Helene Recovery Program for Single-Family Houses Begins Accepting Applications
Yesterday, Governor Stein announced a new program from Renew NC to assist homeowners of single-family homes in recovering from Hurricane Helene. Renew NC is working on a series of initiatives under the North Carolina Department of Commerce. North Carolina is the first state in the nation to roll out its housing recovery program. This was made possible because the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $120 million as an early investment.
The project is made possible by the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Of the total $1.4 billion in CDBG-DR funding that was allocated to the state for western North Carolina recovery needs, $807 million is assigned to the Renew NC Single-Family Housing Program.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce selected HORNE to implement the single-family housing program. The project officially launched today, June 16th, only 38 days after the contract was awarded, a new benchmark for speed and efficiency in disaster response under the CDBG-DR program.
Here are the milestones already achieved by the program:
Established offices in Asheville, Boone and Marion to serve impacted communities.
Created a partnership with the North Carolina Division of Workforce Solutions to host local job fairs. Over 80% of attendees were affected by the storm.
Finally, they rolled out improved software systems to streamline the application and recovery process for North Carolinians impacted by the storm.
Homeowners are encouraged to visit www.renewnc.org to check for eligibility and apply for this program. This program is open to residents of these counties: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg (only from zip code 28214), Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin, and Yancey.
For homeowners seeking more information about the Renew NC Housing program, please visit www.renewnc.org or call 1-888-791-0207. Program staff can help determine if you qualify for assistance from the program.
Information about the administration of the Renew NC programs can be found at the Division of Community Revitalization’s website at CommerceRecovery.nc.gov.
