Golden LEAF awards Hurricane Helene Business Recovery Loan and Relief funding

Hurricane Helene ravaged the western part of North Carolina in September. Golden LEAF has been working on its response to support the relief and recovery of Western North Carolina.

In October, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors awarded $7.5 million to support WNC Strong: Helene Business Recovery Fund, which provides rapid recovery loans to small businesses suffering economic losses related to the impacts of Hurricane Helene. The fund is administered by Mountain BizWorks. In October, the Golden LEAF Foundation was appropriated $50 million by the North Carolina General Assembly to support business recovery loans. Golden LEAF then awarded $50 million to Mountain BizWorks to enhance the support of WNC Strong: Helene Business Recovery Fund.

In October, the Golden LEAF Board also established a Hurricane Helene Relief initiative. Funds are available to organizations to support immediate relief for individuals and families including home repair, addressing unmet needs, and helping transition out of FEMA supported housing programs. Governmental entities and 501(c)(3) nonprofits are eligible to apply for Hurricane Helene Relief funds. In November, the Golden LEAF Board met in two special meetings to award $2,757,654 in funding to support 11 Hurricane Helene Relief projects.

Learn more about Golden LEAF Hurricane Helene Relief awards below:

• $100,000 to Camp Grier for staff salaries, utilities, food/meal expenses to allow the camp to continue to support recovery in the community.
• $155,000 to Carolina Farm Stewardship Association for personnel, travel, and training expenses to provide technical assistance to farmers in Hurricane Helene impacted communities to help them access disaster relief programs. 
• $650,000 to Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte for six case management and related positions and for replacement personal property for survivors of Hurricane Helene.
• $60,000 to Centro Unido Latino Americano for rental assistance, utility assistance, replacement personal property, and case management to support survivors of Hurricane Helene.
• $60,000 to Hola Carolina for rental assistance, utility assistance, replacement personal property, and case management of survivors of Hurricane Helene. 
• $107,654 to Hospitality House of Northwest North Carolina for case management, utility assistance, and housing assistance for survivors of Hurricane Helene.
• $225,000 to Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc. for salaries/benefits and direct onboarding expenses for four case coordinators to respond to needs resulting from Hurricane Helene.
• $1,000,000 to the North Carolina Baptist Men to support a range of Hurricane Helene recovery related needs including volunteer support expenses such as shower trailer, volunteer meals, and transportation, tools and equipment, materials and contractors to support home repair expenses, and for other costs to assist survivors.
• $75,000 to the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence for shelter/personal items, providing access to shelter, and mileage.
• $175,000 to the Western North Carolina Annual Conferences of the United Methodist for tools and equipment necessary to support home repair efforts, and for other costs to assist survivors.
• $150,000 to WAMY for home repair, housing assistance, utility assistance, replacement personal property, case management, tools and equipment, and volunteer support.

Golden LEAF is gathering information from governmental entities and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations within the areas affected by Hurricane Helene regarding unmet needs to repair, replace, construct, or improve infrastructure, buildings, or equipment damaged because of Hurricane Helene and to construct or improve infrastructure to support disaster relief occasioned by Hurricane Helene. Unmet needs are needs not covered by insurance or FEMA or that are not expected to be funded by another source, such as NCDOT or NCDEQ. Unmet needs also include critical needs for cash flow of a governmental entity or 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to begin a project while pursuing funding from insurance or FEMA. 

Small businesses interested in more information about WNC Strong: Helene Business Recovery Fund should visit https://www.mountainbizworks.org/helene/fund/. 

For more information about Golden LEAF Hurricane Helene Relief, visit https://goldenleaf.org/helene-relief/.

To provide further information about the unmet needs, visit https://goldenleaf.org/helene-recovery/.