Back@Home North Carolina, the first statewide disaster rapid rehousing program, has housed over 1,000 people displaced by Hurricane Florence.
After Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina in September 2018, Governor Roy Cooper announced the start of Back@Home North Carolina, a program that connects individuals and families displaced by Hurricane Florence to resources, services and permanent housing to prevent homelessness and create stability and long-term self-sufficiency.
In Onslow County, a roof collapsed during the storm, forcing a woman and her child, who is blind and has a disability, to seek safety in a closet. When they emerged more than 24 hours later, their rental unit was destroyed. The family moved from one place to another until they ran out of money while staying in a hotel. The instability made it difficult for the child to receive care and necessary breathing treatments from an in-home nurse. The family was able to find stability again through rental assistance and case management from Back@Home and is now in a mobile home that they own.
North Carolina, through Back@Home, is the first state to create a statewide rapid rehousing program to help ensure all hurricane survivors can be housed in safe and stable housing once disaster shelters close.
“Back@Home has helped hundreds of North Carolina families who lost their homes in Hurricane Florence,” Gov. Cooper said. “By connecting disaster survivors to resources and services, Back@Home helps create stability for our most vulnerable neighbors who need a place to stay while working to recover from natural disasters.”
Since launching in October 2018, Back@Home has moved in 1,035 people, including 426 children and 609 adults, across the 28 disaster impacted counties.
Back@Home helps individuals and families displaced by disaster recover, stabilize and gain resiliency through providing direct services including: housing navigation services, rental assistance and case management services.
The program is administered by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with other state agencies, including the NC Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Public Safety and NC Emergency Management, as well as other nonprofits: North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, Socialserve, American Red Cross, Alliance Behavioral Healthcare, Eastpointe, First Fruit Ministries, Southeast Family Violence Center, Trillium Health Resources and Volunteers of America.
If you were displaced by Hurricane Florence or Hurricane Dorian and need Back@Home assistance, call 2-1-1. For more information about Back@Home North Carolina, visit backathome.org.