Stories of Resilience

When catastrophic flooding and wind damage from Hurricane Helene devastated communities throughout Western North Carolina, knocking out power, water, communications, and roads for what will likely be weeks and isolating whole towns in devastating loss, our small and unusual college campus was grateful to have a more hopeful story to tell — one of resilience, innovation, and a remarkably determined and resourceful community.

As one of 10 federally designated work colleges, our educational model is uniquely well-suited to nurture students who are resourceful and take initiative. Through learning by doing, they gain the confidence to jump into action and help when circumstances get challenging. In just one week, our community made tremendous progress in repairing the extensive damage from Helene and cleaning up campus, making it a safe homebase where we can organize our community response.

Student Stories

Our students responded to the devastating losses that Helene caused by taking initiative, supporting each other, serving our community, solving problems, and being inventive and resourceful. Here are our students’ inspiring Helene stories.

Event: An Evening with Nontombi Naomi Tutu

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

5:30pm to 8pm

WWC will welcome The Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu and Mungi Ngomane to our campus as we mark a year of community repair and resilience. Rev. Tutu will offer a keynote speech with a dinner to follow. This event is open to the public, students, staff and faculty and will be held in the Canon Lounge.

Registration is required to attend this free event.