Hurricane Helene: The Gillings School Responds

A Message From Dean Nancy Messonnier:

Dear Gillings School Community,

It has been wrenching to see the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina and throughout the Southeast. The crisis continues to unfold, as search and rescue teams continue to look for missing people, and as emergency service personnel work day and night to make roads passable, provide potable water and food, restore electricity and cell service, and connect people to crucial health services. We are thankful for these highly trained, skilled people who have dropped everything to respond to the overwhelming needs, including some of our experts at the Gillings School.  

This message provides information for those impacted by the hurricane and for those who want to help. More information and guidance will be coming soon. 

To all who have been impacted by the storm directly or indirectly. We are here for you.  

• To our students, faculty and staff who reside in western North Carolina and other impacted areas, we have been reaching out to you (and will continue to do so) to ensure you are safe. Many do not yet have cell service, electricity or safe drinking water, so we know that this will take time. Know that we will work with you to adjust timelines and other aspects of academic work, as needed.  

• To all who have family and friends in affected areas, we are here to help. Please let your instructors, supervisors, and/or department chairs know the situation you and your loved ones are facing, so they can work with you, as needed. Also, take care of yourselves. Please access counseling support via CAPS and/or our Gillings embedded counselor, Claudio Caceres (for students) or, for Gillings employees, via the Employee Assistance Program, if needed (although we recognize that those without internet or cell service cannot yet access these resources). 

• To students with immediate, urgent financial need due to the storm, the Gillings School has some resources available through our Gillings Student Emergency Relief Fund. Restrictions on this fund will be eased to help accommodate immediate needs. The Carolina Center for Public Service (see below) may also have resources available.  

• Instructors, supervisors and department chairs, please check in with your students to see if they might be impacted by Helene. Be as flexible as possible with individual students who might need additional time or support to complete their assignments. If you need help or support, please do not hesitate to reach out as well. We will work together to get through this. We know that the recovery for everyone will take time and understanding.  

How can I help respond to the crisis? Many of you have already written to ask: How is the Gillings School responding? How can I plug in as part of that response? Thank you for your generosity! Below is a briefing, together with key links, that we hope will help answer your questions. First, please read the letter from the Chancellor sent out this morning (here). The bottom line is that trained emergency service workers are on the front lines, and we are likely to slow them down and make their jobs more complicated if we try to jump in now. Donations of money are the best way we can help for the next week or so. But please read on for a briefing of coordination that is underway at the Gillings School and at UNC-Chapel Hill and other ways that you may be able to help in the near future.  

UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC Gillings School respond. The Carolina Center for Public Service (CCPS), has created this web page; it will serve as the hub for UNC-Chapel Hill’s response efforts to the disaster and will be updated with new information and resources as they become available. That website shares ways individuals can help and also information on how individuals may be able to receive help, if needed. Emergency preparedness and response experts at the Gillings School are already in touch with folks at the CCPS and will coordinate closely with them on all efforts so we can extend, rather than duplicate, relief efforts.  

Even as we connect with University efforts, we also are coordinating School-specific efforts. A planning team has been activated and, in coordination with the Carolina Center for Public Service, and working with our partners, we hope to identify service opportunities for later in the semester, perhaps over the fall break if possible. In an upcoming memo, we will share a volunteer interest form. We will also continue to stay in touch with the Gillings community via memos, LCD screens in our buildings and via the Gillings e-newsletter.  

We understand that many of us want to help right away, in organized ways, yet, as mentioned above, North Carolina’s Emergency Operations Center is indicating that, for now, on-the-ground volunteers will be limited to credentialed/trained personnel. In the meantime, you can keep up to date with unfolding needs and state responses to those needs via the UNC CCPS Hurricane Helene webpage and NC Department of Public Safety’s Hurricane Helene webpages, including how to donate to help communities recover. If you are interested in making donations to students in our Gillings community who are impacted by the storm, consider a gift to the Gillings Student Emergency Relief Fund. 

Thank you to all of you for your concern and willingness to step up. We are grateful to you!