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(tranquil bright music)

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- We picked this area
just because of the view.

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We got a good view of the mountains.

4
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The kitchen'll be in that
corner, the living room

5
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and then the bedrooms and
everything from there back.

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Sort of hard to imagine it right now,

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but I mean it'll come together

8
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and it'll be beautiful I'm sure.

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We are excited.

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I mean we've got a home we're living in,

11
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we're living with my daughter,

12
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but we're ready to get our lives
back and have our own home.

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(tranquil bright music)

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(apprehensive music)
(water roaring)

15
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- Hurricane Helene, when it
came through on September 27th,

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it devastated this community.

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- The devastation of it
was really overwhelming.

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- It was demolished.

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I mean the road's gone, home's gone.

20
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Bridge is gone.

21
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I mean you just, it was
just like a bomb landed.

22
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A lot of people lost everything.

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- Once that happened

24
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and everybody got
destroyed or washed away,

25
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it brought people together

26
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and then, hey, we gotta help each other.

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- Barnardsville is one of those idyllic,

28
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old-fashioned kind of communities

29
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where everybody knows each other.

30
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It's not a municipality,

31
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there's no mayor or anything like that.

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So the fire department

33
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is really our primary municipal building

34
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and those men and women

35
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are just so embedded in the community.

36
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After the storm, Phillip Kuykendall,

37
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one of our captains and a
public servant his entire life,

38
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stayed on.

39
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I think he did 30 days straight,

40
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just helping his neighbors.

41
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- You can see the water level

42
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that was on my block building.

43
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That's how high the water was

44
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and the house set a little
bit lower than that.

45
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So, I mean we had like three
and a half feet of water

46
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inside the house.

47
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It was a horrible sight.

48
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We just shut the door and
walked away and cried.

49
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- We didn't even realize till later on

50
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that his home was completely destroyed

51
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and that's what his wife

52
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and his teenage son were living through

53
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while he was selflessly
helping his neighbors.

54
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So really, it was his whole
family that sacrificed.

55
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- 12 months after the flood,

56
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there's still so much to
be done in our community.

57
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- Thank goodness our
community did step up.

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Without outside help, it'd
be a many, many more years

59
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before we could even see daylight.

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- People get worried.

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Cause okay, we know we had all the help

62
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and, of course, the people

63
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that we're helping have gone home.

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So when Travelers came in,

65
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it's bringing more hope
that we're not forgotten.

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- Travelers, are we ready to go?

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(workers cheering)
(workers clapping)

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- The Big Ivy Historical Park

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is something that we're really
proud of as a community.

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We're truly grateful
Travelers coming in to help

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and the projects that they're undertaking.

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- The historical park
was pretty much destroyed

73
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and to get it revitalized,

74
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it's a tremendous effect on the community

75
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and I think that's what it is,

76
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is having a sense of belonging
to something and somebody

77
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and showing the youth that,
hey, something is worth saving.

78
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I'd like to see that for
my kids and grandkids.

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I've got great grandkids. (chuckles)

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- Well, what we're finding now

81
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is that many of the
situations that we have left

82
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are just multi-layered and very complex.

83
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- People are still really cut off.

84
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A lot of people don't have work.

85
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And so continuing to
support this area with food

86
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is one of the foundations for rebuilding.

87
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And so disaster relief organizations

88
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funded a program to bring local farm food

89
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directly to the Barnardsville community,

90
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but that program on the state
level was not continued.

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So it was really a amazing grace for us

92
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because this Travelers grant picked up

93
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from where that left off keeping healthy,

94
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fresh food coming to people
that really need it the most.

95
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- That they were like so willing
to just deliver it to us,

96
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was honestly a game
changer for us. (laughing)

97
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- Yeah, I appreciate you guys.

98
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- It's just been so beautiful.

99
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- [Resident] Thank you.

100
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- Happy Thanksgiving to you.

101
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- It's a huge blessing,

102
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that is like really unheard of.

103
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- God bless y'all.

104
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- Getting the boxes is wonderful,

105
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but it's way more than a that.

106
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It's just the knowledge that
somebody's coming to see you.

107
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You get to talk to someone,

108
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joke with them, love them, hug them.

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It's comfort for the people.

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They feel the joy. They feel happiness.

111
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They feel hope.

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- It means everything.

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- We were all just praying,

114
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praying that something
would happen for Phillip.

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I got a call about this opportunity

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with Traveler's Insurance.

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- It means everything.

118
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It's the beginning of
starting your life over.

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You just don't rest unless you're at home

120
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and my wife's excited about the home.

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(uplifting bright music)

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- We are greatly encouraged

123
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that Travelers is
rebuilding Phillip's home.

124
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It's very satisfying
when you look at a family

125
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and they're provided for.

126
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- We promise to take care of people

127
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at their most difficult
and challenging times.

128
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And to be able to just
have a very small hand

129
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in helping people reclaim
their lives is pretty special.

130
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- The investment that Travelers
has made in this community

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is already paying off

132
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and I think it'll pay off
even more in the future.

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- This place is amazing.

134
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It's a wonderful place just to live life.

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It's amazing the strength
when we can all bond together.

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- I see a community that has rallied

137
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and Travelers has
continued to help rebuild,

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making sure that everyone's needs are met.

139
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So it's really an incredible
example of what humanity

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can do in the face of disaster.

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- I believe in this community,

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I believe we can get back to normal.

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(uplifting bright music fades)