On September 27th, LCS Alum, Laurel Roser, was driving cross-country from Montana to Asheville, “coming home” as she puts it.  Within 48 hours, she, like many in NC, found herself unable to contact loved ones, uncertain of where she could live, and unlikely to be able to proceed with any of the plans that brought her back east. 

Wanting to do something to help, Laurel, along with a group of friends, began collecting the resources she was seeing shared on social media into what has come to be called the Helene Recovery Resources Masterdoc. In the first week after the hurricane, the Masterdoc was estimated to have been shared well over 10,000 times and has propelled Laurel into a full-time focus on hurricane relief and grassroots information management. 

Below, we catch up with Laurel about her life since high school, the years she has spent serving and developing her community, and the grassroots efforts she’s seeing in the community around her. 

If you are interested in Hurricane Helene Relief specifically, you can find that at the 8 minute mark.  

Check out her compilation of resources here.