When Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina with unfathomable strength and devastation, many were left wondering after the flood waters cleared and the immediate danger abated:

What can we do to help?

Solutions of every sort were created, launched, and deployed to meet immediate and long-term needs. One such need involved the small-business community, and Mountain BizWorks, a CDFI serving Western North Carolina, became the convener of what ultimately became a nearly $60 million fund called WNC Strong: Helene Business Recovery Fund.

Abundance Capital Angels Joined the Effort

Abundance Capital donors joined the WNC Strong campaign with a $125,000, 0% interest loan going directly to small businesses that needed money immediately. Within ten days of the storm, businesses that would otherwise wait months for relief funds from insurance and other entities received working capital to rebuild, reopen, or simply survive the months that followed.

One such business was MS Lean Landscaping. Helene caused immeasurable damage to the region that will take years to fully repair, largely due to fallen trees and floodwaters. Contractors rushed to the region to join the effort, often with good intentions but sometimes taking jobs or workers from the businesses that had already called the area home for years.

MS Lean quickly saw the threat—larger contractors could offer higher wages for its team members, crippling a company already suffering from simply living in the storm’s path. Would they experience a second wave of devastation that took their livelihood, too?

The WNC Strong loan was the antidote MS Lean needed

The investment enabled MS Lean to retain its team and continue doing the work they do best for the community they have called home all along.

In November of 2025, Mountain BizWorks repaid the 12-month loan to the participating Abundance Angels, and a group traveled to Asheville to see the recovery in action. Mountain BizWorks presented a ceremonial “check’ to Abundance Capital Angels, and also introduced donors to the owner of MS Lean to hear his story and shake his hand.

The group also toured the devastated River Arts District (RAD), where they met the band of Unified RAD, who came together to create a temporary warehouse studio and workspace for hundreds of displaced artists, among numerous other efforts to save the cultural heartbeat of the Asheville community.

Paying it forward to Impact WNC

Within a single day of receiving the repaid WNC Strong loan, several Abundance Angels who had visited Asheville immediately channeled their original capital into a new venture. The next investment for them would be Impact WNC, a venture capital fund supporting healthtech, clean energy, agricultural technology, light manufacturing enterprises, and more.

Angels also participated in an educational session to learn more about investment opportunities in the River Arts District Foundation’s upcoming creative campus project, which is being built with mitigation and “living with the river” in mind. A vital commitment after surviving the French Broad River’s 1,000-year rainfall event.

The story of Helene, the WNC Strong fund, the convening led by MountainBizWorks, and the involvement of Abundance Capital Angels is a full cycle representing the kind of regenerative philanthropy possible everywhere.

One donation led to one investment that changed the lives of others for the better; that investment returned and became a second. The cycle has the potential to go on endlessly, with the power to positively impact the communities we love exponentially.

This story is the most complete and full version of the Abundance Effect to date. It is emblematic of our mission, our vision for the future, and what we imagined when the first account opened.

Let’s do it again and again.