We of Pisgah Yurt Craft have been heartbroken to see our neighbors suffer such immense losses, and reverently shaken to witness the landscape so changed. The wake of Hurricane Helene is truly once-in-a-lifetime for our mountain people, recognized as a 5,000-year flooding/geological event. Nobody here prepares for such a storm. Our modern way of life, art, and commerce were swept away in less than 12 hours. 60-85 mph winds, 24ft river crests, 1,800 landslides, 126,000 homes affected, $56 billion in damage.
We live here – and every one of our regional yurts survived.
Pisgah Yurt Craft calls this place Home
Weeks of rescue and relief later – Pisgah Yurt Craft is orienting on the rebuild. We will dedicate our winter fabrication season to craft a fleet of yurts to serve the next steps.
While survivors brace for the coming cold season and repairs take a winter pause – we want to ensure folks have safe and stable shelters for the work yet to come. We've seen the strength and fortitude of our kindreds tent-camping on their land while they tend to what is left of their homes, or digging deep through mud to salvage what they can of destroyed businesses and lost wares. The next months and years will continue to be long and hard.
We are uniquely equipped to provide dignified, authentic structures to the rebuilding efforts - serving as shelter, housing, community spaces, workshop centers.
We have so many displaced friends here that want to stay where their home and hearth is - on their own land and within their own community.
We can help keep them here.
What We’re Doing
Our goal is to raise $72,000 towards a fleet of 6+ yurts
to be installed in the Spring and Summer of 2025
PYC will offer these yurts to individuals, small businesses, and community organizations who have
a) experienced direct losses of shelter,
b) have lost a structure of economic commerce, or
c) need spaces for community forum and organization.
Think of someone who's generational home was severely damaged by fallen trees - and needs a safe basecamp to operate out of as they rebuild their 100 year old heritage structure. or a quiet homesteader who's self-built cabin was torn from its foundations by a landslide. or a riverside retreat that has lost their lodging and source of income. or a small mountain community that needs gathering spaces for continued resource sharing and meetups. We are oriented to serve these purposes and many more.
Each 16’ Premier Yurt and Platform Package is valued at $24,000
We will offer these from ½ off to entirely free, through a scholarship application hosted on our website, linked below. Yurts aren't for every one or every purpose - but those "who know" will gravitate right to us.
We are partnering with local co-endorsers for application review and project distribution.
Sara Legatski of HoneyPot Vintage - Asheville, NC - Local Business Owner and Grassroots Relief Organizer.
Tefa Hallock of WaterHeart - Sweeten Creek, NC - Watershed Educator and Disaster Relief Dispatch at Project Mama Bear.
These funds will be directly applied towards material procurement, employee wages, site preparations, and installation costs. Every one of our employees has been directly effected by Hurricane Helene, and you will be supporting their continued living wages and security here in the Asheville area. Our sewing studio was in "ground zero" of Beetree Creek's washout in Swannanoa, so we have a proximal and personal lense on troubleshooting the way forward. Most of our lumber comes from local family-operated mills, and even our fabrics are woven right here in North Carolina. Your contributions will support a wide network of economic resilience.
Need a Yurt? Talk to Us
These will be accessible by scholarship and need. Our team will assess each application on a case-by-case basis. We will personally interview folks and conduct thorough site visits, to ensure donor funds are well applied and that we may serve to our highest capacities. Again, our intent is to offer these yurt packages from 50% off to entirely free, as best as funds allow.
If we exceed our goal, we have a broader scope plan on standby to continue serving our WNC community as needed. We have a reserve package schema that includes 6x 16’ diameter, 2x 20’ diameter, and 1x 24’ diameter. If you put your belief and support behind our project, we will happily work through all of 2025 to place as many yurts where they are meant to be!
Keep an eye out for updates as this project evolves, we'll share as much of the process and beneficiaries as we can below!