Shelter after the storm

Lead Pastor Sam Burleson and his staff at Covenant Community Church in Asheville, N.C., began coordinating hurricane relief efforts as soon as they could safely leave their homes. Five days after the storm brought historic flooding to the region, the church became a distribution hub for emergency supplies. 

“Within about 12 hours we had water on-site and three massive trucks came up with about 800 cases of water,” Burleson said. They were able to get messages to nearby families and supply their needs. 

As immediate relief efforts got underway, Burleson said he and his staff learned that most of the rebuilding work would not begin until spring. Hundreds of families were stuck searching for temporary shelter during western North Carolina’s freezing winter. As the church’s staff thought about how to continue serving the community, they remembered a large, flat piece of land on the church grounds. 

“And so we started building a village,” Burleson said. 

Just like that, God is giving churches and Christian organizations new opportunities for showing charity and assisting others in the wake of Hurricane Helene. 

Helping the homeless

Covenant earlier this month broke ground on The Village, a place for families in need where up to 30 portable campers can be connected to utilities. It is the first semi-permanent housing village in the county and the city granted it permits to operate for up to two years, Burleson said. The church is partnering with a local plumber, a civil engineering group, and the Buncombe County School District to house families from the school district. The church is strategically located right next to the largest high school in the county.

“We currently have 1,207 children in the Buncombe County School system who are without a home. But prior to the storm, we had 254,” Burleson said. “Even if we get the vast majority back into houses, there still was a need before the storm, and there'll be a need after the recovery.” 

After the storm fatally ripped through communities across six states, thousands of people were left homeless and unsure of where they would face the winter. Many moved in with family, found openings at shelters, stayed at their workplaces, or lived in tents on the properties where their homes once stood. Thousands of people moved into hotels or rental properties using vouchers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

In North Carolina, the state government estimates Helene damaged more than 73,000 homes. FEMA earlier this month said the agency provided shelter assistance to about 10,000 households, more than half of which have moved on to more permanent housing options. Meanwhile, FEMA has extended the assistance program to Jan. 11, 2025. The agency has come under fire for failing to deliver 100 travel trailers and manufactured homes by early December as promised, and had only supplied 62 units housing 59 families as of Dec. 10. Officials said they are evaluating hundreds of requests for the units. 

Already in need

More than 2,600 people were experiencing homelessness as of January in the 25 North Carolina counties included in September’s disaster declaration, according to a point-in-time count by nonprofit organizations in the area. That number skyrocketed since the hurricane. And months after the storm, the need for housing and other forms of support has not dropped, says Michelle Coleman, executive director of the Asheville Dream Center. The resource center describes itself as a Christ-centered organization.

The Dream Center on Saturday hosted its annual Christmas event which Coleman said typically provides roughly 400 people with warm clothes, gifts, and food items. This year, 5,000 people registered for the outreach and the center partnered with national organizations including Convoy of Hope and World Vision USA. In addition to becoming a distribution hub for emergency supplies, Coleman said the center has also donated five recreational vehicles to families in need. 

“We just gave one of our last RVs to a family with two kids, and they had lost their home due to a mudslide,” Coleman said. “The night that we delivered the RV it was literally freezing outside. And they ran in and the kids were just so excited, and they had such a good night's sleep for the first time since the hurricane.”

Tiny homes, big impact

As nonprofits, churches, and individuals donated RVs and state and federal shelter options increasingly became available, some groups felt called to build more permanent options. Immediately after the storm, Shane Bowman stepped up to help coordinate supply deliveries, vehicle donations, and volunteers for a small community in nearby Avery County. But as emergency needs were met and the temperature dropped, he knew the relief efforts would shift to long-term shelters and the reconstruction of homes. 

Bowman, who leads the nonprofit Western North Carolina Marriage & Family Initiative, turned to his community at Dudley Shoals Baptist Church to see what they could do to help those who had lost their homes. 

“I have been an avid tiny home enthusiast for 20-plus years, as my wife and I are missionaries—and that’s our only retirement plan,” he said in a message to WORLD. 

After meeting with his pastor, Bowman connected with business owners and other nonprofit organizations similarly feeling a call to provide housing for hurricane victims. He met the directors of Wine to Water, a nonprofit based in the town of Boone, N.C. The group needed help transporting and setting up tiny homes sent over by an Ohio-based nonprofit. That organization called Helene Relief, had a goal of sending 50 shelters to the region. 

“Through that meeting, it was decided that my organization and our church had the tradesmen and connections to do those needed tasks, and with a handshake, we set out to get these tiny homes to their new families,” Bowman said. “All this has been God-ordained from day one. He clearly told me to wait on building tiny homes myself. I listened, and He multiplied.”

Construction on the homes began in Ohio in October, when Nicholas Pickrel and a few others decided to convert three sheds into small residences. As they began the work, other businesses and members of the Gospel Haven Mennonite Church joined the effort. Now the 24-foot units can be easily hooked up to water and electricity, and each has a propane-powered heater. The homes are certified and code-compliant in nine counties, Pickrel said. 

So far Bowman has helped Pickrel and his team deliver homes to four counties, and he continues to find other requests for help. He firmly believes the church is called to make a difference in society—to alleviate homelessness or help wherever there’s a need.

“These families and individuals are extremely humbled and grateful at the generosity of what seems like hundreds of people from multiple states that God has joined together to make this happen,” he said.