Felicia Sonmez

1 week ago | bpr.org | Felicia Sonmez

Renée White laughed and jumped for joy Tuesday evening when she lay eyes on Asheville’s newly-refurbished Memorial Stadium for the first time. “This is worth all the blood, sweat and tears!” White, president of the East End/Valley Street Neighborhood Association, said as she surveyed the scene. “It’s beautiful up here. And I lived in Mountainside Apartments; they were right over there, so this is dear to my heart.

3 weeks ago | bpr.org | Gerard Albert III |Felicia Sonmez

Small businesses in Western North Carolina are struggling to recover after the devastation of Hurricane Helene caused closures that lasted weeks, and in some cases, months. Mountain BizWorks is expanding the Rural Rebuilding Together Grant Fund, which will see $2 million go towards downtown districts in rural parts of Western North Carolina affected by the storm. The organization’s executive director, Matt Raker said this will be a key part of revitalizing local economies.

3 weeks ago | wunc.org | Felicia Sonmez

Asheville city staff are moving closer to presenting their disaster recovery plan to City Council after wrapping up their third and final listening session this week. The action plan provides a blueprint for how the city will spend $225 million in Hurricane Helene recovery funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The biggest category in the city’s proposal is infrastructure, at $130 million.

3 weeks ago | wunc.org | Felicia Sonmez

Gov. Josh Stein visited a fire station in Fairview on Thursday to mark the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Helene. He signed a proclamation honoring the 106 North Carolinians killed by the storm and met with local residents who lost their loved ones. “Battalion Chief Tony Garrison and his nephew Brandon are two of the 13 of this community who lost their lives, trying to save others,” Stein said.

3 weeks ago | wunc.org | Felicia Sonmez

Individuals displaced by Hurricane Helene and who were living in hotels paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency made up more than two-thirds of this year’s Point-in-Time count, the annual effort to count the number of people experiencing homelessness in Asheville and Buncombe County. This year’s count shows more than triple the number of people experiencing homelessness as compared to the previous year, due primarily to displacement from Helene.