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One of the areas hardest hit by Helene in Western North Carolina was its largest city, Asheville, where hundreds of homes were destroyed and thousands were damaged.
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One venue for those who lost their homes to get aid is the state’s home repair and reconstruction program, the Renew NC Single-Family Housing program, which runs through the Commerce Department and received more than $1.4 billion in federal funding to serve Helene-impacted areas.
So far, that program has built 156 homes, with 2,228 active applications. State Secretary of Commerce Lee Lilley said in an interview with The News & Observer that not all those who have sought aid from the program and been deemed eligible are guaranteed to get it.
And Asheville may also not have the funds to cover all who need aid.
In addition to the $1.4 billion allocated to the state, Asheville received $225 million in federal recovery funds, most of it earmarked for infrastructure, with some set aside for housing.
The city reached an agreement with the state allowing residents to apply directly to Renew NC’s home-repair program, while Asheville covered the construction costs.
Initially, the city allocated just $3 million for storm-damaged single-family homes. Blue Ridge Public Radio reported in April that over 100 Asheville households had been deemed eligible, but the funding would cover repairs for only about eight homes. Some City Council members told the station they believed Asheville residents could tap the larger state pool for construction costs.
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The council voted in June to reallocate additional funds, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved its plan in July, adding $19.2 million to the single-family program. According to a city website on recovery efforts, that funding is expected to support repairs or rebuilding for approximately 55 to 65 homes.
A July 2025 report by Buncombe County, where Asheville is located, found that 372 residential housing units were destroyed, 734 had major damage, and more than 11,000 needed repairs because of the storm. That represents more than 8% of the county’s housing stock, per the report.
City of Asheville spokesperson Kim Miller told The N&O that the city does not yet know how many families will be covered but that it is “working to greenlight as many applications as swiftly as possible.”
She said on Sept. 17 that there were:
While the state deemed 113 eligible, Miller said the city doesn’t approve applications until after they complete the state’s Quality Control Review — a step where the state also determines whether a home needs reconstruction or rehabilitation.
To prioritize the most vulnerable households and the homes needing the most work, since they’re less likely to be served by other sources of support, the city greenlights applications as they clear that review step, even as the state continues processing the rest, she said.
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