More than $14 million in grants have been awarded to local community partners since the Center for Disaster Philanthropy launched the Truist Foundation Western North Carolina Recovery and Resiliency Fund in January 2025.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), a nonprofit organization that mobilizes philanthropy to support recovery from disasters, today announced $4.2 million in new grants from its Truist Foundation Western North Carolina Recovery and Resiliency Fund in support of organizations pursuing equitable, locally led recovery for survivors of Hurricane Helene.
"More than one year after the storm, communities in Western North Carolina affected by the devastation of Helene are continuing to drive effective and critical recovery efforts through their vision, leadership and creativity," said Patricia McIlreavy, president and CEO of CDP. "While the road ahead remains long, Truist Foundation's support allows us to be a partner in community-led efforts working together to secure a thriving and vibrant future for all."
In January 2025, CDP announced the launch of the Truist Foundation Western North Carolina Recovery and Resiliency Fund, a partnership with Truist Foundation that is part of a $725 million commitment from Truist and Truist Foundation, called Truist Cares for Western North Carolina. Through the fund, CDP addresses medium-and long-term needs to help strengthen the region's housing and small businesses.
In June 2025, CDP announced $3.3 million in grants to four organizations actively leading recovery efforts. In September 2025, it announced another $6.8 million to 15 local organizations advancing recovery across the program areas. The new round of grants brings the total to date to $14.3 million.
"Recovery doesn't end when the headlines fade," said Lynette Bell, head of Truist Philanthropy and president of Truist Foundation. "That's why we're committed to our ongoing partnership with Center for Disaster Philanthropy in Western North Carolina. Through the Truist Cares for Western North Carolina initiative, these new grants help build momentum for community-led recovery, strengthening affordable housing, small businesses, and the resilience families need to thrive in the years to come."
Learn more about the 17 new grantee partners:
- All Hands and Hearts received $100,00 for its Resilient Hurricane Repair Program in Western North Carolina. The funding will support housing recovery by supporting direct home repair work in rural communities across several counties.
- Appalachia Service Project received $300,000 for its Western North Carolina Helene Housing Recovery Program in Mitchell, Avery and Yancey Counties. The funding will support the construction of housing to foster long-term housing security, equity and stability across the region's most impacted communities.
- Asheville Buncombe Community Land Trust received $345,000 for its Swannanoa Mobile Home Park Project. The funding will address long-term recovery housing needs through the establishment of a new mobile home park in Swannanoa.
- Carolina Small Business Development Fund received $300,000 for the Western Women's Small Business Center in support of the Helene Relief and Recovery Program, which provides services for small business recovery across multiple Western North Carolina counties.
- Center for Community Self-Help received $250,000 for its Self-Help Western North Carolina Affordable Housing and Recovery Initiative, in support of families impacted by Hurricane Helene. The grant provides down payment subsidies and financial risk mitigation to allow low-to-moderate-income borrowers to access affordable homes in Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, and Yancey counties and the Qualla Boundary.
- Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) received $428,949 for its WNC Home Rebuild Program for survivors of Hurricane Helene. The funding will support direct repairs, rebuilds and mitigation of mobile homes in rural communities in Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania and Haywood Counties.
- Co-Operate WNC received $170,000 to support cooperative bulk purchase programming, aiming to increase resiliency and long-term recovery for farmers, small farms and food businesses in Buncombe, Madison, McDowell, Rutherford, Jackson, Yancey, Henderson, Watauga, Polk and Mitchell counties.
- Divine Disaster Relief received $115,000 to support housing recovery in rural communities in McDowell, Buncombe, Yancey, Burke, Henderson and Mitchell counties. The funding will support long-term recovery, combining technical housing interventions with holistic case management.
- Footprint Project received $100,000 in support of its Powering Resilience project, which provides assistance for obtaining sustainable energy sources to survivors living in RVs, tiny homes and other non-traditional homes without grid access in Buncombe, Mitchell, McDowell, Henderson, Madison, Yancey and Avery counties. Funds will also increase year-round capacity for Footprint Project's case management services across rural Western North Carolina.
- Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation and Development Council was awarded $126,500 for its Wildfire Mitigation for Communities with Compounded Fuel Load Post-Helene initiative, which aims to increase resilience by removing woody hurricane debris and reducing fire risk to homes in rural communities in Buncombe, Cleveland, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania counties.
- Rebuild Hot Springs Area received $390,000 for its Residential Rebuilding and Resiliency initiative. The funding will support direct repairs, rebuilding and mitigation work on homes in rural communities in the Madison County community of Hot Springs.
- SBP received $110,000 for the Rebuild and Fortification Housing Recovery Program, part of the organization's Western North Carolina's Resilient Recovery: Hyper-Local Capacity & Community-Driven Partnerships Program. This grant supports the embedding of an SBP Resilience Fellow within a longstanding local housing recovery group, adding capacity for direct repairs and wraparound services to enhance household-level resilience and recovery. The SBP Resilience Fellow's work will span communities in Henderson, Transylvania and Polk counties.
- The Housing Assistance Corporation received $300,000 for its Disaster Home Repair and Rebuild Program, ensuring housing recovery through repairs and wraparound case management services in the rural communities it serves in Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties.
- The Mediation and Restorative Justice Center received $100,000 to repair the hurricane-damaged Homestead Recovery Center and to implement innovative, peer-led, collaborative mental health programs for justice-impacted survivors of Hurricane Helene in Watauga and Avery counties.
- Vecinos received $300,000 for the Western NC Community Resiliency Initiative, helping to transform the existing Community Health Hub into a Resiliency Hub serving households and small businesses in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. The project addresses gaps by linking health access directly to disaster readiness and recovery support access.
- Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church received $500,000 for housing recovery in Western North Carolina. The funding will support case management, construction and volunteer engagement in Avery, Mitchell, Yancey, McDowell, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Ashe and Watauga counties.
- WNC Food Systems Coalition received $300,000 for its Small Business Resilience for Food Security, Health in Rural Communities project, which supports small farm businesses and rural communities in Madison, Yancey, Mitchell, Avery and Rutherford counties.
CDP's grantmaking is guided by its assessment of damages, systemic marginalization, community capacity and unmet needs to support Western North Carolina's equitable recovery. It will also provide support beyond the check to grantee partners throughout their grant periods.
About the Truist Foundation
Truist Foundation is committed to Truist Financial Corporation's (NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. The Foundation, an endowed private foundation established in 2020 whose operating budget is independent of Truist Financial Corporation, makes strategic investments in a wide variety of nonprofit organizations centered around two focus areas: building career pathways to economic mobility and strengthening small businesses to ensure all communities have an opportunity to thrive. Embodying these focus areas are the Foundation's leading initiatives – the Inspire Awards and Where It Starts. Learn more at TruistFoundation.org.
About the Center for Disaster Philanthropy
CDP mobilizes philanthropy to strengthen communities' ability to withstand disasters and recover equitably when they occur. It provides expert advice and educational resources, supports diverse coalitions and manages domestic and international disaster funds on behalf of corporations, foundations and individuals through targeted, holistic and localized grantmaking. Find out more at disasterphilanthropy.org and on X and LinkedIn.
Media Contact
Kristina Moore, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, 1 720-583-5325, [email protected], https://disasterphilanthropy.org/
SOURCE Center for Disaster Philanthropy
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