For 40 years, the historic Celo Inn offered the South Toe Valley community in rural Yancey County both a cherished gathering space for locals and a comfortable home base for visitors. But on September 27th, 2024, floodwaters from the South Toe River, fueled by Hurricane Helene, ripped through the first floor of the building, surging almost to the ceiling, calling into question the future of the inn and its close-knit community.
“Even though the inn experienced an enormous amount of force in addition to seven feet of water, we were surprised to learn it was structurally fine,” explained former Innkeeper Kavita Hardy. “As such a resilient building, we wondered, how can we honor that resilience?”
Today, residents and partners are collaborating around a new purpose for the beloved space — one that will serve the community with greater depth and resonance.
In its next chapter through a $250,000 Dogwood Health Trust Collaboration & Innovation (C&I) grant, the building once known as the Celo Inn will soon become Celo Commons. Here, residents in and around the South Toe Valley of Yancey County will be able to access a vibrant, multi-use community hub.
“Like many parts of the mountains, Yancey County is split into different geographic pockets,” Hardy explained. “Celo Commons will offer a cultural touchstone in a geographically important nexus within the South Toe Valley. This building is still standing — let’s honor that.”
Early iterations of the design for Celo Commons include as many as six private or shared workspaces, a flagship storefront potentially focused on addressing food insecurity, outdoor playspaces and a large flexible group space for meetings and classes. Above all, connecting community is at the heart of Celo Commons.
“Food security is a piece of what we hope to provide. Entrepreneurship is a piece too. And then part of it is also devoted to education, health and wellness,” said Hardy, who is also the executive director of Dig In! Yancey Community Garden and part of a committee of residents devoted to the future purpose of the building and its function for the community.
A place where neighbors get together
Sam Maren and his wife, Anne Maren-Hogan, have been part of the Celo Community for 12 years. They live just steps away from the site of the former inn and say that the re-birth of the space is already bringing people together, even in its early phases.
On weekends, local vendors gather on the grounds to sell fresh bread or locally grown vegetables. And on community workdays, Sam helps to mow the grounds with other volunteers, while Anne tends to perennial flowerbeds planted 40 years ago by the original innkeepers.
“What I see in this Celo Commons project is an integration of the greater community with the Celo community,” Maren said. “That’s what I’m most excited about.”
Also exciting is the opportunity to connect across generations. Maren noted that the Celo Commons Committee includes members of many ages and perspectives. “It’s beautiful to see the younger generation having something to pull forward and really be theirs,” he said.
Maren-Hogan watched the hurricane wash away the building just down the highway from the inn that housed the local food co-op. She said the plan to incorporate a partnership that includes fresh, local food will be an important asset and resource for community members.
“There’s already quite a bit of congregating on the grounds on those days when vegetables and bread are available with vendors,” Maren-Hogan noted. “Having dedicated space in the building will make everything so inviting. We want Celo Commons to be a place where the community can be engaged and connected — a place where neighbors get together.”
This building is still standing — let’s honor that
Presently, the creation of a new nonprofit is underway to manage and sustain Celo Commons, with AMY Wellness Foundation serving as fiscal sponsor and a key partner in supporting the project’s development. C&I Grant funds will support capacity building for the future nonprofit operator as well as the recovery and renovation of the building, including structural and flood-resilient upgrades and improvements for energy efficiency.
This work reflects a broader approach to how Dogwood supports community-led solutions.
Jerry Kenney serves as vice president of impact and community investing at Dogwood Health Trust and has helped shape the C&I grant structure, which is grounded in a hub-based model designed for rural communities. Rather than focusing on isolated projects, this model emphasizes coordination across partners, aligning resources and strengthening local capacity to support solutions that are shaped by community priorities and built to last.
“Dogwood’s Collaboration & Innovation grants are rooted in the belief that the most meaningful solutions come from communities working together,” said Kenney. “By investing in partnerships that are willing to think differently and build collectively, we’re able to support ideas that go beyond any one organization—approaches that are more responsive, more sustainable, and ultimately more impactful for the people they serve.”
Hardy reflected that the experience of being a Dogwood C&I grantee is proving to be valuable to the development of the Celo Commons project. C&I grantees meet regularly as a cohort to troubleshoot, dream out loud and reflect on project strategy and key learnings.
“Getting to be a part of the coaching and the convenings makes the project stronger in terms of inviting us to be more intentional and reflective and also having key moments of getting ideas seeded by consultants or other folks,” she said, noting that as the project matures, ensuring that Celo Commons meets the needs of the full community remains a top priority.
“We’re building the organization cooperatively with our neighbors and a variety of stakeholders, and we hope a series of listening sessions will deepen community input into the function of the space,” Hardy said. “We want to create this in constellation with other service-oriented institutions in our community. Our hope is that Celo Commons will serve as a place for community resilience and thriving.”
