In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated parts of the southeastern United States in October, one woman has become an unexpected beacon of hope.
Among the wreckage, Taylor Schenker of Canton, North Carolina, has been working tirelessly to reunite families with lost memories in the form of precious photographs uncovered by search and rescue teams.
Taylor’s journey began when she helped a friend salvage belongings from her home in Asheville, which had been destroyed by flooding from the Swannanoa River.
While digging through the mud and debris, Taylor discovered several family photos. Moved by the significance of these snapshots, she laid them out with other salvaged items, hoping they might find their way back to their owners.
Taylor told CBS: “Just thinking, ‘Here are these little photographs that miraculously made it through all of this and now are sitting here,’ kept me up that night.
“What if it rains or the wind blows, and they aren’t reunited with their families? That would be such a shame.”
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Determined not to let these memories be lost, Taylor returned the next day and collected more photos.
She recognized that the images represented multiple families and created an Instagram page, Photos from Helene, to help reunite people with their cherished mementos. The page quickly became a virtual lost-and-found, filled with school portraits, vacation snapshots, Christmas cards, and even a unique photograph of Michael Jordan mid-dunk.
“It was a photo of a middle school basketball team, a beloved dog, and a wedding photo of a bride hugging someone,” Taylor added. “You take photos because you have a moment you want to remember. They all seemed so special.”
To date, Taylor has collected about 200 photos, including some contributed by others, such as search and rescue teams.
She has already reunited roughly 15% of the images with their owners, continuing to upload new finds daily. Each reunion, she says, is deeply rewarding.
She explained: “Being able to hand something so special to someone and give them a hug—because they’ve likely lost their entire home—is such a privilege.
“It’s an insight into their lives, and giving those memories back means so much.”
One particularly poignant reunion involved a family who had lost their home and all memories of a deceased child. Taylor returned five photos to the grieving mother, later discovering another image of the child during a subsequent photo walk.
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The Photos from Helene Instagram page has also inspired a sense of community. Families who lived in the same neighborhoods before the hurricane have identified photos of friends and neighbors, tagging them to help reconnect them with Taylor.
For Taylor, the project is about more than the photos themselves – it’s about showing something beyond just the devastation left behind, as the photos she finds show happy memories of the people living in Asheville.