Help Kara and her girls recover from Helene flood damage

Genevieve Bieniosek is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Karalyn Warren.

Donation protected

I'm helping my friend and co-worker- Kara Warren and her two girls Zelda and Vivi in Asheville, North Carolina.

Their house was directly in the flooding of Hominy Creek, a tributary of the French Broad River. During the hurricane Helene their entire basement was full of rushing water at least 4 feet over the floor. Many items were swept away in the water. Everything else is covered in a layer of hazardous river sludge.

Her many local friends and I have all been working long, hot hours in the humid sunny yard, wearing long pants&sleeves, muck boots, rubber gloves, and masks to protect our skin and lungs from the hazardous river mud sludge. People have donated pop up tents, cleaning supplies, and wet-dry vac to help clean everything out.

But we are exhausted and Kara is exhausted.

At the end of each day we all go home to our own storm damaged houses, but Kara can't stay in the house and goes to a free room with running water but no electricity or internet access. The girls were able to evacuate to stay with grandparents in another city.

We are doing all we can to help in person, but recovery will also take money! To replace the damaged and missing items, and to do the necessary plumbing and electric repairs so the upper floor kitchen and bedrooms can be lived in again.

The family of three kept many personal items in storage in the basement, including all their winter clothes and blankets! Also their bicycles, yard and gardening tools and supplies, keepsakes, and some family heirlooms like special Christmas decorations.

Kara Warren is the mother of two amazing young girls, and an artist and businesswoman. Her basement studio is destroyed; materials and supplies were washed away or are ruined by the mud. Many pieces of her beautiful art and sculpture are damaged and possibly some are missing.

Kara's part-time art conservation business of repairing and conserving public sculpture requires specialized tools and materials which were destroyed or washed away.

Kara also works a full-time job at Biltmore. Both of the girls are in school.

In the basement there is general damage to the electric and plumbing and walls. Parts of the walls and all the insulation must be removed quickly to prevent mold and speed drying. The thick river sludge has to be cleaned off walls, ledges, wall shelves, and floors.

The mud also covers most of the furniture and other contents; a few can be cleaned and are still usable but most will need to be thrown away.

The water heater was torn from the wall and spun on it's side and will need to be replaced.

It's after 11pm now and I'm so exhausted. It has been ten days since the storm began. I'm sure I have forgotten things, so I'll update this as often as necessary. I have no idea how much money it will take to repair/replace everything so this is all a wild guess.

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who is willing to help Kara out. She appreciates it so much, and so will the girls. It is October and cool weather is coming.

Some examples of Kara's art:

https://dia.org/collection/scapes-series-94153

https://www.fmarion.edu/finearts/artgalleryseries2008/ (scroll down about halfway)

Here is an article about Kara's work caring for public monuments and artwork:

https://www.hendersonvillelightning.com/news/6190-wolfe-s-angel-cleaned-and-repaired.html

Hominy creek crested over 20 ft! https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/0344878100/

1. Who you are- My name is Genevieve Beniosek

2. Where you're from- I live about one mile from Kara in Asheville, NC

3. Your relationship to the parties you're raising funds for- Kara is a good friend and also my co-worker

4. How the funds will be spent (be specific as possible)- to repair or replace the damaged basement, art studio, and its contents (including the family's warm clothes and also art and business supplies)

I know there are a lot of scams out there especially now. If you message me through gofundme I can put you directly in touch with Kara to verify who she is.