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The RiverLink office surrounded by the flood waters of the French Broad River.

The RiverLink office sits in the flood waters of the French Broad River, with the high water mark visible on the side of the building.

Good morning,

I am writing to you with reverence for all that has been lostβ€”and 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 Helene’s floodwaters, one of the few items we were able to rescue was our large, original β€œPast, Present and Future of the French Broad River” 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 greenwaysβ€”all 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 purposeβ€”to promote the environmental and economic vitality of the French Broad River and its watershed for allβ€”is 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, β€œIn the wake of Hurricane Helene, we are reminded that we are all connected by a network of waterways and human kindness.”

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 RiverLink’s 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

 
Black Wall Street Cleanup

Volunteers work to cleanup Black Wall Street and Bacoate Branch, the stream that runs under the building.

Meet Me At The River β€” For Restoration and Recovery

RiverLink’s work for the French Broad River and its urban tributaries advances through three major programs: Land Resources, Watershed Resources, and Education. With projects from Black Mountain to Hendersonville, and from Cane Creek to Woodfin, these programs are all operating and adapting to life post-Helene. RiverLink remains well-positioned to support youth and teachers in this challenging moment, while championing conserved lands, public access and advancing stormwater best practices and stream restoration informed by nature. The work of restoration is healing in itself, and the healing must leave no soul behind. We must build back more resilient than before.

 

 
Flood Back Love mural

Flood Back Love mural composed of the remains of Pleb Winery in the River Arts District. Photo by ArtsAVL

Preparing for the Journey Ahead

As Leonardo Da Vinci once said, water is the driver of nature. No one knows this better than those who have survived a catastrophic flood event. Rivers and streams are Earth's renegades, dancing to their own tunes, sometimes defying gravity, resisting the β€œauthority” of humans. To live alongside these essential natural resources is to be committed to understanding them, even deferring to them, as we restore what has been lost. We are preparing for the significant journey ahead. If you have already given this year, we are extremely grateful. If you are in a position to make a contribution in 2024, your gift will fuel our programs, vision and commitment to our ancient French Broad waterways and the people that live alongside her. Thank you for believing and investing in this work!

 
 

Thanks for being part of our French Broad River community!

RiverLink promotes the environmental and economic vitality
of the French Broad River and its watershed for all.

Contact Us

information@riverlink.org | 828-252-8474

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