Two weeks after Hurricane Helene struck the Southern East Coast, communities were slammed by Hurricane Milton. Ahead of them is a long recovery process – made longer if the forecasts played out as predicted.
“The NeighborWorks network continues to serve as quarterbacks in their communities to provide support and resources to residents in times of crisis,” says Dr. Christie Cade, NeighborWorks America’s regional vice president for the Southern Region. NeighborWorks has network organizations in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Native communities, and Cade has been in contact with network organizations and partners throughout the Southeast.
The good news is that staff members from the previous hurricane are safe and accounted for, Cade said, and they have been continuing to assess damage and provide initial recovery and support assistance. Network organizations also provide resources and help with relocation efforts for people who are unable to return to their homes, jobs, schools or businesses.
This week, the website for Mountain Housing Opportunities (MHO) in Asheville, North Carolina, reads “MHO Offices Closed Indefinitely.” But staff are still working, connecting with Property Partnership Management, their property management partner, to check on residents and bring supplies where they are needed as power slowly returns to the region. As officials work to clear a major thoroughfare, network organizations in the Southeast are also helping local governments and residents apply for resources and disaster recovery dollars.
MHO has created a fund for the most catastrophically devastated community of Asheville, Cade reports, adding that MHO serves 1,067 households in the impacted area, including 80 units of special needs housing.
“One of the greatest needs is that there is no access to potable water. Sanitation is a health concern.” Families are struggling to get prescription needs as pharmacies are closed. “Grocery stores are impacted. People have lost jobs. All components – education, employment, healthcare – have been disrupted, causing families to strongly consider relocation to outside of the impacted area.”
In addition to serving as regional quarterbacks in times like this, Cade says NeighborWorks and the network provide stability in other areas.
Interconnectedness: NeighborWorks network organizations outside of impacted regions often assist organizations in the eye of the storm like when Rural Neighborhoods, Inc. (RNI) in Florida City, Florida, converted its off-season farmworker housing into temporary housing for families who had to relocate from the Florida Keys.
Revitalization: NeighborWorks and the network are focusing on revitalization, along with rebuilding. Communities may not look the same after a storm, Cade says, but the goal is to bring new life to the communities as they recover.
The long haul: Some organizations are there just for the immediate aftermath of a disaster, Cade says. “But we’re here for the long haul.”
That includes a range of classes related to disaster relief and recovery, technical assistance and more.
“The NeighborWorks network and NeighborWorks America stand ready, as they have with Hurricanes Katrina and Irma,” Cade says. “We will take all of the lessons learned and bring forth our collective support as we’ve done through other hurricanes, through wildfires and tornadoes, through the pandemic.”
In the past three years alone, NeighborWorks has funded nearly $5 million in disaster response -- not including disaster preparedness and climate change response, says Colette Pozzo, vice president of Field Operations for NeighborWorks America. Since 2018, that number is more than $10 million.
“NeighborWorks has been working with the network to provide pre- and post-disaster support for over a decade,” Pozzo says. “Each year we set aside specific grant funds to work with network organizations whose service areas are directly impacted by disaster. In addition to hurricanes, our network responds to impacts from a cross range of storms and conditions including wildfires, drought, tornados, flooding and ice storms.”
Disasters strike communities across the country, throughout the year, she says, “and our network staff are increasingly called upon to respond. I am so appreciative that they do so with great compassion and understanding and focus -- often while having to navigate their own storm losses. The ability to respond to individuals experiencing post disaster trauma while helping to leverage a response infrastructure is paramount in meeting both immediate needs and long-term rebuilding.”
More Resources:
FEMA's Survivors' Road to Recovery
NeighborWorks America's Navigating the Road to Housing Recover is available in both English and Spanish
NeighborWorks course listings for disaster relief and recovery
More information is available online by visiting disasterassistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362
Disaster assistance partners can provide help with immediate needs FEMA is not authorized to provide.
- Emergency Medical Assistance: 9-1-1
- Emergency Shelter: Locate options by zip code by visiting the American Red Cross, or Salvation Army, or by texting SHELTER and your zip code (for example, “SHELTER 01234”) to 4FEMA (43362). For Spanish text REFUGIO and your zip code. (Standard text message rates apply.) The FEMA Mobile App lists open shelters.
- Immediate Needs: Local emergency management officials and voluntary agencies can be reached by calling your local 2-1-1. The FEMA Helpline (800-621-3362) may be able to provide additional referrals. If you use video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, give FEMA your number for that service.