Two years after Hurricane Helene tore through the mountains, a $6 million state grant is supporting a home-repair program for homeowners in Burke and Caldwell counties seeking repairs after the storm. Eligible households can receive up to $25,000 each to cover essential structural repairs the storm left behind, and a waitlist intake form is available for new applicants.
Governor Josh Stein highlighted the funding in a social media post, noting that many Western North Carolina homeowners faced essential repairs not covered by insurance or disaster programs, and that a $6 million grant from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality is supporting the home-repair program through the Governor Josh Stein
. The money flows through the Western Piedmont Council of Governments' Home Repair Readiness Program, which covers roof repairs, plumbing, electrical work, HVAC replacement, and moisture remediation, according to
The Paper
.
A Regional Effort Spanning Five Councils
The $6 million award supports repairs in counties designated as Most Impacted and Distressed following Helene, including Burke and Caldwell counties. The overall program aims to serve more than 575 households. To spread the funding across the wider mountain region, the Western Piedmont Council of Governments partnered with four neighboring regional councils — the High Country COG, Foothills COG, Land of Sky COG, and Southwestern Commission COG — the report notes.
That five-council structure reflects how sprawling the recovery effort has become. The article notes that by capping assistance at $25,000 per home and coordinating across the regional councils, state officials are aiming to reach hundreds of low- to moderate-income families whose damage fell outside what insurance or FEMA individual assistance would cover.
Initial Funds Already Spoken For
Demand has outpaced the first round of money. As of late 2026, initial grant funds for the WNC Home Repair Readiness Program have been fully obligated, and a waitlist intake form is available at WNCready.org while the program actively pursues additional funding, according to the program's own site. That waitlist status underscores how much housing need remains unmet as the region marks the storm's two-year anniversary.
The $6 million WPCOG grant is one piece of a larger $10 million Home Repair Weatherization Readiness Program that has already funded pre-weatherization repairs for 385 homes across storm-affected mountain counties, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Part Of A Billion-Dollar State Commitment
The home repair funding sits inside a much larger state investment. In July, Governor Stein and NCDEQ Secretary Reid Wilson announced that the department had passed the milestone of awarding over $1 billion toward water infrastructure and resilience projects in Western North Carolina since Helene, according to the Office of Governor Josh Stein. More than $906 million of that total is committed specifically to repairing and upgrading drinking water, wastewater, and septic systems across 222 projects in 28 mountain counties, per Cops & Congress.
That means home repair dollars represent a comparatively small — but critical — slice of NCDEQ's broader post-Helene portfolio. The department has also directed money toward non-housing recovery needs, including $25 million in grants to local governments for damaged recycling infrastructure and resilient convenience centers and transfer stations. The department also awarded $10 million in state funding to address nine high-hazard dams, while the General Assembly allocated another $20 million for repairs at 12 dams, according to NCDEQ.
What Comes Next For Waitlisted Homeowners
For homeowners already on the WNCready.org waitlist, the path forward depends on whether state and federal officials secure additional funding beyond the initial $6 million obligation. The program is one part of Western North Carolina's ongoing Helene recovery as the region marks the storm's two-year anniversary.
