Lansing

The arts have always been integral to the Appalachian experience. Helene led to a pause in much of the area’s creative output. But six months later, many artists are back at work and incorporating the tragedy into their projects.

In the second installment of "With Grace and Grit: A mountain community responds to Helene," Paul Garber reports on Lansing’s Bridge to Recovery. The nonprofit was launched post-Helene to help restore vital spans that are not maintained by the state.

Economic factors including a lack of affordable housing, child care issues and stagnant wages had more than doubled the number of people the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina and its partners served in the last two years.