With Hammer and Heart
For the month of November, 2024, Grey Eagle Creative is committed to donating 50% of new client project fees to Hammer & Heart. The non-profit organization will use the funds to complete urgently needed home repairs in Western North Carolina.
If you have a design project, send us a message to get started. If not, you can donate directly to Hammer & Heart, or just help us spread the word so we can make a difference and support WNC!
I was born and raised in Asheville. I’ve been an artist and graphic designer for over a decade and I started my own small business—Grey Eagle Creative—right here in Black Mountain in early 2023. After Hurricane Helene, Grey Eagle Creative lost a significant amount of income due to canceled or delayed projects. Most of my client base is local, so understandably they have more urgent matters to deal with. Graphic design and marketing are not really what local businesses need right now, but I thought there must be a way I could use my skillset to help my community, and hopefully keep my small business afloat.
During this time, a neighbor told me about the work being done by Hammer & Heart. My neighbor spoke highly of the organization and said they would need all the funds and labor they could get as they work to repair the countless damaged homes.
This gave me an idea and I reached out to Ben Fortson, the Director of Hammer & Heart. He liked the idea: if they could help me spread the word, I would have a much better chance of securing projects from new clients outside of WNC. I could then bring money into the community and donate a significant portion of the funds to Hammer & Heart to help rebuild.
—Jacob Voigt, Owner of Grey Eagle Creative
Hammer & Heart has been strategically assessing neighborhoods, speaking with homeowners and coordinating repair efforts with local, state and nation-wide volunteers. It is a massive, likely 5-year, effort. As a Swannanoa Valley nonprofit, providing home repairs to low-income families, our goal is make sure our community is safely housed and loved. Over the next few years, every dollar donated to Hammer & Heart will go towards Helene Relief; restoring our community, and in all likelihood, making it an even better place to live.
—Ben Fortson, Director of Hammer & Heart
Jacob Voigt of Grey Eagle Creative, with David Phillips, the Project Manager of Hammer & Heart and Charlie, another volunteer.