How Grant Money Is Helping Ashe County Heal After Helene

When Hurricane Helene came through in September 2024, it changed a lot of things up here. Creeks we’ve known all our lives jumped their banks, roads and bridges washed out, and families from Lansing to Todd lost homes, wells, septic systems and livelihoods. Two years on, the cleanup crews are mostly gone from the headlines, but the work of putting Ashe County back together is still going on every single day.

A big part of that work is being paid for by grants. I wanted to put together, in one place, where that money has come from, what it’s for, how it’s actually being used, and why it matters so much to the folks who live here.

Why the grants are needed

Federal disaster aid helped, but it never covers everything. Some families got turned down, some got less than the repairs cost, and a lot of damage, like private roads, bridges and septic systems, falls through the cracks of the big programs. Ashe County’s Department of Social Services and its Disaster Case Management team have worked with about 700 families since the storm, and dozens of those cases are still open. The county has also helped close to 100 families move out of temporary living and into permanent homes again.

Grants fill those gaps. They pay for the roof that FEMA didn’t, the bridge to a family’s house, the food pantry’s freezer, and the counselor for a child who’s still scared when it rains hard.

$244,000 from the state to repair storm-damaged homes

Who got it: Ashe County Recovery and Restoration (ACRR), the local nonprofit coordinating volunteers, labor and resources for Helene recovery.
Where it came from: the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
What it’s for: septic work, new flooring and roof repairs on homes that were damaged by Helene. Unlike some federal programs, this money is only for homes hurt by the storm.

How it’s being used: the county’s Disaster Case Management office is the first stop. They review each family’s case, decide which homes qualify, and write up the repair job so it meets permits and county building code. ACRR supplies the hands-on labor, contractors do the work, and once the job is finished Disaster Case Management pays them from the grant. That way the money goes straight into repairs, and the repairs are done right.

About $1 million from the NC Community Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund

In March 2026, the North Carolina Community Foundation announced $9 million in long-term Helene recovery grants across the western part of the state. A dozen organizations serving Ashe County received roughly $1 million of that:

Ashe County Recovery & Restoration, $100,000: repairing the homes of hurricane survivors.
Lansing’s Bridge to Recovery, $100,000: fixing private roads and bridges, hauling off debris and stabilizing creek banks. This one is close to my heart, since so many of us up the creeks in Lansing depend on a single private road or bridge to get in and out.
Ashe County Schools, $95,000: helping students catch up on learning they missed and get emotional health support after the storm.
Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission, $50,000: home repairs and restoring access for low-income households.
Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, $100,000: helping farmers recover and keeping local food available in Ashe, Avery and Watauga.
New River Conservancy, $79,615: cleaning up and restoring the New River through Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga.
Riverview Community Center, $66,000: replacing kitchen equipment ruined by floodwater.
Stateline Resource Station, $82,000: building supplies for families rebuilding their homes.
Foscoe Home Team, $99,600: equipment to buy and deliver food to people affected by the storm.
Boone United Methodist Church, $70,000: home repairs, help with heating, and other basic needs.
Hospitality House of Northwest NC, $65,000: food programs across seven counties.
Hunger and Health Coalition, $100,000: staff and food for families in six counties.

The thinking behind these grants is that recovery isn’t just about the first few weeks. It’s about the years after, when the donations slow down but people still need a dry house, a way out of their holler, food on the table and kids who feel safe at school.

Blue Ridge Energy Foundation: help for the places we all lean on

In its 2025 grant cycle, the Blue Ridge Energy Foundation gave six Ashe County groups a combined $27,258 for continuing Helene recovery:

Ashe Memorial Hospital, $4,758: new infusion chairs for the Jo Anne Poe Cancer Center.
Ashe Really Cares, $10,000: temperature-controlled food storage, since their dry warehouse has no insulation.
Lost Province Center for the Cultural Arts, $5,000: a community kitchen on their arts campus.
Museum of Ashe County History, $2,000: safer storage to protect our artifacts and old documents from storms and weather.
Partnership of Ashe, $2,500: books and play materials that support children’s and families’ emotional well-being.
Quiet Givers, $3,000: a flexible program that meets each household’s own needs.

Ashe County Community Foundation: everyday good in our community

Not every grant is about the storm. In May 2026, the Ashe County Community Foundation gave $35,210 to 19 local organizations. A few of them:

Ashe Humane Society, $3,100, for services that help older residents.
Imagination Ashe, $2,400, for its Caboose Kids program.
Children’s Cancer Partners of the Carolinas, $2,500, as a safety net for local families facing childhood cancer.
Ashe County Little Theatre, $1,600, for a summer performing arts camp.
The Todd Mercantile, $2,110, for the Todd Promenade project.
Partnership of Ashe and West Jefferson United Methodist Church, $2,000 each, for literacy and summer reading.
High Country Caregiver Foundation, $2,000, for the Grandma’s Angels program.
Ashe County Habitat for Humanity, $1,000, for home building.

These smaller grants keep the things that make Ashe County feel like home going strong: our kids’ programs, our arts, our animals and our elders.

Roads, bridges and parks

The Rustic Road bridge in the Othello community near Obids washed away in Helene. In 2025, it was picked for funding through the state’s Private Roads and Bridges Program, and state engineers have been out doing soil tests and surveys to get ready to build. Over at the county park, $26,650 raised at a charity tennis event is paying to restore and resurface the tennis courts that the storm damaged.

If you still need help

If your home was damaged by Helene and you haven’t gotten the repairs you need, it’s not too late. Ashe County Disaster Case Management is still taking applications. Call (336) 846-5877 or visit ashecountyrecovery.com.

Mountain people have always taken care of each other. These grants are just one more way of doing it, and I’m thankful for every neighbor, volunteer and organization still showing up for Ashe County.

Sources: Ashe Post & Times: Grant to help repair storm-damaged homes · Ashe Post & Times: NC Community Foundation awards $9 million for Helene recovery · Ashe Post & Times: Blue Ridge Energy Foundation grants · Ashe Post & Times: Ashe County Community Foundation grants · Ashe Post & Times: Tennis court funding and bridge update