Mayor Esther Manheimer and City Manager Debra Campbell joined North Carolina Governor Josh Stein in welcoming U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Adrianne Todman at the downtown offices of Mountain Bizworks.
The Secretary and Governor met City staff, elected officials, and local business owners in Asheville to announce additional federal funds to aid North Carolina families recovering from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The Biden-Harris Administration, Todman said, has allocated an additional $ 225 million to the City of Asheville to support storm-related needs in the community. The funds are provided through the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) and are intended to address critical unmet needs.
“After months of grappling with Hurricane Helene’s emergency response and the initial stages of recovery, this funding is a welcome and vital boost to our community’s ability to build back better,” said Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer.
These funds will be eligible to meet needs in a number of categories such as housing, infrastructure, economic revitalization, and hazard mitigation.
City staff is now required to develop an action plan detailing the types of programs and initiatives to be carried out with the funding. Public engagement, to take place before summer of this year, will play an integral role in the development of this plan. Sequencing projects to maximize the costs the City can recover will be another important part of the development of the plan.
City Council will have the opportunity to provide input and feedback on the plan. Council will then adopt the plan before it is submitted to HUD for approval. HUD requires the action plan to be submitted no later than summer 2025.