Citizens of Swannanoa, NC, fight an uneven fight to reopen their post office after the destruction of Hurricane Helene shut its doors. It served as a “hub” and a “water cooler” for people, a beating heart of the community.
When calamity strikes, as it often has in the Appalachian community of Swannanoa, North Carolina, the “proud, fierce, and maybe a little crazy” working folks who live in the valley along the Swannanoa River “get up off their knees and get to fix’n the problem together,” says Carla Hollar, who’s lived here for more than fifty years.
On May 7, 2025, Hollar and more than 50 of her neighbors gathered in the town’s brewery not to drink (though a few beers were had), but to write hundreds of postcards to postal officials as well as state, local, and federal representatives who might sway postal service decision makers to bring the Swannanoa Post Office back home.
More than six months after Hurricane Helene destroyed much of the town, says Kathryn Locane, a 20-year resident, “We don’t have a grocery store. We don’t have a bank or even an ATM. We don’t have a hardware store. And we don’t have our post office. Those are all basic services. If you don’t have those, it really takes a toll on your mental health.”
