Mitchell Hartman

I really don't think that the will is there for that.

The combo platter of the pandemic and then the labor strikes, the fires in Los Angeles, and then all of this consolidation, it's really just been an overwhelming, uncertain, and awful time.

Thanks for having me, Amy.

It is.

They are independent organizations in the community that lend their members tools, everything from a hacksaw to a lawnmower to a weed whacker to cookware.

And they operate on a pay-what-you-will or sliding scale basis for the most part.

Well, Hurricane Helene was pretty severe and did a lot of damage.

It knocked out power.

You know, a lot of roads were blocked and people were trying to chainsaw trees off the roads and off their homes.

The tool library came together with what's called the West North Carolina Repair Cafe, a partner that shares the same space.

And because they have this network of volunteers, they were able to respond very quickly.

They set up by the next day.

They were in the parking lot of a local bookstore.

And they brought in their organizers and volunteers to sharpen chainsaws, repair generators, and provide training for people who maybe hadn't used a chainsaw in quite a long time or ever before.

I think we can expect it to, you know, all the disasters I profiled in my piece, Asheville, as well as a flood in Chicago and hurricane related flooding in central Florida.

They happened before the current Trump administration and the FEMA rollbacks that have come along with it.

But I think that they make a really promising model for communities that are suffering from disasters where aid hasn't been forthcoming.

I spoke to the researcher Daniel Aldrich at Northeastern University.

Through data and survey all across the world, he's found that

Communities that have a high density, which is to say a lot of community organizations and services, are much more likely to retain population.