Home Care In Swannanoa, NC

SWANNANOA, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Plans to improve and expand sidewalks in Swannanoa are moving forward, with Buncombe County commissioners set to consider nearly $1.8 million in state grants Tuesday and hear from the public about additional funding needed for the work.

Commissioners are being asked to accept two grants totaling $1.76 million for sidewalk improvements in Beacon Village and downtown Swannanoa.

One provides $979,069 to repair and extend sidewalks along Whitson Avenue. The other provides $786,291 to repair and extend sidewalks along Railroad, Alexander and South streets.

The money comes from North Carolina’s Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program, a Hurricane Helene recovery program designed to help local governments repair infrastructure that supports small-business recovery.

The N.C. Department of Transportation will provide construction management services for both projects. The county will not be required to provide additional funding for the two grants, according to the agenda packet.

The sidewalks have been a priority for residents and business owners in a community where walking between neighborhoods, businesses and other destinations can mean traveling along roads without continuous pedestrian access.

“This is a big deal for our families, visitors, and small businesses,” Short Sleeves Coffee owner and Swannanoa resident Daniel Lancaster said in a social media post when the Whitson Avenue grant was announced in December 2025.

Lancaster described Beacon Village as Swannanoa’s downtown and said more sidewalks would make it safer for families while supporting businesses as the community rebuilds from Helene.

A separate action before commissioners Tuesday could help cover another piece of the sidewalk work.

The county will hold a public hearing on a proposal to change the use of a Community Development Block Grant-Neighborhood Revitalization award originally intended for home repairs.

Buncombe County received $400,000 in December 2022 to help low- and moderate-income homeowners repair their homes. The county spent 2023 and 2024 setting up the program, but it was paused after Helene. None of the money has been spent.

According to the county’s agenda materials, the CDBG-NR program is no longer a priority for home-repair partners because of disaster recovery needs and other available funding sources.

Instead of canceling the award, the N.C. Department of Commerce has given the county an opportunity to seek approval to change its use and its amount.

Buncombe County proposes increasing the grant from $400,000 to $719,400 and putting it toward the Swannanoa sidewalk project. Ninety percent would be used for infrastructure and public improvements and 10% for administration.

The county already has other funding for design and construction. The CDBG-NR money would help close a remaining gap by paying for preliminary engineering and right-of-way assessment and acquisition.

County officials say the goal is to provide safe, continuous pedestrian connections between homes, community destinations and essential services in the downtown Swannanoa and Beacon Village commercial area. The project is intended to benefit low- and moderate-income households.

The work also supports the county’s Helene Recovery Plan, Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Swannanoa Small Area and Resilience Plan, which is still being developed.

Tuesday’s public hearing is required before the county can submit the proposed CDBG-NR changes to the N.C. Department of Commerce. Commissioners will then be asked to authorize submission of the $719,400 grant modification.

The projects before commissioners Tuesday are part of a broader push for better pedestrian connections in Swannanoa.

Commissioner Jennifer Horton said in September that the county also has a pending request for $10 million to build 2.25 miles of connected sidewalk along U.S. 70 between Whitson Avenue and Warren Wilson Road.

That $10 million request is separate from the two grants commissioners are being asked to accept Tuesday and the $719,400 grant modification that is the subject of the public hearing.

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meets Tuesday, Oct. 6.

SWANNANOA, N.C. (WLOS) — Nearly two years after Helene devastated businesses and development across Swannanoa, new businesses are opening as Buncombe County considers a long-term roadmap for how that growth and the community's recovery should move forward.

The county's latest draft of the Swannanoa Small Area Plan outlines recommendations for future development, infrastructure, transportation and disaster resilience. The plan was called for under Buncombe County's 2043 Comprehensive Plan, and county officials said Helene made the work more urgent.

"Following Helene, we knew that this had to be prioritized because of what we saw in terms of devastation, displacement of individuals, and then also the opportunity for developers to come in," Buncombe County spokesperson Lillian Govus said. "We needed to make sure we're developing this area in a way that meets our residents' needs."

Signs of that growth are already visible around Beacon Village, where new businesses have opened and the Beacon Bike Park is nearing its opening.

VACANT, STORM-DAMAGED BUILDINGS RAISE SAFETY CONCERNS IN SWANNANOA

Short Sleeves Coffee is among the businesses that kept investing in the area despite the uncertainty Helene left behind. Owner Daniel Lancaster had planned to open the coffee shop before the storm, but Helene pushed the opening back about six months. Lancaster continued the shop's buildout and eventually opened in May 2025.

"Just in some ways, like, is this actually wise to keep moving forward?" Lancaster recalled. "But in the end, that was also like the driving force for us. Like all the reasons that it was kind of scary to do it were the reasons that we should keep going forward."

Before the shop officially opened, Lancaster used coffee and supplies already on hand to operate a pay-what-you-can coffee stand for about three months as Swannanoa began recovering.

Since then, Lancaster has seen more activity build around the shop, including a nearby grocery store and restaurant.

'IT HAS TO BE FIXED': SWANNANOA RESIDENTS DEMAND ANSWERS AS FLOODING CONTINUES

The county's planning effort extends beyond the U.S. 70 corridor. The study area includes surrounding communities such as Riceville, Oteen, Lytle Cove, Lake Eden, Bee Tree, Patton Cove and Buckeye Cove. The plan includes recommendations related to housing, transportation, economic development, recreation, infrastructure, environmental protection and future disaster resilience.

The process began in January 2025 and has included a resident steering committee and multiple rounds of public input. County officials say the plan could eventually guide development decisions, identify future capital investments and recommend changes to county policies or regulations.

The current draft remains under review, with additional opportunities for public input before the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners considers the final plan for adoption in November.

SWANNANOA, N.C. — Sunday marks two years since Tropical Storm Helene devastated Western North Carolina. It hit September 27, 2024, and damaged an estimated 73,700 homes, according to the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management.

Two years later, some people are still without a permanent home.

Chuck Haynie owns the Village Barber and Style Shop in Swannanoa. It’s along the Swannanoa River. The storm destroyed businesses around him, but he said he only had a couple of inches in the shop and mopped it up.

He said it opened back up within two weeks of the storm, and he gave free haircuts and gave away donations he collected.

“Man, everybody was just so happy that there was some place they could go that felt normal,” Haynie said.

“You know, everything was so destroyed all around them,” he said.

“I had grown men standing right there in that door just break down crying, happy that the shop was still here. It was unbelievable,” Haynie said.

While Haynie’s barbershop served as an oasis of sorts, his home in Black Mountain was a different story.

A creek coming off the mountain on his property created problems in his home that were not obvious at first.

The damaged road leading to his property prevented him from being able to access his home for about two weeks, Haynie said.

"I was amazed it was still here, to be honest,” Haynie said.

“I replaced the siding and the gutters, thinking everything was fine until the foundation started to crack and collapse,” Haynie.

About a year after the storm, cracks to the foundation began to reveal deeper problems, including hidden mold.

He said a tire on his mower barely bumped the corner of the house, and a big section of block fell in. He then crawled under the home to put the blocks back up. That’s when he saw the extent of the mold.

"So, just by chance we were talking about it in the barbershop one day and somebody heard and called Samaritan's Purse, and they were right on it,” he said.

The organization arranged for Haynie and his wife to receive a new manufactured home at no cost to them. Crews demolished their home several weeks ago to make room for the new one.

“It's hard to watch your house being torn down, you know, but luckily, I knew what was going to happen,” he said.

A spokesperson for Samaritan’s Purse said, as of this week, it’s approved 273 manufactured homes for people impacted by the storm. The organization has delivered 131 of those.

It's also built 51 new homes from the ground up and is working on another 62.

Directly behind Haynie’s barbershop, across the river, people affected by the storm are still living in campers, including Carolyn Phillips.

"I mean, this is home, but it ain't home,” she said.

Phillips has been here since just after the storm and says an organization gave her the camper.

When the storm hit, Phillips said she was renting a home just yards from where she’s staying now; she says the storm washed it away.

“I got caught up in the river. I was in the river for two and a half hours. I seen bodies go by me.

I seen trailers explode. I seen babies. That's something you will never forget,” she said.

Two years later, Phillips is still living feet from that nightmare.

"When it rains, I literally leave and go somewhere else because I'm scared of the river,” she said.

The trauma and needs linger.

“Everything I've tried, it's always they ain't got no funds or they can't help us or they'll give us money for gas or something, but they can't help us with the place to live,” she said.

There’s no single, clear place to find the exact number of people who still need permanent housing two years after Helene, but snapshots of some of the numbers Spectrum News 1 gathered from various agencies give an idea of the bigger picture.

As of last month, nonprofits have rebuilt or repaired more than 1,100 homes using state money, according to the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC).

A spokesperson for the state’s long-term disaster recovery initiative, Renew NC, said the agency received nearly 8,000 applications for help to repair, replace or reconstruct homes damaged by Helene.

Nearly 5,700 of those applications are inactive or ineligible.

More than 2,000 are in the works.

About 600 are in the pre-construction phase.

Roughly 150 are complete.

That work is done through Renew NC’s single-family housing program, which stopped taking applications in January.

"With these large grant programs, recovery can be complicated and we have federal requirements that we must meet in order to receive the funding and so there's a lot that goes into building a program and getting it up and running, but we are working as fast as we can to get folks home as quickly as we can,” said Maggie Battaglin, director of housing for the Division of Community Revitalization.

Dave Boliek, North Carolina state auditor, said, “The home building and permanent structure for residents has been a slower rollout than I think most people would like to see,”

Spectrum News 1 asked him if the need is outpacing the help that’s available.

“I don't know that it's outpacing the help that's available. There's a tremendous amount of resources that the state of North Carolina has and the federal government has. I think what is needed is a pace that is quicker,” he said.

According to Boliek’s office, FEMA data in October 2025 showed the storm displaced more than 7,800 households. More than 600 were still seeking assistance, but were not eligible for rental assistance or transitional housing help.

Boliek’s office presented the data on a housing dashboard until that data became stagnant.

“The data becomes stagnant because of the lack of continuous flow of data, and the really hard work it takes to get that data and when we put stuff up on our dashboard, we want that data to be accurate,” he said.

Asked if agencies should continue to collect that data, Boliek said, “Well, I think what we run into in a lot of places across government, not just state government or federal government in many areas, are aging systems that need to catch up to what the public's expectation is.”

Boliek said people looking for permanent housing after Helene can run into several roadblocks and hurdles.

"I think number one is the government application process and the number of forms that have to be filled out and the waiting for a decision to be made,” he said.

“Another is getting enough qualified contractors on site to be able to actually complete the projects,” Boliek said.

"And then, you have some supply chain issues in terms of actually getting the right building materials on site to be able to build,” he said.

Whatever the reasons, Carolyn Phillips remains in need.

“I just wish that they'd think about people like us that are in campers and pray that somebody will look out for us and help us get a place,” she said.

Two years after the storm, Chuck Haynie and his wife finally have their new place.

“It's unbelievable. It's hard to really wrap your head around,” he said.

“It looks better than what we thought it would be,” Haynie said.

Samaritan’s Purse delivered the new home earlier this week – just days before the two-year mark of the storm.

“It's going to be nice to sleep under my own roof again,” Haynie said.

He said Samaritan’s Purse told him that he and his wife will likely be able to move into the home in a couple of weeks.

"It's like winning a lottery or something to be able to get all my kids and grandkids back up here and get everybody together. It means a lot,” he said.

Haynie expected the home next spring, but said it became available now.

He received his home from a faith-based organization. Boliek said he believes those organizations are key to rebuilding because they have the people, they just need a project.

Boliek said nine years after hurricanes Florence and Matthew, some people in Eastern North Carolina affected by those storms are still not in permanent housing.

He pointed out that the geography of the mountains presents different challenges compared with the eastern part of the state.

Boliek said the hope is that lessons from Florence and Matthew will prevent it taking as long for people to recover from Helene.

Boliek said he has people assessing the housing situation related to Helene and plans to issue a report by the end of the year.

Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.

SWANNANOA, N.C. (WLOS) — Nearly two years after Helene devastated parts of western North Carolina, damaged and vacant buildings remain scattered throughout Swannanoa, serving as visible reminders of the storm.

Fire officials say the vacancies have led to growing safety concerns.

Swannanoa Fire Chief Anthony Penland said some properties remain untouched or partially demolished as the community continues a recovery process; he says it still has a long way to go.

“It’s just heartbreaking; it’s like, when is our help coming?” Penland said.

Empty buildings and damaged properties remain along parts of the community. For those who work and live nearby, their continued presence can make progress feel slow.

“It's just saddening. You know it's coming, you know, progress takes time,” Town Hardware store manager Will Hoilman said.

Penland said his concerns go beyond the appearance of the properties.

“Also looking at maybe some of our unhoused folks use these as shelters as the temperatures start to get a little bit cooler. We completely want to avoid that as well because we don't really know how sound these structures are. They suffered lots and lots of damage to the storm," he said.

The longer the buildings remain exposed to the elements, Penland said, the more questions there are about how they could withstand additional severe weather.

“You think that if we get a sustained windstorm, is that going to further bring the building down?” he questioned.

Penland said debris left behind from demolition is another concern, particularly near the Swannanoa River.

"One of the buildings that was poured down here by the bridge, it's like some of the debris that was from that tear down is just piled up still there in like a big hole close to the river. We're not really sure if that's going to have an impact of a little, another small flood event," he said.

'IT HAS TO BE FIXED': SWANNANOA RESIDENTS DEMAND ANSWERS AS FLOODING CONTINUES

Beyond the immediate safety concerns, Penland said he worries about the long-term impact of a prolonged recovery on residents and business owners who are trying to rebuild.

“We've got a long road ahead of us and we just got to make sure that we just don't forget and that we make sure that we still take care of those folks and we work with the folks who still want to put back their businesses," he said.

Penland said one of his biggest fears is that people who had homes and businesses in Swannanoa before Helene could eventually become frustrated with the pace of recovery and leave the community.

He said continued state and federal support will be critical as Swannanoa works to address damaged properties, support businesses and move forward after the storm.

SWANNANOA, N.C. (828nesNOW) — Nearly two years after Helene reshaped Swannanoa, Buncombe County is moving into another major phase of recovery, with residents being asked to help shape plans for Owen Park and the community’s broader future.

The county is working on a new design for Charles D. Owen Park, developing a Small Area & Resilience Plan for Swannanoa and seeking more than $20 million in state funding for long-term recovery projects.

County officials say community input will play a major role in all three efforts.

Buncombe County Parks & Recreation will host a public workshop Aug. 27 to give residents a look at the final draft design for Owen Park before it goes through formal approval.

The drop-in workshop will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at ArtSpace Charter School, 2030 U.S. 70, in Swannanoa. Spanish-language interpretation will be available.

Residents can stop by anytime during the two-hour event to review the design, talk with members of the project team and provide feedback. A virtual review also will be available for people who cannot attend in person.

The redesign follows months of community engagement.

Residents shared their ideas and experiences during a March workshop, and hundreds more weighed in during June on two conceptual designs developed from that feedback.

The project team, led by Hoerr Schaudt, used that input along with landscape design, engineering, sustainability and accessibility considerations to develop the final draft.

Owen Park suffered the most extensive storm damage of any Buncombe County park during Helene and remains closed.

The Swannanoa River breached its banks, flooding and destroying the park’s fishing ponds and cutting a new channel through the property. Fields, pavilions, playground equipment and other infrastructure were damaged, while the storm also significantly altered the landscape and affected the stability of the land.

The county is approaching the park’s rebuilding in two phases.

The first phase has focused on surveys, site inventories and planning for elements such as stormwater management and riverbank restoration. The second phase will include detailed construction plans, permitting, a public bidding process and construction.

At the same time, Buncombe County is asking residents to review a draft Small Area & Resilience Plan developed over the past year by the Swannanoa Small Area Plan Steering Committee.

The plan is intended to help guide Swannanoa’s long-term recovery and development following Helene.

The county held community review events Aug. 1 and Aug. 7 at the Swannanoa Community Center, with another event scheduled for Aug. 13 at the Swannanoa Fire Bee Tree Substation.

Residents who cannot attend can review the full draft plan and submit comments online through Aug. 17.

The plan is expected to go before the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners after the public review period.

The county also is seeking more than $20 million through North Carolina’s competitive Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery Community Infrastructure program.

Buncombe County’s Helene Recovery team has developed three potential projects that have been pre-screened by the state.

One proposal would provide funding to rebuild and restore damaged parks, including Owen Park, Alexander Park and Lake Julian.

Other proposals would add permanent power redundancy at critical county facilities and improve road access to the Buncombe County Ferry Road affordable housing site.

County officials say the housing project is particularly important as the region continues to recover from the loss of thousands of rental units during Helene.

The county has said it does not have authority over many traditional infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges and utilities, but is looking for opportunities where it can use disaster recovery funding to strengthen community infrastructure.

Residents can comment on the proposed projects during a Buncombe County Board of Commissioners public hearing at 5 p.m. Aug. 18.

Comments also can be submitted by email to [email protected] with “Community Infrastructure Comment” in the subject line, by phone at 828-250-6100 or by mail. The county is accepting mailed comments through Aug. 28.

For Swannanoa residents, the various efforts represent different pieces of the same larger recovery process — from rebuilding a park dramatically altered by Helene to planning for the community’s long-term resilience and deciding where limited recovery dollars should be invested.