Community Rallies Around LGS Destroyed by Hurricane

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA -- After Hurricane Helene cut a swath through the southern United States, Charla Schlueter feared the worst. 

Schlueter is the CEO and owner of Gamers' Haunt, a local game store (LGS) in Asheville, and after the "initial shock and horror" of Helene's destruction passed, it was time to assess the damage to her store. Luckily, much of the store's inventory was spared, and Schlueter said volunteers helped her and her staff carry out the majority of it and store it in dry places. But the building itself fared much worse. 

Gamers' Haunt has a long history. The store first opened up shop in Burnsville, NC, roughly a 40-minute drive northeast of Asheville. From there, it operated for a time in nearby Weaverville before its current location in Asheville, where it's been for more than a decade. Schlueter's been the owner/operator for six of those years. 

In that time, Gamers' Haunt has grown to be a "home away from home" for a thriving community of gamers, with the store offering seven well-attended Magic events each week featuring formats like Modern, Draft, Pioneer, Cube, twice-weekly Commander, and even a weekly Standard event. Commander's perhaps the store's biggest draw, with roughly 40-60 players for the format's Friday and Sunday night events. 

None of that is happening now, however. As of this writing, there's a massive tree branch piercing through the store's roof, and the store's floors are completely destroyed. "It turns out building an empire out of cardboard can be a poor mix with rain when you have holes in your roof," said Schlueter. "The good news is once we are able to remove the tree that fell on the building we will be able to repair the floors and ceiling. It will take time and will not be cheap, but we are very optimistic."

Schlueter said it's always been the goal as a business to provide a "place of refuge" from the outside world, where people of all backgrounds can come together, be themselves, enjoy a game of Magic: The Gathering, and make friends. After Helene, however, the outside world came crashing in, and with the shop closed, it cannot give its community a place to gather and relax, "something we could all use in this unprecedented situation in our area."

Shortly after the damage was assessed, Schlueter set up a GoFundMe page to crowdfund for the costs to repairs. The goal was $15,000. They hit it in only a few days. When asked how it feels to see the community rally behind her store in the wake of Helene, she said "if I am being completely honest, it has brought me to tears." 

For years, Gamers' Haunt and its clientele have been giving back in their own way, raising funds and organizing events to benefit a number of nonprofits, like Manna Food Bank, Our Voice and AbleGamers, as well as for one of their own following a house fire. "But when you're doing it for your own needs, you never know who will show up. But people have this time too," said Schlueter. "Time and time again this community has stood together and helped each other out in times of need. It's the reason this has been the most rewarding thing I have done in my life, (and) not to wax on too much or be overly sappy -- but the 'gathering' part of Magic is what makes this game so much more."

According to the Asheville Citizen Times, Helene hit western North Carolina on Friday, Sept. 27 as a tropical storm, but due to the significant rainfall that the area already saw in the days leading up to the storm, Helene's several more inches of rain was too much for the area's infrastructure. Hundreds in western North Carolina have lost their lives or are still missing, and thousands are still without power or potable water.

But Asheville is starting to "thaw out," said Schlueter. "The first week we were just surviving, literally helping each other find food, shelter, water, literally just trying to find safety," she said. "As those needs are slowly being met we are starting to turn to assess the emotional damage. And having community bases like Gamers' Haunt just to see each other and have a sense of normalcy will be essential to start healing and rebuilding."

For the first few days, Asheville residents were "isolated in our bubbles," said Schlueter, with no idea what was happening outside of our own neighborhoods. The world saw the damage before they did. "Places that used to be our daily lives wiped out as if they never were," she said. "It is the little things that grate: not being able to shower, looking for water just to flush, hoping the road you usually take still has a bridge."

There's no timeline for the removal of the tree limb speared through Gamers' Haunt. There's no way of knowing when the community that calls the store a "home away from home" will be available as that refuge again, but hitting that initial goal in only two days has revealed to Schlueter a "staggering" amount of love and support. Currently, the store's GoFundMe added a stretch goal of an additional $12,000 as the extent of the needed repairs come into focus, as the damage is revealed to be worse than initially assessed. The goal remains the same: pay for fixes and the ability to open again (and stay open as much as they can). And if the repairs prove insurmountable, the funds raised will help Gamers' Haunt relocate. "We're exploring options[,] but it's hard to nail anything permanent down in such a short timeframe," said Schlueter. "All funds received through the GFM will be used for our operations, and if there is excess money raised when all is said and done we'll put it back into the community."

After Helene's wave of destruction subsided and cell service was restored, Schlueter said she spent "hours and hours" reaching out to people she's met through the store, just to make sure they're still alive, make sure their homes are still there and their loved ones and pets survived. Since the storm has passed, Schlueter heads to Gamers' Haunt as often as possible to clean and clear out any remaining salvageable inventory, and when she does, invariably members of her community stop in. "I cannot tell you how relieved I am just to see their faces," she said. "The community has really come together housing one another, toting supplies to each other. Those with water giving out showers and those with the internet turning their homes into WiFi cafes. Three different shops in town have offered me space while I figure out how to relocate. I go between crying from the loss our beautiful mountains are facing to bursting with gratitude for everyone here who calls them home."

But devastation has a way of putting things into perspective. "We haven't stopped moving since the winds died down, (and) we're moving because it feels like we will be dead in the water if we stop," Schlueter said. "What I didn't expect from this and what cannot be seen is the smell. The rivers and streams are wreathing with toxins and so many animals that couldn't find cover are now rotting."

"(But) folks here desperately want to help each other. We are rebuilding and that feels good. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We just don't know how long the tunnel is going to be."

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