High Country United Way

10/09/2026

Please be weather aware and prepared for this weekend.
Stay safe!

10/02/2026

💛 Sharing on behalf of our member agencies, The Children’s Council of Watauga County and Hunger and Health Coalition, and the amazing regional partners coming together for Family Support Day!

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., bring the family to Beyond Blue Neighborhood Center for family fun, helpful resources, and FREE giveaways!

Families can enjoy lunch, food boxes, diapers and wipes, children’s books, coloring books and crayons, flu vaccines, vision screenings, and goodie bags.

📍 Beyond Blue Neighborhood Center
2640 NC-105, Suite 101, Boone, NC 28607

We’re grateful to our member agencies and every sponsor and partner helping put these resources into the hands of local families. This is what caring for our community looks like! 💛

Please share and help spread the word!

10/02/2026

Please join us in celebrating Robin Ollis, High Country United Way’s Board Member of the Month for October!

As we remember what October 2024 looked like across the High Country in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, it feels especially fitting to honor Robin this month. During those overwhelming weeks, Robin may well have been the hardest-working person in Avery County, pouring her time, energy, and heart into helping her community.

Robin Ollis joined the High Country United Way Board in February 2026 with three decades of professional experience as a coach to financial advisors and a small business owner.

Known for a strategic approach to leadership and long-term planning, Robin has spent a career helping professionals navigate growth and build sustainable success. This executive expertise is matched by a profound commitment to local advocacy. Notably, Robin spearheaded "Bridges For Avery," mobilizing over $1M in critical aid and infrastructure recovery for neighbors impacted by Hurricane Helene. Robin is eager to leverage this track
record of strategic leadership and community mobilization in order to advance United Way’s mission.

10/01/2026

Today we’re celebrating someone very special to High Country United Way our Interim Board Chair, Tina Houston! 🎉💙

For years, Tina has guided our allocations work with care and thoughtful judgment, helping ensure our funding makes a meaningful difference in the communities we serve. She brings that same dedication to her role as interim Board Chair. When we needed someone to step into that role, Tina stepped up—and we’re so grateful she did.

Happy birthday, Tina! We hope you feel as appreciated and celebrated today as you deserve. 🎂

09/27/2026

Today and on the 2 year anniversary of Helene, we’re highlighting Yancey County and the recovery work made possible through our partnership with the Yancey Long Term Recovery Group. Yancey was the county in High Country United Way’s service area most deeply affected by Hurricane Helene, and recovery is still underway. The group currently has 167 active cases.

Help keep recovery moving forward in Yancey County
Donate today: https://donate.stripe.com/28EeVebN89xw4cN5V60gw00

We’re grateful for every organization, donor, volunteer, and neighbor who has been part of this work—and especially for the survivors who continue to move forward, one step at a time.

09/27/2026

Two years ago today, Hurricane Helene changed the High Country. So many of us remember exactly where we were. This weekend, as we’ve gathered at memorial services and remembered loved ones lost and livelihoods lost. We’ve all felt the weight of that weekend all over again.

We’ve also seen how much work has happened since then. Long-term recovery groups, nonprofits, churches, volunteers, and local and state partners have worked together to help neighbors return home. Many of the people doing that work have barely stopped.

Most of you know I’m a numbers girl. We’ve shared numbers throughout this week because they show us where help is still needed. But today, what stays with me is how much work remains. The Yancey Long Term Recovery Group estimates that its county is only about 40% of the way through recovery. From what we see across our five-county service area, that feels close to where we are as a region, too. That is my perspective, not a formal regional measure—and it’s a reminder that the second anniversary is far from the end of this work.

This anniversary feels different. Funding is shifting while families still need help, and the organizations doing the work are still searching for resources. Please keep seeing them. Please keep seeing the survivors.

To our staff and every partner, volunteer, church, nonprofit, donor, and North Carolina state partner who has worked beside us in the High Country, THANK YOU. You know who you are. We see you.

And Watauga Long Term Recovery Group: it has been a wild ride. We’re proud to partner with you and to share our office space with the hardworking people coordinating recovery on the ground in Watauga County. Thank you for continuing to show up for your neighbors every single day.

Two years later, we remember those we lost. And we’re still here for the people working to get home.

In service,

Rebecca Hall

09/26/2026

Hope for Helene 2.0 is TODAY! 💙**

Join the Watauga Long-Term Recovery Group today from **1–4 p.m.** for the **Hope for Helene 2.0 Resource Fair: Housing, Recovery & Support** at the Leon Levine Hall of Health Sciences.

📍 **1179 State Farm Road, Boone, NC**
⏰ **Today | 1–4 p.m.**

Connect with recovery partners and resources, emotional and spiritual care providers, healing arts, disaster preparedness training, and more.

If you’re still navigating recovery—or simply want to connect with the people and organizations continuing this work in Watauga County—come join us this afternoon!

Schedule of events!

09/26/2026

Today, we’re highlighting Watauga County and the recovery work made possible through our partnership with the Watauga Long Term Recovery Group. The Watauga Long Term Recovery Group currently has 130 active recovery cases.

Help keep recovery moving forward in Watauga County.

Donate today: https://donate.stripe.com/28EeVebN89xw4cN5V60gw00

We’re grateful for every organization, donor, volunteer, and neighbor who has been part of this work—and especially for the survivors who continue to move forward, one step at a time.

09/25/2026

Today, we’re highlighting Mitchell County and the recovery work made possible through our partnership with Mitchell County Long Term Resilience Group. The group currently has 40 active cases, 21 families enrolled in its water program, and average of 5 new intakes every week.

Help keep recovery moving forward in Mitchell County.

Donate today:https://donate.stripe.com/28EeVebN89xw4cN5V60gw00

We’re grateful for every organization, donor, volunteer, and neighbor who has been part of this work—and especially for the survivors who continue to move forward, one step at a time.

05/25/2026

High Country United Way offices will be observing Memorial Day on Monday, May 25th. We will return Tuesday, May 26th.