While this week’s story was published when we were still in 2024, it very much exemplifies the renewed hope and restoration embodied in a new year. A young woman discovered a mission in finding and cleaning up photos in the debris of Hurricane Helene, and being able to return those photographs to their original owners.
Photographic treasures in the wreckage of Helene Helene is the subject of our first 2025 Feel-Good Friday.
After the deadly hurricane in October, Taylor Schenker, who lives in Canton, North Carolina, nearby hard-hit Asheville, found herself with about 200 family photos that didn’t belong to her.
It started after the storm. Schenker’s house weathered Helene well, but she said her friend’s entire home was destroyed by flooding from the Swannanoa River. At least 220 people across six states died in the hurricane, including over 40 in Buncombe County, which includes Asheville.
Schenker and her friend went for a walk to check out the home, which was one of the many in Asheville that was destroyed.
“We spent about four hours digging through the mud, looking for any belongings of hers we could find, because her house literally just doesn’t exist anymore,” Schenker told CBS News last month. “And during that process, I found about four of five individual photographs and we laid out the photos – along with some clothes and we found an American flag – along the bank, hoping they would be reunited with people.”
Schenker said thinking about the photos she left behind kept her up that night. “Just thinking, ‘Here are these little photographs that miraculously made it through all of this and now are sitting here and what if it rains or what if the wind blows and they aren’t able to be reunited with their family,'” she said. “That would be such a shame because they made it through all of this. And I know how special a memory like that can really be for somebody.”
It’s true. Pictures capture a season of one’s life, precious memories, and friends and family encapsulated in a particular moment in time. So, what a special vision to want to work to restore these memories to their owner. Schenker said she couldn’t sleep at night thinking about the photographs, so she went back the next day to find more photos, and discovered that the groups of photos she had collected belonged to different families.
“It was [a photo of] a middle school basketball team. It was a photo of a beloved dog. I found a wedding photo of a bride hugging somebody,” she said. “You take photos because you have a moment you want to remember and so, they did all seem just special.”
Realizing how many important family memories she now had in her possession, she started the Photos from Helene Instagram page — a virtual lost-and-found. She hoped people would recognize the photos on her page and word of mouth would help reunite them with their rightful owners.
As the image above represents, Schenker’s Instagram page is filled with unique and special pictures: school portraits, Christmas cards, images of childhood friends and families on vacation. Schenker even found a photo of North Carolina native son and Bulls superstar Michael Jordan dunking the ball. A local man who discovered it said his dad snapped the photo years ago.
Schenker took them home, dusted them off and categorized them in folders and bins for safekeeping until they could be returned to their owners.
Schenker has had success in reuniting photographs with their owners.
Schenker said she found about 100 photos herself, but picked up about another 100 from other people who found them, including search and rescue teams. At the time of our interview in late October, she said she had returned about 15% of the photos she has collected. She still adds new photos to Instagram daily.
Each reunion is a heartwarming reminder that what she’s doing is important. “Being able to have that moment where you hand something so special to somebody and then also just give them a hug – because they’ve lost likely their entire home in this situation – it’s such a privilege to have an insight into this moment in their lives through these photographs and be able to give them back to them,” she said.
So many North Carolinians have lost so much. What a precious gift to be able to restore a piece of someone’s life that they thought had been lost forever. Schenker’s Instagram page is a huge resource and a place of renewal and rejuvenation for many, and as she continues to collect photographs, she helps replace broken and missing pieces for her community.
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