Connecting donors directly with folk artists and leaders impacted by natural disasters
Dozens of people and groups in our dance and music communities have lost income, property, event spaces, and much more as a result of the California wildfires, Hurricane Helene, and other natural disasters.
Let’s show these folks our love! Click on a link below to send some kindness, business, or funds to the callers, musicians, singers, sound technicians, participants, and local groups who make our lives so sweet.
Listings appear in random order for fairness’s sake.
Jennifer ArmstrongAsheville, NC
The morning after Hurricane Helene slammed through Western North Carolina we began helping each other. We started with sharing water and chain saws and kept going from there. For my part in the rebuilding I am offering free programs of stories, songs and dances to schools and libraries in the region. A kindergarten teacher said to me, “Oh this is so needed! Trauma makes it so hard to focus and singing together, simple movement… oh yes, Thank you.” If you would like to support my music and story work for children and families please join me on Patreon or make a donation through Venmo, PayPal or carrier pigeon. Thank you so much – Jennifer
Donna Ray NortonWeaverville, NC
I’m an eighth generation ballad singer from Madison County, North Carolina. I’ve lost several gigs and I worked at the Old Marshall Jail Hotel and Zadie’s restaurant in Marshall NC, which were completely destroyed. So I’ve lost income, and any help at all would be great.
Deanna PalumboKnoxville, TN
I am a traveling dance caller from Knoxville, TN. While our area was spared, I had some gigs canceled. Also, now that dances have restarted, traveling from the West side of I-40 now adds an additional hour of travel for future gigs. We are all trying our best through these challenges. I appreciate any support.
Suzannah ParkAsheville, NC
I grew up singing and dancing with my family and have been a touring singer/teacher for the past 25+ years. Attending CDSS camps when my parents were on staff and teaching at camps for many years myself.
Here in Asheville I lead a big community choir, teach private voice students at my home and am part of the traditional music faculty at Warren Wilson College.
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I’m working on repairing my own house which has bad water damage and needs a new roof after the trees landed on it as well.
My ask of this community is for my family cabin up the mountain. My father Fred Park was a dance caller and story teller and he passed away a little over a year ago. I have been working on fixing up his cabin since then to turn it into an Appalachian dance callers and story tellers retreat with all his dance materials, books, albums etc.
The creek flooded the crawl space of the cabin and took out the driveway. The river across the road flooded and took out the bridge and a bunch of the road so I couldn’t get there for two weeks. The water damage and mold to the interior means the cabin needs to be gutted. I’m working to save as much of the dance & story material as I can.
Assistance will help rebuild the driveway, buy new floor joists, flooring, and sheetrock and paint for the ceiling and walls. I would also love to send off the collection of reel to reel tapes of old concerts and dances recorded in the 60’s and 70’s that I’ve never even listened to be digitized if they can be salvaged.
Thank you so much for offering your support to me and my community here in the mountains.
Sourwood Ridge bandAsheville, NC
We play as a trio of string band veterans. We lost many gigs, we all came out of Helene with losses but not major ones. We are offering to play for any fundraiser concerts and dances so we can help as we can. We have been playing for a worker village in Woodfin to give those folks some entertainment and take them away from the mess they see every day.
Ask us to help play music for events and we will certainly try to accommodate.
The Historical Tea & Dance SocietyPasadena (Altadena), CA
Who we are:
The Historical Tea & Dance Society (HTDS) is a 501c3 educational non-profit run solely by volunteers. We do what we do for the love of historical and English Country dancing and making creative dance events affordable for all. During the pandemic, we hosted a weekly zoom chat, “5 Things Inside the Dancing Mind of…” We host historical and modern English country dance classes, community dances, workshops, and balls.Read more
What we need:
HTDS lost many things as a result of the Eaton Fire coming through Altadena. Below is a rough list of items.- A substantial collection of dance books, including modern popular choreographers as well as some historical books, such as an original Cecil Sharp volume, Maggot Pie, etc. (There is a partial library list; however, it had at least doubled in size since that list was created.)
- A giant collection of CDs—likely close to 300, as I was actively collecting everything I could get my hands on during the pandemic from English, Contra, and historical sources.
- Our Jackery power source for outdoor public events.
- 12 large round tablecloths for tea time at events
- 9 long rectangle tablecloths (used same as above)
- 4 hard drives that contained all our 15 years of artwork and photo files and our original “5 Things Inside the Dancing Mind of…” files with hundreds of hours of intimate interview rehearsals with folks chatting casually. (I’m still searching, but I’m heart broken that it appears these never got backed up to a more secure spot! All the final programs are hosted on the CDSS website and YouTube; however, the rehearsals which, again, were casual sessions chatting about many different topics, were not.)
Thankfully, we had not yet removed our sound system from our hall storage spot to our garage yet! (Our stalling for a few days saved the system!)
Claire TakemoriAsheville, NC
Dance caller, organizer. I lost my entire storage (moved from CA) in Asheville flooding from Helene. I have the basic necessities so please prioritize other folks, but I lost: all my caller dance books, violin music books, caller dance card notes (I have most dances in Callers Companion), my flute from 4th grade, my yarn stash, Pfaff sewing machine & serger. If anyone has extra caller modern dance books (contra, ECD, family/barn dance) a C flute, sewing machine or serger, washable merino wool yarns. I’m not sure what else is missing yet.
Dancer Geri SolomonAsheville, NC
I’m a teacher doing some sub teaching in Buncombe County Schools. Tree landed on house, another on car. Home damage inside & out. Just got car back so lost income due to car issue. Also water main broke & having lots of expensive plumbing repairs inside and out. Would appreciate financial help for plumbing costs & volunteers for caulking & a bit of painting. Thanks so much. Geri
Daniel UllomAsheville, NC
I’m a mandolin player and music teacher living in Asheville NC. My 10 years in the music industry has been characterized by mostly scrappy self-promotion, bar gigs and DIY records. For the most part, I’ve never been able to hire a manager, booker, or any type of team that many top levels acts have. I have a lot that I’m proud of and I’m always grateful to be able to make my living through music, but it’s always been a haphazard endeavor.
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I moved to Asheville (I previously lived there for 4 years) a couple weeks before Hurricane Helene and was planning on gigging around town until I could get a new project going. This is usually pretty easy to do and was working out for the first few weeks. I picked up 5 gigs that were able to cover my bills for the month.
After Helene, this has all gone away. Some gigs are beginning to come back, however most have not. The local economy is still reacting to the disaster.
I’m seeking any sort of financial assistance to help me cover bills through this winter.
Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.