On January 31, 2025, Governor Stein announced $6 million in funding for home repairs to help people get back into their homes after Hurricane Helene. $3 million was awarded to Habitat for Humanity NC and $3 million to Baptists on Mission to support their housing repair initiatives. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, these organizations are repairing and rebuilding homes that are safe and habitable. The State of North Carolina awaits approval of its proposed Action Plan for a $1.4 billion federal disaster recovery grant to address unmet housing, infrastructure, and economic revitalization needs in western North Carolina.
Asheville Habitat’s Home Repair Team has been working day in and day out on community projects since Hurricane Helene, removing downed trees, tarping damaged roofs, and assessing overall impact to the community. Seeing immense need before them, the group decided to press forward on an idea that had been in the works before the storm. They launched the Asheville Regional Coalition for Home Repair, known as ARCHR, a local coalition of home repair organizations positioned to centralize and streamline requests for help. The coalition, serving Buncombe and Madison counties, focuses their work on helping those in need who are economically disadvantaged and under- or uninsured.
Alycia and Mandel Johnson are one of many families benefiting from the program. Flooding from Helene left their home needing more repair than they could complete themselves. Their waterlogged floors and drywall needed to be removed quickly to keep mold from spreading. The Johnsons applied for Habitat’s help through ARCHR for cost-free repair support. “We were at the end of our rope. We had done all that we knew how to do,” said Alycia. “Then Habitat came in and saved us.”
It comes as no surprise that Asheville Area Habitat stepped up right away to help people in the region begin repairing and rebuilding homes. But Hurricane Helene left the organization in an unusual situation, facing its own significant damage during a time of outsized community need.
In the days following Hurricane Helene, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity CEO Andy Barnett stood in their Meadow Road ReStore, ankle deep in mud. The organization’s flagship retail store and donation center, as well as their administrative office next door, had been inundated by flood waters at a time when the community needed them more than ever. “It was hard to see a way forward, but we stepped forward the way we always do, with community support,” said Barnett. “It’s astonishing to see what we accomplished together during those first few weeks after the storm.”
Staff and volunteers in Asheville Habitat’s nearby Weaverville ReStore reopened and began serving the community. They operated the singular, much smaller store until the Asheville store could be repaired and rebuilt, which took nearly four months.
The organization is proud of how the community rallied to help each other and is still amazed at how far they have already come, despite the unusual challenges. Asheville's ReStore alone lost its entire truck fleet and hundreds of thousands of dollars of inventory, as well as several months of revenue.
Despite those losses and with more than 11,000 area units impacted by the storm, Barnett says Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity is grateful to be in a position to help the community as they engage in the long-term recovery work. He said, “I know that together, we can rebuild a community where everyone has a place to call home.”
Track housing recovery progress by visiting the Rebuilding Safe Housing data dashboard, updated weekly by the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC).