“Our state is facing nearly $60 billion in damages,” says a letter and 46-page report sent by Gov. Josh Stein to President Donald Trump and Congress on Feb. 20. “Despite a tremendous response from federal, state, local, and private sector and nonprofit partners in the immediate aftermath, five months later, it is clear that much more help is needed to restore and rebuild western North Carolina.”
“As North Carolinians now face the prospect of rebuilding their homes, businesses, and communities, many are struggling to secure the necessary resources,” wrote Stein.
He said the state doesn”t have enough money to address even pressing needs, and he requested $19 billion in federal assistance.
Earlier in the month, on Feb. 3, Stein asked the legislature for “$1.07 billion to address immediate needs through July 1, 2025, supplementing current state appropriations and federal funding.”
In the request to the legislature, Stein says, “Unfortunately, even if the federal government provides additional recovery dollars, it will take many months until those dollars might flow into western North Carolina and those dollars come with specific strings attached.”
Collectively we know, and a report from the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) reminds us, “Early action will be critical to the long-term well-being of affected communities.”
It cites recent research investigating county-level recoveries from large disasters, which “found that two of the keys to successful recoveries are (1) quickly mobilizing significant, flexible capital and (2) proactively investing in local capacity and expertise to support post-disaster efforts.”
In the earliest days of a disaster, philanthropists serve as a first responder for funding since they can move money the quickest, getting it into the hands of local leaders who need it the most. Whether that is a reasonable or sustainable expectation needs to be re-evaluated.
But we saw it happen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Philanthropists and other private sector partners leaned in and quickly moved money for early education, schools, and community colleges. They typically don’t invest in needs that will be met by state and federal funds, but given the magnitude of need and the uncertainty around the purpose and timing of public dollars, they have faced and continue to face an ongoing challenge about how to pace and structure investments.
Thank you to all of the public and private leaders who have moved money quickly and trusted local leaders to address the most pressing needs their communities are facing.
Even if this next wave of state and federal dollars comes quicker than anticipated, there is a difference between the long-term recovery investments being rightly requested and the practical and tactical needs day to day of local communities.
Too often people are asking, “Whose job is this?”
This is an early look at where we are, lessons learned, and the leaders in charge moving forward.
What does the $60 billion include?
On Dec. 13, 2024, OSBM issued a revised damage and needs assessment, including a look at education in counties covered by the federal disaster declaration. It updated an assessment issued on Oct. 23, 2024.
The updated estimate indicates damage and needs of $59.6 billion, according to the 133-page assessment, which includes sections on the economy, housing, utilities and natural resources, transportation, agriculture, government and recovery operations, health and human services, and tribal and federal lands in addition to education.
While initially 25 counties were included in the federal disaster declaration, this map shows the 39 counties included in OSBM’s assessment.
The assessment finds the storm impacted 46 school districts, including 1,023 traditional public schools, 83 charter schools, and Cherokee Central School. Across those serving postsecondary students, the storm impacted 23 community colleges, seven UNC System institutions, and 23 independent colleges and universities.
Here is OSBM’s assessments of the repair cost and revenue implications of damage to educational facilities across K-12 including charter schools, community colleges, the UNC System, and independent colleges and universities:
Here is the full report. The education section is pp. 92-105.
Stein’s education request to Trump, Congress, and the legislature
Here is how Stein summarized the impact on education in the letter to Trump and Congress:
With over 1,100 public K-12 schools, 23 community colleges, 22 independent colleges and universities, and seven University of North Carolina institutions located in the impacted area, Hurricane Helene has profoundly affected North Carolina’s educational infrastructure. These schools serve more than 940,000 students. Due to Hurricane Helene, 10 K-12 school districts closed for 10 or more days, and 82 public schools across six local education agencies (LEAs), two community colleges, and one UNC institution remained closed for weeks following the storm. North Carolina educational institutions incurred damage of $862 million. The disruption to school facilities places additional strain on educators, students, and families as they work to restore safe and effective learning environments.
According to the report, “Congress did not provide any additional funding for ED in HR 10545.”
Stein requests “that the federal government grant the state’s original request for funding from November 2024 to address Hurricane Helene-related educational needs.”
Here you can see what’s included in the request:
Stein included in his request to the legislature “$34.2 million for school districts that missed 15 or more days of school to provide summer instruction and other support services to ensure students continue to perform at grade level on End of Grade and End of Course assessments.”
How much money has the legislature provided to date?
Here is then-Superintendent Catherine Truitt’s first request to the legislature back in October 2024.
According to the Office of the Controller, the legislature has approved the following transfers from the state’s Savings Reserve — often called the rainy day fund — to the Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery Fund:
- On Oct. 10, 2024, Session Law 2024-51 approved the transfer of $273 million from the Savings Reserve to the Helene Fund to provide state matching funds for federal disaster assistance.
- On Oct. 25, 2024, Session Law 2024-53 approved an additional $604.15 million to support recovery efforts, including funding for education, health, agriculture, public safety, and other critical areas.
- On Dec. 11, 2024, Session Law 2024-57 approved another $227 million to provide additional funding for the necessary relief and assistance from the effects of Hurricane Helene.
On Jan. 28, 2025, OSBM and the Fiscal Research Division released this memo, which says they agree that the state’s Savings Reserve should maintain a balance of 11.9% of prior-year General Fund operating budget appropriations — and 11.9% of $31.64 billion is $3.77 billion. In January 2025, the Savings Reserve had $3.73 billion.
In his proposed budget for the next round of Hurricane Helene funding, Stein suggested using $846,729,750 from the Stabilization and Inflation Reserve Fund in addition to $225,000,000 from the Hurricane Helene Disaster Recovery Fund.
Early lessons learned from philanthropic investments
There is a spell after an economic or natural disaster hits, where especially in small rural communities, the leaders are already overworked and under-resourced, all of which makes the initial crisis period until state and federal resources start flowing really critical but also unreasonably stressful.
Many of these school districts do not carry large fund balances, and community colleges do not have fund balances. In the first days and weeks after the storm, we met education leaders who maxed out their personal credit cards to address the needs of those they serve.
The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina started distributing grants on Oct. 7, 2024. From Oct. 7-21, the team processed and awarded grants daily. I saw them write the grants themselves where local leaders did not have the capacity. Remember, many counties were still in the rescue phase of rescue, relief, recovery at this point in time.
In two weeks, the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina distributed $4,227,490 in 163 grants throughout the region. Here you can see the total number of grants and how much money has been distributed to date.
What if this kind of disaster had happened in a region without a community foundation with seemingly superhuman capacity, without a Dogwood Health Trust and other philanthropies to make an initial investments?
Without a doubt, it’s been a difference-maker in the early recovery of the region — and you can see that difference in counties with significant damage located outside the footprint of those philanthropies. In Watauga, for example, the federal government has invited an outsized grant for the school district because of the needs they are facing that were addressed in other districts by philanthropy.
It was also a difference-maker that the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina allowed public agencies — including schools and community colleges — to apply for early relief in addition to nonprofits and faith organizations.
In Yancey, Mitchell, and Avery counties, the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina provided $25,000 per school and $25,000 for each of the campuses of Mayland Community College, which serves those counties.
Other philanthropists also moved money quickly to support early education, schools, and community colleges as they surmounted unparalleled challenges. Many others made critical investments addressing housing and other pressing needs for students, families, and educators. Some gave outside their normal priorities.
When $15,000 to get a playground up to code stood between an early child care center re-opening that served 60 students in Pensacola, a community in Yancey County that was devastated, a philanthropist wrote the check.
EdNC’s Liz Bell will be providing an update on philanthropy in early education in western North Carolina, which we will add here once it is published.
Another philanthropist provided $50,000 each in unrestricted dollars without a grant process for Yancey, Mitchell, and Avery school districts as they brought the students back to class, and honestly it felt like a miracle.
The N.C. Community College System had 256 donors to the Hurricane Helene Community College Response and Recovery Fund, and to date has distributed “$560,000 across four rounds of funding to affected community colleges, helping them rebuild and provide critical resources to students and staff,” according to this press release. Here is the list of key donors.
According to a press release from then-Gov. Roy Cooper, the United Way made $1.2 million in grants to 109 nonprofits working in western North Carolina. Here you can see the organizations that received the grants up to $10,000.
On Dec. 23, 2024, Cooper announced that donations of $15.5 million made to the NC Disaster Relief Fund were sent to the North Carolina Community Foundation. The press release says the foundation raised another $12 million, and it will use the funds for long-term recovery and unmet needs.
Note that since some funding streams are limited to nonprofits, school districts need to have a 501(c)(3) foundation to be eligible for those funds going forward. All 58 community colleges have a foundation, according to EdNC’s previous reporting.
Philanthropists continue to meet weekly to triage and align investments until more state and federal dollars flow.
What is SERV?
SERV stands for School Emergency Response to Violence, and it is a project of the U.S. Department of Education. Meredith Miller — who will be among the superheroes of recovery — has been on the ground in person with her team assessing needs and opportunities. Many districts and institutions of higher education are in the process of submitting SERV grants, which would provide short-term, education-related funding to help them recover from this traumatic event in which the learning environment has been disrupted.
Once the paperwork has been approved for submission, it typically takes about 70 days for this funding to hit. If this mid-term funding does not come through for some reason, it will be a big setback.
Ways to triage need across the disaster region moving forward
Some early funding — in part because measures of damage had yet to emerge — distributed dollars equally across the region.
State funds for mental health available for school districts and charters in western NC
Several measures are now surfacing to help private and public entities triage investments as dollars are available.
One measure of need across the region is the amount of FEMA registrants as a percent of households.
| County | Eligible FEMA Registrants as % of Households via Dan Gerlach |
| Buncombe | 53.70% |
| Yancey | 52.40% |
| Mitchell | 47.40% |
| Avery | 38.70% |
| Henderson | 36.50% |
| McDowell | 36.40% |
| Rutherford | 31.00% |
| Madison | 27.50% |
| Polk | 27.30% |
| Burke | 20.40% |
| Haywood | 19.90% |
| Cleveland | 19.50% |
| Watauga | 19.10% |
| Transylvania | 19.10% |
| Ashe | 16.70% |
Another measure is the number of days of instruction missed. Seven districts missed 15+ days of school, including Yancey County Schools (34), Mitchell County Schools (30), Avery County Schools (28), Ashe County Schools (23), Buncombe County Schools (21), Asheville City Schools (19), and Watauga County Schools (17).
Several of these districts have also missed 13+ days of school for winter weather. Many of the private funding streams can only be used for relief from Hurricane Helene, and the increased needs and losses of revenue due to weather need to be assessed.
Another measure is the size of the district, including the number of schools and students served.
Where there was loss of life and where students have been displaced from their school building should also be considered.
Four districts had damaged schools after Helene. How are they doing now?
The range of needs
EdNC built and maintains a list of needs by district for those that missed 15+ days of school.
Many of the needs seem too big for philanthropy.
For example, in part because of the loss of revenue from tourism during the fall leaf season, Buncombe County Schools is facing a loss of local funding totaling $3,971,874 for this academic year, and Asheville City Schools is facing a loss of local funding totaling $1,437,154 also for this academic year.
Mitchell County Schools has lost federal revenue because the winter weather has impacted their ability to serve school meals. Communications continue to be a problem there, and Jennifer Gregory, the associate superintendent, has an incredible story about students having to complete testing with hotspots from the second floor of the school building to get a signal when the internet went down during testing.
Yancey County Schools has an indoor construction facility, and students could build eight tiny homes a year if they had the funding.
Some of the needs are forward facing. Watauga County Schools has the opportunity to repurpose an older elementary school for early child care and employee housing.
Several districts need help with repairs and the replacement of athletic fields, which is a priority not just for students but for the whole community.
The list goes on and on.
Considerations for the future
- Is the expectation of philanthropy as first responder for funding reasonable or sustainable?
- What is the role of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the N.C. Community College System in assessing needs, driving funding requests, and securing and disbursing funding?
- Philanthropy doesn’t fund what will be covered by state and federal funding and vice versa. But in the early days of recovery, who will pay for what and the timing of the funding is often unknown.
- Do we need to consider how much money is kept in district fund balances since this will not be the last natural disaster they face? Do community colleges need fund balances?
- What happens to counties outside the footprint of philanthropy?
- Should philanthropies consider always including public agencies in those eligible for funding? If not, then every district needs a nonprofit foundation.
Who is in charge moving forward?
Stein has a newly established Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC), and that team will be staffed to take the lead day-to-day in connecting local needs to resources for long-term recovery. Here are the leaders on the team, and more will be announced in the weeks to come.
Stein has also launched a Rebuilding Western North Carolina Advisory Committee to provide counsel and strategic advice.
There is also a House Select Committee on Helene Recovery.
The Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations has a subcommittee on hurricane response and recovery that is charged with assessing “North Carolina’s hurricane recovery efforts from 2016 to present, with a major focus on Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina.”
Philanthropy has been a ‘stay helper’
Within one month of the hurricane, EdNC covered an original play titled “Surge,” written and performed by high school students about the impact on their families and communities.
One month after Helene, students stage a play that the whole country should see
In the play, four reporters covering the hurricane are depicted. “You know, it would go a lot faster if you would help us,” a student says to one reporter.
“How bad is it?” another reporter asks the father of a family in the play. “Look around,” he responds.
Later in the play, as a reporter begins to help, a community member asks, “Are you a day helper or a stay helper?”
With the news cycle long over, philanthropists have been and continue to be stay helpers since day one.
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