Overview
NC Local’s inaugural live journalism event, The Heart of the Mountains: Stories from a year of courage, kindness, and community after Hurricane Helene, marked the one-year anniversary of the storm. The event demonstrated NC Local’s mission and values—providing a service to communities with journalism about important statewide and regional issues, centering the community’s voices on topics they care about, and collaborating with other news organizations.
Featured speakers included:
- Laura Lee | NC Local Editorial Director
- Michael Hayes | Umoja Health, Wellness, and Justice Collective Founder & Executive Director
- John Coffey | Black Mountain Fire Chief
- Jason Sandford | Ashevegas Founder & Journalist
- Travis Long | News & Observer Photojournalist
- Diamond Vences | Charlotte Observer Videographer
- Emily Cadmus | Buncombe County Special Collections Come Hell or High Water Project Coordinator
- Lilly Knoepp | Blue Ridge Public Radio Senior Regional Reporter
- Delia Jovel Dubón | Tierra Fértil Coop Co-Founder
- Patricia Serrano | Enlace Latino NC Reporter & Producer
- Amanda Watts | Yancey County Nurse & Field Hospital Organizer
- Jacob Biba | Asheville Citizen Times Reporter
- John Arndt | Swannanoa resident and whitewater kayaker
- Ren Larson | The Assembly Reporter
- Phillip Cooper | Operation Gateway & Voices of Affrilachia Founder
- Laura Hackett | Blue Ridge Public Radio Helene Recovery Reporter
- Brandon and Davie Davis | Owners of DayTrip
- Sara Murphy | Freelance reporter and Beacon Tribune Editor
- Donna Ray Norton | Madison County 8th-Generation Ballad Singer
- Thomas Calder | The Mountain Xpress Managing Editor
- With music from the Resonance Sessions: a powerful collection of live recordings featuring 35 regional musicians, captured in the Old Marshall Jail following the storm.

