CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Helping hands stretched across the country in the wake of Helene, holding on to western North Carolina. People stepped up in the immediate aftermath, giving whatever they could. But sometimes, if there are too many voices, you can't hear what the people in need actually need in the moment.
The organized chaos of people helping forged the friendship of two people: Heather Oberg and Nicole Schoychid. They both had the same idea.
"I had contacts up there and Nicole said she saw me sitting there trying to do something," Schoychid said.
“I don’t even know her last name, but now we work together," Oberg said.
Heather's background in project management mixed with Nicole's boots-on-the-ground communication spawned a website called Supporting WNC. It's a dashboard that allows donation centers to list what they need and don't need in real-time.
Additionally, the dashboard allows people to add additional donation centers and register to bring supplies to them.
"As more and more time goes on without power or water, their needs are going to change," Oberg noted.
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.