During the hurricane, Jeanie turned her emotional-support chicken knitting hobby into a way to help communities affected by Helene heal. People from all around the world joined her efforts through Facebook, and together they provided chickens to individuals hurting in Helene's aftermath. Below is her story.
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"Well, I sent my first emotional support chicken to a home health nurse in the Asheville area, because she wanted one for her client and I had started knitting one up here. I was like, I do not know why I'm knitting a chicken. I don't need a chicken! But it was just stress knitting, you know? A way to get rid of my stress.
I had no electricity, no running water [after Helene]. I was sitting on the porch and was just sort of waiting for animals to come down the street so I could herd them into the fenced in area, so our neighbors could find their animals.
And so I was knitting this chicken. [The home health nurse] had posted a picture on Facebook.
She said, I wish I had [an emotional support chicken] for all of my patients. So then this other fiber artist said, Jeannie, will you host the knit along if I create it on my business Facebook page? I said, yes!
And so people started knitting these chickens, and they would send them to me, and I sent them to areas affected by the hurricane. My first batch I sent down to Asheville and then people around here started telling me, oh my God, such and such really could use a chicken. One of those people keeps dogs. She has a dog boarding sort of business and she rescued 17 dogs that were floating down the river.
She saved them. But then her house got, her house was totally destroyed so she was camping in her yard with all the dogs.
She needs a chicken so I knit her a chicken In her business colors, you know, which were purple and green.
So I started giving the chickens away up here [in Boone], the chickens go where they're needed and you guys [Watauga county] were definitely affected,.
And so, yeah, these chickens started coming from all over the world through the knit along. There were thousands of chickens sent to areas hit by the hurricane.
So, she [the home health nurse] did end up getting some for all of her clients. There were so many people here that were stressed out from [the hurricane] so she was giving them away to people in and around Asheville.
She gave them to the postal workers delivering the chickens too!
There was an outdoor school that was destroyed in Asheville.
So they gave chickens to all of the students and the teachers at that outdoor school."
Jeanie and her chickens at the workshop.
Left: Yosephina, an App State themed chicken
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