'Grief and gratitude': Activists honor community ahead of G20

As the Rev. Marcia Mount Shoop addressed the crowd at Pack Square Park on Aug. 30, she recalled the last time she'd been on that same stage.

Shortly after Tropical Storm Helene devastated Western North Carolina, she'd invited those gathered for a community vigil to simply breathe, to acknowledge their grief, to sigh.

Nearly two years later, the pastor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church said her call in the wake of the storm remained all too relevant.

"We still need to let out those deep sighs, because there's just a lot of people struggling," Shoop told attendees of the WNC Community Summit.

The event, convened by a coalition of local nonprofit and advocacy groups calling itself the WNC Alignment Table, offered an outlet for "grief and gratitude" as Asheville prepared to host a meeting of G20 finance leaders. The Trump administration selected the city for the international conclave of economic officials in part to celebrate the federal government's "commitment to the revitalization and resilience of western North Carolina," according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

But area activists, including event organizer Leslie Boyd, argue the administration has offered more lip service than adequate support for WNC's recovery. Federal funding allocations have so far covered about 13% of the estimated damage from the storm, as previously reported by the Citizen Times. The federal government has covered over 70% of recovery costs for other major storms such as Katrina and Sandy, Gov. Josh Stein noted earlier this year.

"We still have so many unhoused people, people who never got their jobs back because the restaurants closed, people who are still looking for work and haven't recovered," Boyd said. "Don't come here to show off how much you've given us when you haven't given us enough to get up to our feet."

Boyd acknowledged that the summit and associated local protest events were unlikely to reach the ears of Bessent or his fellow federal officials. Instead, she and fellow organizer Rachel Cohen said the main audience was the local community.

Cohen, who represents the local chapter of the climate advocacy group Sunrise Movement, said the G20 had given area activists a catalyst to connect beyond their usual silos. Well over a dozen organizations had a presence at the Pack Square event, ranging from the Democratic Socialists of America to Public School Strong.

"When the government isn't going to save us, we have to be here for each other," said Cohen. "A big part of our strength is when we take the time to network together and strengthen those bonds."

To that end, the event recognized a collection of groups organizers called the "C20" — short for Community 20 — who had supported the region in the immediate aftermath of Helene. (Only 14 groups were named; Boyd told the Citizen Times that several organizations who supported immigrants wanted "to stay under the radar" in light of ongoing concerns about federal immigration enforcement.)

"Making a commitment to show up for community every day, supporting the work of C20 and demanding that our government works for us all: This is actually the antidote to G20," said the Rev. Sara Wilcox, pastor of the Land of the Sky United Church of Christ, as she presented the honorees.

Asheville Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement

Asheville Food and Beverage Union

Center for Participatory Change

Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church

Pigeon Community Multicultural Center

Reparations Stakeholder Authority of Asheville

Rural Organizing and Resilience

Daniel Walton is the City Government Watchdog Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: 'Grief and gratitude': Activists honor community ahead of G20