United Way of the Piedmont is Still Showing Up After the Storm
Helping families rebuild, recover and find their way home after Hurricane Helene.
When Hurricane Helene moved through Spartanburg in the fall of 2024, it left behind damage that would take much longer to repair than the storm itself.
For Johnny and Brenda, siblings who had grown up in their home, a tree came crashing through the kitchen. Suddenly, the place they had always called home was no longer safe to live in.
And while the national attention surrounding Hurricane Helene eventually moved on, families across the region were still facing the long road to recovery.
United Way of the Piedmont stepped in to help make sure they did not have to navigate it alone.
As part of the Spartanburg Long-Term Recovery Group, United Way of the Piedmont helped bring together organizations, case managers, volunteer rebuild teams and community leaders to support households affected by the storm.
By September 2025, the group had identified 964 active cases in Spartanburg County. Each represented a household still working through the lasting effects of the storm.
For Johnny and Brenda, that support included case management and help navigating the resources needed to repair their home and return to it.
Their story is one example of what long-term recovery can look like. It is not simply about cleaning up after a storm. It is about helping people work through complicated needs long after the headlines have disappeared.
The Spartanburg Long-Term Recovery Group brings local government, nonprofits and faith-based organizations to the same table, including the City of Spartanburg, SC Baptist Disaster Relief, Spartanburg County Community Development, Spartanburg County Emergency Management, Spartanburg County Foundation and United Way of the Piedmont.
Each partner brings different resources and capacity. Together, they can respond to challenges that would be difficult for any one organization to tackle alone.
The experience has reinforced something United Way of the Piedmont already knows: collaboration makes communities stronger, especially when the challenges are complex and recovery takes time.
For families like Johnny and Brenda, that collaboration can mean the difference between facing recovery on their own and having someone walk alongside them until they can finally go home.
This is how United Way of the Piedmont gets it done for South Carolina. By bringing people and resources together long after the storm has passed, United Way of the Piedmont is helping families rebuild their homes, their stability and their lives.