Study Finds Resilience Education Increases Confidence, Connection, and Recovery After Community Disaster

October 13, 2026 | Disaster Relief & Weather-Related Stress, Mental Health Matters, Projects & Partnerships, Resources for Resilience

When Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina in September 2024, the impacts extended far beyond damaged roads, homes, and infrastructure. Months after the storm, residents, caregivers, volunteers, educators, healthcare professionals, and community leaders continued to carry the emotional weight of recovery. Chronic stress, grief, burnout, compassion fatigue, and uncertainty became ongoing challenges for many of the people helping communities rebuild.

 

To address these needs, Resources For Resilience, in collaboration with Vaya Health and the NC Department of Health & Human Services, mobilized a region-wide effort to provide free, trauma-informed resilience education across Western North Carolina. Thanks to support from these funders and multiple community partners, RFR was able to deliver practical tools and strategies designed to help people understand stress, strengthen well-being, and support others through recovery.

Between January and June 2026, RFR offered six different resilience-focused trainings in workplaces, schools, healthcare settings, government agencies, community organizations, and virtual spaces. An independent evaluation conducted by Prevention Strategies offers evidence of the impact this work has had on individuals and communities throughout the region.

Prevention Strategies

 

Prevention Strategies is a North Carolina-based research, evaluation, and consulting organization founded in partnership with UNC Greensboro. Their team of research scientists and public health professionals help organizations measure the effectiveness of their commuinity programs, translating prevention science and behavioral research into meaningful, practical outcomes.

 

    Meeting Critical Recovery Needs

    As a nonprofit serving communities since 2017, Resources For Resilience was able to respond quickly following Hurricane Helene.

    During the GROW NC funding period alone, the organization delivered more than 1,000 hours of live, interactive programming, reaching more than 10,000 residents, professionals, volunteers, and helpers across 29 counties and the Qualla/Cherokee Boundary. They partnered with more than 70 organizations, including 50 new community partners, and provided more than 600 training opportunities throughout Western North Carolina.

    Today, the demand remains strong, with waitlists and continued requests demonstrating that resilience support remains a critical part of long-term disaster recovery.

    Disaster recovery is not measured only by rebuilding structures. It is also measured by communities’ ability to adapt, maintain connection, support one another, and move forward together.

    Evaluating Results & Impacts

    To better understand the effectiveness of the trainings, Resources for Resilience partnered with Prevention Strategies to evaluate participant experiences and outcomes related to the following trainings between January and June 2026:

    • Reconnecting Through Hard Times (682 participants)
    • Leading Through Hard Times (213 participants)
    • Recharging Resilience (180 participants)
    • Reconnect for Better Days (152 participants)
    • Reconnect for Resilience (100 participants)
    • Resiliency Champions (32 participants)

    Surveys were administered before and after trainings to measure changes in knowledge, confidence, and preparedness.

    The evaluation focused on whether participants:

    • Increased their understanding of stress and resilience
    • Felt more prepared to recognize and respond to stress in themselves and others
    • Gained practical tools for managing burnout, compassion fatigue, and toxic stress
    • Planned to use resilience strategies in their daily lives
    • Intended to share what they learned with colleagues, clients, families, and communities

    The evaluation captured data from 1,359 training participants representing communities across 29 Helene-impacted counties in Western North Carolina counties, including 19 rural counties.

     

    More than half of participants (52%) reported that this was their first resilience training experience.

    Participants Felt More Prepared and Resilient

    One of the strongest findings from the evaluation was the significant increase in participants’ understanding of stress and resilience. Participants frequently described feeling:

    • More informed and aware
    • Better understood and validated
    • More confident and equipped

    Participants also consistently highlighted the value of practical, easy-to-implement resilience strategies, which included:

    • Connecting with supportive people
    • Identifying sources of support
    • Practicing rapid-reset techniques
    • Noticing positive physical sensations
    • Building awareness of stress responses

    Lastly, the evaluation found that the impact of the trainings extended beyond individual well-being. Participants reported they were likely to use resilience strategies to help others around them regulate stress, supporting coworkers, clients, students, families, and community members.

    The findings underscore an important lesson: helping the helpers. Communities recover more effectively when the people providing support receive support themselves.

    When key community player have the knowledge, skills, tools, and supportive resources they need to manage stress and burnout in themselves, they are better able to sustain the care and leadership that their communities need and rely on.

    In other words, when we help these people care for themselves, they can better care for others and the impacts trickle outwards.

     

    The study demonstrates the powerful role resilience education can play in public health.While this evaluation focused on WNC, the findings have broader implications for disaster recovery globally, helping individuals, teams and communities maintain their well-being and strengthen valuable social connections.

     

    By the Numbers

    • 10,000+ people across 29 counties reached through resilience education and support in WNC
    • 96% of participants understood the Resilient Zone after training, up from 37% before training.
    • 98% felt better prepared to respond to burnout, compassion fatigue, and toxic stress.
    • 99% would recommend Resources For Resilience trainings to colleagues.

     

    Participant Experiences:

    “This training made me feel seen and heard and understand myself better.”

    “I have been operating in the Survival Brain for months and months at work. There are helpful tools to go to now thanks to this training.”

    “I am excited to use these tools in my professional and personal life. I already use some of the tools and I am glad to add more to my toolbox.”

    “It taught me how to help and support others while also taking care of myself.”

     

    Because many participants worked as service-based professionals (educators, first responders, healthcare providers, nonprofit staff, community leaders, etc), the benefits of the trainings extended far beyond those who attended. Participants carried resilience knowledge and practical skills back into their organizations, workplaces, families, and communities.

     

    Looking Ahead

    The study confirms what many participants and partners have experienced firsthand: resilience education is playing a valuable role in Western North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene, and it’s doing that one person, one organization, and one community at a time.

    As communities continue to face stress, grief, burnout, and recovery-related challenges long after the initial disaster, maintaining free or low-barrier training opportunities remains essential.

    Additional funding, staffing, and partnerships could help Resources For Resilience expand their capacity to meet demand, reaching more organizations and reduce growing waitlists.

    NEXT STEPS

    Gather & Grow (Swannanoa, NC)

    September 21, 2026

    Join us for lunch, meaningful conversation, connection, and reflection. Together, we’ll learn practical ways to navigate trauma and stress, and process the myriad of emotions that we may be experiencing in this two-year mark after the storm.
    This event is in partnership with Black Mountain Counseling, Buncombe County Long Term Recovery Group, and The Swannanoa Resilience Hub.
    • FREE for WNC residents
    • REGISTER HERE to secure your spot and receive additional event details

    Reflect & Reconnect (Helene Anniversary)

    July 20, 2026

    Anniversaries of tragic events can hit us in unexpected ways. As we mark two years since Helene, we are here to hold space for a myriad of emotions and experiences. Join us at Wrong Way River Campground for a morning of meaningful conversation, connection, and reflection. Together, we’ll learn practical tools to navigate trauma and stress after the storm and conclude with a brief community art-therapy activity led by Turning the Page on Helene.
    • FREE for WNC residents
    • REGISTER HERE to secure your spot and receive additional event details

    Two Years Later: Acknowledging “Post Helene Stress Disorder” & Continued Healing Across WNC

    July 20, 2026 | Disaster Relief & Weather-Related Stress, Resources for Resilience

    It’s hard to believe that two years have passed since Hurricane Helene changed Western North Carolina forever.

    As September and October approach, communities across our mountain region find themselves reflecting on a date that now exists as a dividing line in memory: life before Helene, and life after.

    For many residents, Helene was more than a storm. It was a moment of profound loss, uncertainty, and disruption. Homes were damaged or destroyed. Families were displaced. Beloved landscapes were altered. Lives, routines, and plans changed in ways that no one could have anticipated.

    And yet, alongside the grief and devastation, Helene revealed something equally profound: the extraordinary strength, compassion, and resilience of Appalachian communities.

    As we mark two years since Helene, we pause to remember what was lost, honor what has been rebuilt, and acknowledge the healing that is still unfolding.

    “The anniversary of Helene hits us in the guts every year. A collective trauma cauterized into a tender corner of our hearts, the wound reopening like clockwork every September. Scab never fully healed.”

    WNC Resident

    “There’s lots of loss, lots of grief, lots of extreme stress, but also, so many stories of connection and love and neighbors helping neighbors and people coming to each other’s aid, and figuring it out together.”

    Executive Director, Ann DuPre Rogers (Jan 2025)

     

    Reflecting on the Last 24 Months

    The aftermath of Helene brought challenges that many communities are still navigating today.

    The storm left behind damaged infrastructure, interrupted livelihoods, environmental impacts, and deep emotional wounds. Recovery has required patience, persistence, and tremendous collective effort.

    Across Western North Carolina, neighbors showed up for one another in countless ways—clearing debris, sharing supplies, repairing homes, offering childcare, and providing emotional support. These acts of care became more than moments of kindness; they formed the foundation of our region’s recovery.

    Today, many signs of progress are visible. Roads have reopened. Homes have been repaired. Businesses have returned. Communities continue to adapt and rebuild.

    Yet significant challenges remain.

    Funding gaps continue to affect many rural areas throughout the 25 Helene-impacted counties. Environmental restoration efforts are ongoing. The economic impacts of the storm continue to unfold, and many families are still working toward stability and recovery.

    Our work continues. And so does our HOPE!

     

    Grief anniversaries can hit in unexpected ways.  Your body and nervous system remember the emotional and physical experience of the past, and bring feelings of anxiety, sadness, anger, guilt, or numbness back to the surface. Whatever shows up, meet it with gentleness and compassion. It’s ok to not be ok.

     

    Understanding the Lasting Impact of Trauma

    While physical recovery is easier to see, emotional recovery often takes much longer.

    One way to think about trauma is as experiencing “too much, too fast.”

    In the case of Helene, few people could have anticipated the magnitude of what was coming. During a crisis, many of us instinctively enter survival mode. We compartmentalize emotions in order to make it through the immediate challenges before us.

    That response can be incredibly effective in the short term.

    But over time, emotions that are pushed aside can remain with us. Experiences and feelings may become stored in our bodies and nervous systems, sometimes resurfacing months—or even years—later.

    The familiar fight, flight, or freeze responses that help us survive disasters can begin to affect our well-being when they persist for too long. The impacts may show up as anxiety, depression, exhaustion, headaches, sleep disruptions, high blood pressure, emotional distress, or a combination of physical and emotional symptoms.

    Another common experience is survivor’s guilt, or what some describe as survivor’s grief. These feelings often arise from our deep capacity for connection and care. We carry one another’s stories, worry about our neighbors, and feel others’ pain alongside our own.

    For many people across Western North Carolina, the anniversary of Helene may reactivate these emotional experiences.

    That is completely normal. Trauma anniversaries can affect us in ways we do not always expect.

    “I’ll never forget the Helene gratitude. I can let go of the grief, but the gratitude I hope that I’ll never forget. Every day is about experiencing more of the grateful part.”

    Nicole K., WNC Resident

    There Is No Right Way to Feel

    The emotional aftermath of Helene continues to be deeply felt throughout our region.

    Recovery is not only about rebuilding structures. It is about healing hearts, relationships, and communities.

    Anniversary dates of traumatic events can stir powerful emotions. Some people may experience increased stress, anxiety, sadness, or irritability. Others may feel numb or disconnected. Some may find themselves avoiding reminders of the storm altogether.

    All of these responses are valid. Each person’s healing journey is unique, and there is no single “right” way to navigate this milestone.

    You may experience:

    • Overwhelm
    • Grief and sadness
    • Numbness
    • Avoidance
    • Shock
    • Reflection
    • Gratitude
    • A mixture of many emotions at once

    Each person carries their experience differently.

    As we move through the healing process, there will be days when sadness feels close to the surface. There may be moments of anger, fear, tenderness, or exhaustion. And there may also be moments of joy, gratitude, and connection.

    Both can be true. We can honor loss while still recognizing growth, and we can remember what happened while still appreciating how far we’ve come.

    The Grief, and the Gratitude

    Two years later, we continue to be inspired by the countless people who helped carry our communities through the hardest days:

    • The first responders who answered urgent calls.
    • The healthcare workers who cared for those in need.
    • The educators who supported children amidst uncertainty.
    • The utility crews, public servants, nonprofit leaders, behavioral health providers, faith communities, volunteers, and neighbors who showed up day after day.

    THANK YOU to these heroes and helpers whose compassion, courage, and commitment helped light the way forward. Your legacy of service and the countless stories of neighbors helping neighbors continue to define our region today.

     

    Finding Ways to Remember & Heal

    Many people benefit from creating intentional space around meaningful anniversaries.

    That may look like:

    • Cooking or baking a favorite meal
    • Volunteering in your community
    • Attending a local commemorative event
    • Spending time in nature
    • Practicing meditation or reflection
    • Participating in a support group
    • Attending an educational workshop or training
    • Connecting with family, friends, or neighbors
    • Participating in a healing retreat
    • Creating new rituals and traditions of remembrance

    There is room for every person in Western North Carolina to grieve, process, connect, and heal in ways that feel meaningful to them. As we approach Helene’s second anniversary, may you find ways to honor this time that feel authentic and supportive for you.

    Resources for Resilience remains committed to supporting communities as they navigate the ongoing impacts of disaster, stress, and trauma. We are proud to offer community-centered programming designed to provide connection, practical tools, research-backed resources, and opportunities for reflection and healing.

    While our programming is not a replacement for professional mental health treatment, they are especially helpful for those serving on the frontlines of community well-being, including first responders, behavioral health professionals, educators, public officials and civil servants, healthcare workers, community volunteers, and any other professionals dedicated to keeping our communities safe, informed, healthy, and connected.

    2026 Helene-Anniversary Programming

    Resources For Resilience continues to hold space for the many emotions WNC residents may be experiencing by offering judgement-free, trauma-informed opportunities to learn, reset, and reflect together.

    These FREE two-hour ‘Reflect & Reconnect’ sessions blend our ‘Reconnecting Through Hard Times’ curriculum with our Community Listening Circles to create a powerful experience that can help foster understanding, hope and nervous system regulation as participants navigate the varying healing and recovery journeys and complex emotions surrounding the storm.

     

    September 23, 2026 | 5-7 pm | Swannanoa Public Library

    Along the banks of the Swannanoa River, the town of Swannanoa was one of the hardest-hit areas in Western NC, experiencing catastrophic flooding that destroyed countless homes, businesses, bridges, and infrastructure.

    September 25, 2026 | 8:30-10:30 am | Wrong Way Campground

    Wrong Way Campground also experienced flooding to their property, although thanks to intentional flood-resilient design, their lodge and cabins survived the French Broad River cresting over 24 feet and they were able to recover quickly. This special session will include a brief art therapy activity led by local community arts nonprofit, Turning The Page on Helene.

    September 28, 2026 | 12-2pm | Swannanoa Resilience Hub

    In this special ‘Lunch & Learn’ session sponsored by Black Mountain Counseling and Buncombe County Long-term Recovery Group, participants will have a final opportunity to learn, reflect and connect in a supportive community setting.

    Other FREE educational events to support Helene-impacted communities:

    Space is limited for these community events, so participants are encouraged to register early to secure a spot.

    Visit our online event calendar to learn more about our others upcoming trainings, workshops, and community gatherings.

    As we remember Hurricane Helene, let us also remember how our communities came together. Let us honor the kindness that emerged in the midst of hardship and the resilience that continues to carry us forward.

     

    Still WNC Strong

     

    Two years later, we continue to be inspired by the countless people who helped carry our communities through the hardest days:

    • The first responders who answered urgent calls.
    • The healthcare workers who cared for those in need.
    • The educators who supported children amidst uncertainty.
    • The utility crews, public servants, nonprofit leaders, behavioral health providers, faith communities, volunteers, and neighbors who showed up day after day.

    THANK YOU to these heroes and helpers whose compassion, courage, and commitment helped light the way forward. Your legacy of service and the countless stories of neighbors helping neighbors continue to define our region today.

    Resources for Resilience remains committed to supporting communities as they navigate the ongoing impacts of disaster, stress, and trauma.

    Over the past two years, Western North Carolina has demonstrated something remarkable, through the reconstruction and recovery process.

    We have become stronger together. We have learned to appreciate things we once took for granted. Most importantly, we have witnessed the extraordinary power of human connection.

    The road ahead is still long, but the spirit of Appalachia remains steadfast—rooted in grit, resilience, determination, generosity, and hope.

    May we never forget our capacity to rebuild, regenerate, heal, and grow.

    Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, we remain #WNCStrong.

     

     

    Additional Resources

    Reflect & Reconnect (Helene Anniversary)

    July 20, 2026

    Anniversaries of tragic events can hit us in unexpected ways. Join us for an evening of meaningful conversation, connection, and reflection. Together, we’ll learn practical tools to navigate trauma and stress, and process the myriad of emotions and experiences that we may be experiencing in this two-year mark after the storm.
    • FREE for WNC residents
    • REGISTER HERE to secure your spot and receive additional event details