A recent two-part investigation by BPR News found that, due to a misunderstanding, the city of Asheville set aside just $3 million of a $225 million grant for home repair following Hurricane Helene. The Department of Housing and Urban Development gave the city this Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) for needs not met by other federal agencies.
City Council members mistakenly believed the state would cover the majority of the cost of home repairs through a program called Renew NC.
The decision leaves hundreds of homeowners on the waitlist for home repair with no guarantee that funding will ever arrive.
Our story reached more than 75,000 people — and our readers shared a lot of feedback with us.
To shed more light on the complexity of this story, we sat down with Helene Recovery Reporter Laura Hackett and FRONTLINE fellow Gerard Albert III to answer some of your biggest questions.
According to the story, only eight people will be able to have their home repaired through the HUD program. How were those eight people chosen and how many other applicants won’t be able to have their homes repaired?
Those eight households are known as “Phase One Priority One,” meaning they make less than 60% of the area median income and are elderly, disabled or have children. There are at least 87 of these “Phase One Priority One” households that are eligible for the program. These top-priority applicants are served based on the order of their applications and how quickly they can navigate approval and completion steps.
There are more than 120 households in total that have been approved but remain waitlisted, and with current funding allocations; they will not see their home approved through the program.
Why is $14.9 million being spent on administrative fees? What is that money specifically being spent on?
HUD grant recipients are allowed to use up to 5% of their total grant award on administrative costs. Asheville has budgeted the maximum amount, slotting $11.25 million towards “staff time, administrative expenses, and other costs related to developing, managing, and overseeing the Action Plan.” The city allocated an additional $3.76 million on planning costs, which will support affordable housing, outdoor recreation, transit, infrastructure and other public projects, per the city’s Action Plan.
So far, Asheville has spent $647,000 on administrative costs. The money went towards ”staff time, administrative costs, consulting fees, and other expenses associated with the development, oversight and management of the Action Plan and general CDBG-DR grant set-up including financial certifications, unmet needs analysis, capacity assessment, and implementation plan,” according to the city’s latest performance report, which was published at the end of 2025.
What is the difference between housing repair and affordable housing in the grant? What can locals expect from the affordable housing piece?
As it stands, the city has allocated $3 million towards housing repair and $28 million for affordable housing. The core difference between these two pots of funding is that the repair money supports fixing single-family homes, while the affordable housing funds support the construction of new multi-family complexes or rehabilitation of existing units. Those complexes must lease at least 51% of the units at an affordable rate and be occupied by households at or below 80% of the Area Media Income.
So far, the city has formally committed $10 million of the multi-family funding to the development of low-income, multi-family housing. The other $18 million is on standby.
Is the $50M for economic development going to the TDA?
No. The funds for economic revitalization can go towards development like: streetscape and public space improvements, elevation, flood-proofing, arts and cultural support and infrastructure projects that mitigate risks and/or support economic activities within a commercial district — mostly the Biltmore Village and River Arts District.
What is included in infrastructure in the context of this grant?
The lion’s share of the grant — $125 million — is allocated for infrastructure. This funding supports infrastructure projects not paid for through other federal recovery sources, like FEMA or the EPA.
Infrastructure can include upgrades to the city’s three water treatment plants — North Fork, William DeBruhl, and Mills River — for projects such as floodproofing and infrastructure hardening to prevent service interruptions. It may also be used to improve stormwater and wastewater systems, as well as parks, roads and commercial district revitalization.
Isn’t Mayor Manheimer a real estate developer?
No. She’s an attorney with the Van Winkle Law Firm. In that work, she focuses on commercial litigation, land use and land disputes. She also works with homeowners’ and property owners’ association boards. She is not directly part of real estate development.
Isn’t there FEMA money to help fund housing for locals? Where is that money now?
FEMA money covers many recovery needs including individual assistance, which is sent to folks who had damage to their home after the storm. Not everyone gets this money, and some people get much less than the full cost of damage to their homes. The maximum individual assistance FEMA provides is $42,500.
Get in touch
If you’ve applied for home repair assistance through the Renew NC program, we’d like to hear from you! Send our reporters an email with the subject line “HUD investigation followup.”
