When people think of hurricanes, they typically think of coastal communities, not tiny farming towns nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, hundreds of miles from the coast.

Among the communities impacted by Hurricane Helene in 2024, one of the hardest hit was Erwin in Unicoi County, Tennessee.

The Nolichucky River flooded the town of Erwin and the surrounding area. Several homes were completely destroyed, and more were damaged. The hospital was completely destroyed. Farmland that was once lush fields was wiped away to bare bedrock within hours.

Despite the devastation, Erwin FFA members felt called to embody the National FFA motto, “living to serve,” by helping their community.

The chapter volunteered and assisted in community service projects that helped disaster relief efforts, including serving hot meals to people in need, clearing up debris and lending a hand on small farms that were damaged. Not only did Erwin FFA members contribute to their community, but they also showed up to support each other.

One of these members is Abigail Petterson, a former Erwin FFA member and the current East Tennessee Regional Reporter. After completing service projects in her community with her fellow FFA members, Abigail took her personal efforts one step further.

Abigail conducted an agriscience fair project, surveying 50 farmers in East Tennessee, asking about the state of their mental health before and after the hurricane, as well as whether they were aware of resources available to them.

Her findings concluded that more than half of the farmers surveyed reported that the storm had negatively affected their mental health, and many had little awareness of resources available to help.

Since then, Abigail has worked to address common misconceptions about mental health and how to better support farmers after a natural disaster.

As the East Tennessee Regional Reporter, she manages the East Tennessee FFA Instagram account, where she posts content on mental health awareness whenever possible.

Through her role, Abigail has also had the opportunity to publish articles, go to conferences and host workshops. You can read her article on Hurricane Helene and view other pictures from her efforts here.

In addition to her research on farmers’ mental health and her role as East Tennessee Regional Reporter, Abigail has competed in nursery and landscape competitions for two years.

The competitions are broken down into multiple parts, including plant identification, planting and propagation, general knowledge and the math behind a landscape plan.

For Abigail, the skills overlap more than you might expect. Whether it’s a landscape plan or a community recovering from disaster, both take patience, planning and steady care to help something (or some people) grow back stronger.

FFA is the top school-based youth leadership development organization in the country, with over one million members. As one of these members, Abigail has had the opportunity to pursue many different passions through the organization, and her mental health advocacy and research have inspired her to seek a future career in her hometown.

Abigail is now a freshman at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Post-grad, she hopes to become a rural mental health counselor, providing counseling and therapy services to communities with limited access to mental health resources.