George Real Estate Group Radio Broadcast

Honoring Heroes: Rebecca McCall's Leadership During Crisis

• George Real Estate Group

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Commissioner Rebecca McCall's leadership during Henderson County's storm recovery stands as a testament to community resilience and public service excellence. Recently honored with the Athena Leadership Award, McCall shares the remarkable behind-the-scenes story of how county government transformed overnight to meet unprecedented challenges.

When the storm hit and communications failed, McCall and her team improvised brilliantly. County employees abandoned their regular duties, with office workers staffing donation warehouses and others conducting door-to-door wellness checks after concerned calls flooded in from across the country. As McCall poignantly describes it, they "went back to the 1800s as far as communication goes," with staff physically driving trucks to find and connect key personnel when modern technology failed them.

Perhaps most impressive was McCall's rapid establishment of a massive resource center in an empty 157,000 square foot building. Through quick thinking and community connections, she secured the facility within 24 hours of identifying the need. What began as a single pallet of water grew exponentially, eventually supplying not just Henderson County but neighboring communities as well. The location proved providential – situated near I-26 just before the highway closure, making it accessible to both donors and those in need. As McCall reflects, "I truly believe that God had that facility built for that purpose."

The outpouring of volunteer support touched McCall deeply, particularly those from Bat Cave who had "lost everything" yet still came to help others. This spirit of giving extended beyond county lines, with volunteers arriving from other states to assist for days or weeks. These moments of human connection amid crisis – what McCall calls "miracle after miracle" – reveal the true character of a community when faced with adversity. As Henderson County continues its recovery with approximately 50% of debris cleanup complete and new initiatives like the Hickory Nut Gorge Community Council forming, McCall's leadership reminds us of the extraordinary impact one dedicated public servant can have during our most challenging times.

Speaker 1:

The George Real Estate Group radio broadcast is celebrating 10 years on WHKP. The George Real Estate Group is celebrating 10 years on the radio, live every Thursday morning at 10.05 on WHKP 107.7 FM and AM 1450 and streaming online at WHkpcom. Each Friday morning at 845,. The George Real Estate Group presents the Hometown Hero Award to someone in our community who goes above and beyond to make our hometown a better place to live. Here's this week's Hometown Hero Show. It's 845 and it's time now for our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero Series. We do that every Friday morning at 845, brought to you by the George Real Estate Group, and this morning we're going to be chatting with Henderson County Commissioner Rebecca McCall, the recent Athena Leadership Award winner. The recent Athena Leadership Award winner and Noah recorded a little segment to be with us this morning as the sponsor of the George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero.

Speaker 2:

Good morning, randy. We're so grateful to be here, the highlight of my week every Friday morning, sponsoring the Hometown Hero series, the George Real Estate Group. It's a privilege and honor to honor amazing men and women serving this community and hearing incredible stories, and today is no exception. And so grateful to have Henderson County Commissioner Rebecca McCall as our hometown hero and again hearing her story this morning. So grateful to have her here with us.

Speaker 2:

Before we jump into that conversation, just a snapshot on our local real estate market. The Henderson County market continues to be strong. Really. The last 24 months it's been steady. I mean we're averaging some 124, 125 single family homes a month selling. I did a study of year to date this year versus year to date last year and we actually saw a slight increase almost a 4% increase year to date-date this year versus year-to-date last year for the number of single-family homes sold. So be careful when you hear the news that the sky is falling. Here in Henderson County home prices are steady but demand is actually slightly increased and that's in light of the economy, that's in light of the interest rates.

Speaker 2:

But we know real estate happens around life. It could be a really positive reason why you're buying or selling. It could be a challenging reason. Regardless of what it is, we'd love to help. We'd love to have the conversation. There's no pressure, there's no cost, there's no obligation. Give us a call at 828-393-0134. Give us a call at 828-393-0134. Find us online at realestatebygregcom. Also, follow us on social media. We're on Facebook and Instagram. You can see all of our upcoming listings and open houses. But we're so grateful to be here every Friday morning sponsoring the Hometown Heroes series and again so excited to have Rebecca McCall here with us this morning.

Speaker 1:

Yes, we are, noah. Thank you so much again for bringing us the George Real Estate Group Hometown Heroes Series and right off the bat, we want to say good morning to Rebecca McCall, who's in the studios with us. Good morning Rebecca.

Speaker 3:

Good morning and thank you for having me.

Speaker 1:

We are so happy to have you here with us today. We've been talking about this all week long, and congratulations for winning the Athena Leadership Award of Henderson County. That has to be quite the honor.

Speaker 3:

Oh, absolutely. It was an honor just to be nominated amongst other very qualified individuals, so I was very humbled to be nominated individuals, um, so I was very humbled to be on to be nominated.

Speaker 1:

Uh, vanessa mince was a dear friend of mine and, uh, and she lives on in many, many ways, but this is, uh, one of the one of the ones that stands out front and it just represents a lot of the values that vanessa had and she brought this award to the chamber, I think, think back many years ago, and there's been a long line of leaders who have received this award, and let's talk for just a minute, but first I want to say good morning to Mike Morgan, who's Henderson County's Chief Communications Officer, here with us a little late this morning.

Speaker 4:

I missed you at 730. I didn't know what to do. I just laid in bed and cried for that two-minute segment.

Speaker 1:

But good to be here in person, randy, it's good to have you, mike. Thank you so much, commissioner. If I may, during the storm and recovery session, this guy right here, mike Morgan, who has been a longtime friend of mine, has put a voice to government and in that old cliche, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you. Well, he really has been here to help us recover during this storm with a lot of information, and continues to do so, and so kudos to the Board of Commissioners for picking this guy.

Speaker 3:

Oh, absolutely. We were lucky to convince him to come work with us.

Speaker 4:

It didn't take much convincing. It didn't at all.

Speaker 3:

We offered him a big title and he jumped right on.

Speaker 4:

You put chief in front of something.

Speaker 3:

I'm all yes.

Speaker 4:

I got a mug that says I'm the chief. That's why.

Speaker 1:

Well, mike, join me in congratulating Rebecca on this award, and one of the main reasons that I think that we wanted to talk with you about winning this award was that a lot of it was based on, uh, what happened during the storm and, uh, the recovery which, at the time, you were, uh, henderson county commission chair, and so, uh, man, you started getting phone calls right away, didn't you?

Speaker 3:

oh, absolutely. Um, in fact, we started before the storm. Storm came, we had um, discovered that it was going to be bad and and we did a press conference in conjunction with um, ashville and buncombe county uh, just to warn people and let them know what to prepare for. So so, when the storm did hit and the aftermath, it was like all hands on deck, literally all hands on deck.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the government, the county sort of just really switched directions. Man, I mean the whole big old machine just turned around and said okay, what you were working on yesterday, that's not what you're working on today.

Speaker 3:

Oh right, we had ladies who are normally behind a desk at DSS. We had them working in the warehouse where we were receiving donations and distributing them out to the public, the public. We had people running going from house to house and checking on people doing wellness checks, because we had calls coming in from all over the country checking on their relatives and wanting to know where they were and what was happening with them because of the cell service being down. So it was just, we had people all over the place and then, when all the communication went down, we literally had people in trucks going and finding people that needed to be involved in certain situations. Um and just, you know, it was like, like john mitchell says, we went back to the 1800s as far as communication goes didn't we, though?

Speaker 1:

I have to tell you that, uh, in 50 plus years of broadcasting, I sat behind this microphone a couple of mornings there and had nothing, had no Internet, no electricity, no telephone service, and I just kept hearing these sirens go by, just like we heard. And it was just talk about the personal experiences that I had going on, because I was, like everybody else, kind of wasn't prepared for it. How soon did it be become apparent to you, rebecca, that the eastern part of Henderson County had had that devastating lick?

Speaker 3:

Well, it was the next morning when I tried to get to my parents because they lived on the other side of town and I knew they were without power and I wanted to get to them and see if they were okay, and I couldn't get there. Everywhere I went, I just couldn't get there. It took me an hour and a half and I finally had to go back home, was able to contact a neighbor and let them know that I would get there as soon as I could, but that was when it really sunk in that this was bad, and I think that was the problem. People didn't realize how bad it really was until they got out in it because there was very little communication to let them know that. They just know that they were out of power. They didn't know that 1.5 million people were without power and I want to thank the radio station for continuing to give that information.

Speaker 3:

I remember I took my parents' battery-operated radio so that they could stay in contact and realize how bad it was yeah it, uh, we took that very seriously.

Speaker 1:

Uh, we ourselves were not immune to problems with generators and, uh, power situations and connection issues. We, we were right there with everybody else and we had a crew behind the scenes working 24 7 to keep a line of communication open, because we knew that, uh, we were it during that storm.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and normal became different. Uh, every morning, um, I would get up, I would go check on my parents and then I would circle back around, go to the warehouse that we had set up. I would take food to the national guard who were there and the volunteers and we had so many volunteers, we had volunteers come in from bat cave who had lost everything amazing but they wanted to help and volunteer and give back to others.

Speaker 3:

We had volunteers coming from other states and staying for a couple of days or a couple of weeks. It was just a miracle after miracle after miracle that I saw and I'll never forget it. In fact, I'm trying to write down all those miracles so I won't forget them.

Speaker 1:

That's what really did shine through the whole thing was the power of people and giving and concern for your neighbors. That still warms my heart to think about some of the things. Think about someone who lived in Bat Cave coming here to volunteer Right, that speaks volumes. You mentioned the Resource Center. I wanted to talk for just a second and we've only got a few minutes left here about establishing that. Where did you get the idea that? That was humongous.

Speaker 3:

Well, it went back to the fire in Edneyville and realizing that we were going to have to have a place to take in donations because, like Sheriff Griffin said, they're going to come, you're going to have more Beanie Weenies and Vanna sausages than you'll ever imagine. And he was right. But I started thinking. Started thinking, well, where is there an available spot? And it I was reminded of the two new buildings that had been built on mcmurray road and that's close to where I live. Um, and I knew that zach cooper had contact with the owner. So I was able to get a hold of zach cooper, who was able to get a hold of the owner of the facility, explain the situation. They said absolutely. In fact they sent a representative down here to meet with us. I was able to get into the building the next morning.

Speaker 1:

That fast.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, and opened it up and it was just a big empty shell. There was a puddle of water on the floor and that was it, and I thought we will never fill this up. We filled it up multiple times 157 000 square feet, um, and it was in the right place. I mean, it was right off the Upward Road exit and at that time, if you recall, i-26 was shut down from that point on yeah so thus another.

Speaker 3:

It was in a very accessible location for people to bring their donations and to come pick up things, and it was just. I truly believe that God had that facility built for that purpose.

Speaker 1:

Well, my friend Tippi Cresswell and I were talking about that building just this week. I didn't go during that time, but he was telling me that he went and he said it was incredible to see just look like miles of pallets of food and water. He was just talking about that.

Speaker 3:

We started with one pallet of water and it got lost in that huge vastness of that building and then Coca-Cola delivered a truckload of water and then after that we ended up having so much water we had to move it out to the parking lot and when things started to cool down we had 2,000 pallets of water left. And what we did was we contacted Asheville Schools because they were starting back and they still needed water. So they came and picked up 700 pallets of water. So we were able to help so many and so many other locations. Truckloads went to different counties and it didn't just stay in Henderson County, it went all over well, you, you guys and your whole team just shined.

Speaker 1:

During all of that. It was interesting to be working here in Henderson County and then living in Buncombe County and to compare services and situations. And through it all, mike, you kept us informed, as you continue to do, and we appreciate it so much.

Speaker 4:

I appreciate that, randy. I tell you I had a front row seat for all this too, you know, at the operation center. So to see rebecca's leadership, john Mitchell's leadership, the entire board, all of our administrative team. I mean there were so many things that went on behind the scenes that people may never know about that. I had privy to that. I was like, wow, we are blessed in this county. People need to know how blessed we are in Henderson County to have the leaders we have, our five commissioners we had at that time and the five we have now just love our county and that's all Rebecca was trying to do was taking care of the people that she loves so much in this county and she did an unbelievable job doing that. And we're just, I'm blessed to be where I'm at. Man, I really am.

Speaker 1:

Well, I hear you and I thank you both so much for being here this morning. Congratulations to you, rebecca. In the remaining one minute we have left. We are marching forward and we continue to do debris cleanup and you guys are always ears, eyes open, listening, able to help in any way that possibly you can yes, we are working on debris cleanup.

Speaker 3:

I think we're about maybe 50 through um, but there was a lot of debris um and then the back cave situation. We have a task force that's being set up called the Hickory Nut Gorge Community Council or something like that, but it's getting together the people who love that area.

Speaker 1:

We've got an award for you. Mike will pass along some coupons. We thank you both for coming. Next week, our hometown hero is the 2025 Henderson County Teacher of the Year.

Speaker 2:

There's a strange thing that happens in life. Sometimes, when things are just okay, we stay stuck longer than we would if things were truly bad. It's called the region beta paradox and explains why people stay in homes, that kind of work neighborhoods that used to be okay, or rentals where the price isn't too bad because it's comfortable. But comfort can cost you your dreams. What if you didn't wait for something to break before you made a breakthrough? What if the nudge you've been waiting for is now? At the George Real Estate Group, we hear it all the time. I'm so glad I did it while I could. The move, the decision, the change before it's too late. Whether you need more space, less stress or just a fresh start, you don't have to stay stuck, you don't have to settle and you don't have to do it alone. Call the George Real Estate Group at 828-393-0134. Don't let just fine hold you back. Let's make a move while you still can.

Speaker 1:

The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat Rock, north Carolina, near Hendersonville in Henderson County. You can find them online at realestatebygregcom. The George Real Estate Group can be reached at 828-393-0134 or stop by their office at 2720 Greenville Highway, flat Rock, north Carolina. Tune in live each week on Thursdays at 10.05 am on WHKP 107.7 FM and 1450 am, or stream online at whkpcom or download these podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. The george real estate group brings you the whkp hometown hero series every friday morning at 8 45.