Collaboration Spotlight
Tim Radford, Mayor of Murphy, with Nancy Helms of Grape Creek community at the community convening
Nancy Helms of Grape Creek attended a WNCC Coffee Hour where she heard a neighboring community talking about needing more volunteers. She asked herself, “What could I do to help?” She invited Terri Wells of WNC Communities (WNCC) to speak at the Murphy Rotary Club. Then she invited all 10 community clubs in the area to attend a meeting immediately afterward to learn about local resources and what WNC Communities does to assist our members. Her incredible effort pulled together club officers from Unaka, Grape Creek, Hiwassee Dam, Bellview, Martins Creek, Peachtree, Texana, and Brasstown. (Cherokee County Indian Community Club and Marble Community were unable to attend.)
At the event, everyone heard what each club was doing and Nancy handed out a packet introducing each attendee’s role. They got to learn about resources such as help for domestic violence victims, human trafficking prevention, free Wi-Fi available for their clubs through Broadband for Cherokee County, what the Chamber of Commerce was doing, and the offerings of WNCC. They also got to meet their county commissioners and county extension agent. There was a handout introducing each attendee and their offerings, and what role they play in the area. Nancy even arranged for a free lunch for attendees, and got a grant to give each community $100, and Linda May of Bellview made a swag bag for each attendee from Modern Woodmen.
It is the work of community leaders like Nancy Helms and community centers like Grape Creek that really embody the spirit of “We are in this together” that we seek to promote among WNC Communities’ members. Thank you to Grape Creek for this inspiring example of being “the tide that lifts all boats!”