begin the process of healing and recovery and look toward the next 35-year chapter of RiverLink, we know our work will be critical. Our mission and purposeβto promote the environmental and economic vitality of the French Broad River and its watershed for allβis more important than ever. Our three major programs are up and running and remain highly relevant, as we adapt to meet the emerging needs of our communities post-Helene. We remain passionate about river parks, greenways and public access and will help restore damage throughout the region while creating new opportunities for conserved and resilient lands and nature-based recreation. With renewed focus on the impacts of a changing climate, we will partner with leaders throughout the watershed to plan a more climate-resilient future for our beloved region. We remain committed to our love affair with the French Broad River and the communities that live alongside her. As my friend and colleague, Susan Andrew, so eloquently shared, βIn the wake of Hurricane Helene, we are reminded that we are all connected by a network of waterways and human kindness.β So let me close this note as I began. RiverLink will forever hold these losses in our organizational soul. Yet we will move forward with our expertise, relationships and experience with an open heart to help discover and champion new pathways, elevating the sustainability, resilience and creative vitality of our exquisite landscape and home defined by the rivers that flow through us. After you read about RiverLinkβs early activities for restoration and recovery (below), I hope you will join us on this journey. We remain eternally grateful for your belief, investment and support of our work and mission. With tremendous gratitude, Lisa Raleigh, PhD. Executive Director |