It’s been almost two years since Hurricane Helene brought its wake of devastation across the Augusta area, and some people remain in recovery mode.
“We’re still getting calls every week,” said the Rev. Scott Parish, mission specialist in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church’s Office of Connectional Ministries,. They want to help as many people as they can.
Since Helene hit, the organization through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has overseen about 200 home repairs due to the storm.
“One hundred thirty-five of them were major construction or total rebuild projects,” he said.
The organization has received funding from entities such as the Community Foundation of the CSRA and the Red Cross, which received donations after the storm. And about 2,000 volunteers have put in more than 80,000 hours on construction.
Parrish estimates volunteer labor amounts to more than $3 million.
Volunteers have come from across the country including a large contingent of Amish from Ohio who worked from October 2025 to April.
“They worked 50 volunteers in two-week segments, doing eight, 10, 12 projects a day,” he said.
Parrish said another 75 projects are on the books in the coming months, but they want to reach as many people as possible.
Most of the people they help are homeowners who are uninsured or underinsured, elderly or working poor.
The damage done doesn’t have to be massive. Maybe it was one limb that poked a hole in a roof, but has led to water damage in one part of a house.
“In the south, we will not say ‘help me’ but we will say ‘help my neighbor,’” said Parrish who is asking people to help their neighbors who may still have a tarp on their roof.
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Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named best local writer by readers of Augusta Magazine in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
