In the wake of Helene, the City of Asheville is revisiting how it will use its Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds. MountainTrue and fellow members of the Buncombe Affordable Housing Network sent a letter (linked here) urging the Asheville City Council to use CDBG-DR funds to create long-term, income-restricted affordable housing at scale which would create more housing options in the city for our most vulnerable residents.
We face two urgent housing needs in the wake of the storm: repairing damaged homes and building more affordable housing. This is not an either/or choice. It is a both/and challenge. After the storm, many residents’ housing struggle worsened due to lost jobs and reduced hours. Residents struggling to afford their rent after Helene are disaster survivors just like people whose homes were directly damaged by the storm, and CDBG-DR funds are best suited to creating affordable housing whereas other funding sources can repair homes more efficiently ensuring more homeowners benefit from repairs.
Email the City Council using the form below and join the call to invest CDBG-DR funds in multi-family, affordable housing options.
