Thank you, East Tennessee.
Usually, when I write for this blog, I share financial advice—practical tips that can help you and your family experience financial freedom. I work for Y-12 Credit Union, and we pride ourselves on being “here for every why” and “people helping people.” But this time, I can’t do it. I’ve started and erased this post more times than I can count, trying to offer useful tips for teaching your teen to budget or how to build emergency savings. But my heart isn’t in it. My mind can’t shift away from Helene and what she did to our neighbors in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. My heart is so heavy, and today, I’d like to share something different.
There are moments in life that change us forever; for many, Hurricane Helene was that moment. The storm didn’t just rip through homes and streets—it tore through our hearts. In the wake of Helene, it wasn’t just the shattered buildings that told the story of devastation, but the quiet anguish in every face. I saw it in the exhausted linemen sleeping on the ground by their trucks, in the volunteer whose eyes couldn’t unsee the tragedy they encountered, and in the mother on the news, her voice breaking as she mourned the child she couldn’t save. Each face reflected the same unbearable grief, and ever since, my heart—like yours—has been broken.
Yet even in this darkness, we saw something beautiful begin to bloom. What Helene tried to take away, our people—the resilient souls of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina—began to restore. We’ve seen this spirit before, through countless storms and hardships, but this time felt different. Maybe it’s because these mountains build people tougher than most, or perhaps it’s because we’re learning to love each other again in a world that often feels so divided. Whatever the reason, the outpouring of love, compassion, and strength I’ve witnessed has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Many of you dropped everything and headed east, not even knowing what you could do, but knowing you had to do something. Corporations and small businesses alike threw open their doors and offered whatever they could. Doctors, nurses, young, old, men, women—everyone seemed to rise with one purpose: helping each other. Strangers became family, and the spirit of giving wasn’t just a gesture—it was a lifeline. You didn’t need to have lost everything to feel the weight of it all, but whether you gave time, money, a meal, or simply a prayer, you became part of this incredible story of recovery. You made your neighbor your “why.”
So today, I don’t have financial tips to share. Y-12 Credit Union just wants to say thank you. I’ve lived in East Tennessee for 12 years now, but my roots go deeper—my mother was raised in the mountains of Appalachia in North Carolina, so these people, these hills, they’re my people too. Thank you for your generosity, your strength, and your spirit. Thank you for walking through the wreckage, seeing the unimaginable, and choosing to stay when it would’ve been easier to leave. The stories of loss are incomprehensible, but so are the stories of love and sacrifice. And that’s what we want to hold onto.
Above all else, this incredible outpouring of love has given us something beautiful to hold onto: hope.
So, on behalf of our Y-12 Credit Union family, thank you. Thank you for showing up, standing together, and reminding us all what it means to be a community. In the worst of times, you have been the best of us. And because of you, we believe we’ll come out of this stronger and more united.
This isn’t just a place—it’s home. And I’m so proud to call it that.
