The road to recovery from Hurricane Helene is long and will take all of us.

Local homeowner Lilian remembers water pouring into her house when a roof leak caused her ceiling to collapse. Her dining room ceiling was on the floor. “It was bad. It was really bad,” she recalls. She was not alone in what she experienced. In Buncombe County alone, Hurricane Helene destroyed more than 360 homes and damaged another 10,000. The road to recovery and rebuilding will take many years. Fortunately, there are resources available for folks like Lilian.

Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity’s home repair team provided Lilian with a brand-new roof and repaired her ceiling — at no cost, thanks to a new disaster home repair program and community collaboration. Asheville Regional Coalition for Home Repair (ARCHR) is out in the community helping low-income families whose homes sustained storm damage.

If you attended the Rock to Rebuild benefit concert in March, featuring the band Somewhat Petty, presented by Allen Tate/Beverly-Hanks REALTORS® and sponsored in part by Stroll Biltmore Park, you helped. Damon Goldman, lead singer of Somewhat Petty (aka Tom), Biltmore Park resident, and Allen Tate/Beverly-Hanks Realtor® (aka Gaia's husband), led the "Good Time for a Good Cause" at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts.

ARCHR is an unincorporated association of Asheville-area nonprofit home repair providers, including Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity (AAHH), PODER Emma, Mountain Housing Opportunities, Community Action Opportunities and the Asheville Buncombe Community Land Trust. AAHH is serving as the fiduciary agent for the coalition.

Established to increase communication and collaboration among organizations, ARCHR reduces the burden on low-income households seeking needed home repair and modification services. ARCHR triages home repair applicants to prioritize uninsured, underinsured and those not receiving FEMA assistance.

The devastating storm fast-tracked the coalition. It was in development but had not launched. Since October 2024, ARCHR has approved over 315 disaster home repair applications in the region, completed more than 105 home repair assessments/inspections, and completed 26 home repair projects, with 50 more in progress.

Six months later, the scars of the storm remain. Evidence of the devastation caused by water and wind is all around. There has been progress, but there is still so much to do. For folks living in homes with sectioned-off rooms, tarped roofs and muddy basements, ARCHR is a blessing. Lilian shared, “If I could sum it up in one sentence, I want to say I’m grateful. So grateful for Habitat and everything that they’ve done. Very professional, kind and loving, and sensitive to what I wanted done.”

If you were unable to attend Rock to Rebuild and want to contribute to support disaster home repair work and ARCHR, please visit ashevillehabitat.org. Or mail a check to Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, 33 Meadow Road, Asheville, NC 28803. Write ARCHR in the memo line.

Whether you donate, volunteer, advocate or attend a fundraising event, you can help our community recover and rebuild.