Bladen, NC – Karen McElveen still remembers what it felt like looking at the remnants of her home after Hurricane Matthew tore through Bladen County.
“All I could think was, ‘How am I going to fix this?’” she recalled. “I was overwhelmed as a single mom with a son about to go to college. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
Karen’s roof was partially blown off. She had water under and in her home. There was also a pile of asbestos in a corner of her living room where the roof had peeled back, causing mold to form.
Karen received some assistance from FEMA but was only able to make small repairs. While she was still trying to recover, Hurricane Florence hit and caused even more damage.
Karen, a hairdresser, applied to the Homeowner Recovery Program after she learned about it from one of her clients. Because of the amount of damage the storms caused, she qualified for a new home.
“Everyone I met with at the program was so nice,” Karen said. “They treated me as though my situation was their personal situation. I can’t believe I have this beautiful house to come home to.”
Karen and her son, who is now in medical school, love the outside porch and the central heat and air.
But perhaps the best ending to Karen’s story is that because of her new, more spacious home, she was able to take in her nephew who needed a place to live.
“This program saved me, my son and now my nephew,” she said. “That’s the best gift I could ever be given.”