I’m from Appalachia and my Christmas visit after Hurricane Helene revealed what DC really thinks of us.

When I visited my family for Christmas just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to partner with a local church and deliver Christmas gifts and supplies to families in my home county of less than 20,000 people, located on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. .

This experience gave me the opportunity to hear the stories of my neighbors, many of whom I have known all my life.

A story caught my attention. A multi-generational household of six living in a fifth-wheel trailer. They had they lost their home and everything they held dear, except their faith.

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Unfortunately, its story is all too familiar in the small mountain communities of southern Appalachia.

It’s been almost five months since Hurricane Helena forever reshaped the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina.

In the months since then, we have seen the true nature of humanity.

Our community has come together. Businesses are helping each other clean up and rebuild. Churches continue to deliver warm clothing and hot meals on foot and on horseback. Nonprofit organizations across the Southeast are delivering needed supplies such as diapers, blankets and baby formula.

It was Elon Musk, with the help of private citizens like former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and the Cajun Navy, who managed Starlink routers to every crevice of Western North Carolina, connecting us to the outside world.

Western North Carolina and southern Appalachia are rebuilding themselves.

The federal government has been slow to respond and help despite the incredible efforts of leaders like Congressman Chuck Edwards and Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd.

Partisan politics has slowed relief effortsand many in Raleigh and Washington put party before people.

With temperatures plummeting and inches of snow falling each week, many North Carolinians remain homeless and rely on tents for shelter.

FEMA has delivered trailers to the region, but failed to efficiently approve those who applied to obtain them nearly five months ago.

The light shining through this storm is the resilience of Appalachia. Even though instigators on both sides attempted to use this disaster for their own political gain, our communities have come together and helped each other.

Cities like Marshall, North Carolina, plan to reopen in the coming months even though more than half of the city was destroyed by flooding.

In the more than 25 years that I have called Western North Carolina home, we are stronger than ever before.

However, the strength and resilience of our community can only sustain our perception of normalcy for so long.

Western North Carolina is desperate.

Leaders of both parties must hold accountable government bureaucracy that defies the needs of our communities.

Winter is just beginning. With temperatures in the single digits and wind chills at negative levels, churches and nonprofits are springing into action to fill the ever-present void left by inefficient government bureaucracy.

The time to act was five months ago, but acting late is better than not acting at all.

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our community desperately needs investment on affordable housing and infrastructure to boost our local economies and give families the resources they need to get back on their feet.

Insurance companies are redefining flood zones; Many families are forced to lose their homes and properties because of the price. The Small Business Administration is running out of money, slowing recovery in regions that desperately need economic opportunity. And county and municipal governments are relying on the slow distribution of disaster relief funds to get critical agencies back online.

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This is not a political issue and should not be controversial. For more than 100 years, our federal government has left Appalachia behind. Now, when we need them most, they still can’t be bothered to act urgently.

Appalachia will not be defined by Helene; will be defined by the overwhelming response of the people who call these mountains home.