Seeing the devastation firsthand.
It’s been over a month since Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina, and though it may not be in the headlines as much, the recovery process is just beginning for the thousands who lost their homes, businesses and livelihoods when the floods destroyed entire towns and communities.
Luckily there have been people to step up and lead the charge to help these communities begin the long process of getting back to what they once were, and maybe none more so than country superstar Eric Church.
Church and fellow North Carolina native Luke Combs recently teamed up for Concert for Carolina, an all-star show at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte that raised over $24 million for those affected by the storm. And he also recently released a brand new single, “Darkest Hour,” and signed over all the rights to the song to the people of North Carolina.
But he’s not stopping there.
Over the weekend, Church announced that his Chief Cares foundation has launched a new plan, called Blueprint for the Blue Ridge, that will start by building 100 homes for 100 families who were displaced by Hurricane Helene.
“Any time a community needs help, it’s always the community next door that comes running to help. And there are no communities next door. They’ve all been devastated. So we’ve made it our mission at Chief Cares that we’re going to be the community next door…
We’re going to go and keep those people in their community, put a roof over their head, let ’em interact with their community, let ’em be a part of their community, and let ’em help rebuild the community.”
As Eric has pointed out, there’s often an influx of cash and help when a disaster strikes, but as the days and weeks go by, the help leaves but the need remains. So he’s doing all he can to keep the attention on the area and not only rebuilding homes but everything else that goes into getting these communities back to the vibrant places they were just a month ago:
“It goes way beyond 100 homes. I hope it’s a lot of homes. A lot more than 100 homes. I hope it’s about building the businesses and building the community back. That’s what we’re committing to at Chief Cares, and we would love your help.”
Well Church is doing his best to keep the spotlight on his home state.
Yesterday, Church visited with victims in Banner Elk, North Carolina – a town where the singer actually owns a home and lives for half of the year that was devastated by the hurricane.
He spoke with the media alongside North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, where he gave more details on his plan to build 100 homes in 100 days for his home state:
“It’s going to take a minute to get some of this done. At Chief Cares, we’re going to partner with Clayton Homes, and once we deliver the land to them, they’ll put 100 homes in Avery county in 100 days.
So as soon as we can get the land part. I have a team coming in next week that’s going to descend on Avery county and try to get that part done for us as quick as we can, and deliver that property to Clayton Homes, and then they will put 100 homes on it.”
And he also talked about how special the area is to him personally:
“I’ve wrote every album of my career but one in Avery county, right here. So creatively it’s been real special to me, but spiritually it’s the place that my soul’s at rest. It’s the place that I get away from what I do in the world to come here and recharge. So it’s the most special place in the world to me, the mountains of this area.”
There’s obviously a lot of work to do to get things back to normal, but Chief is stepping up and doing all that he can to help the recovery – and help keep the needs of the people of North Carolina in the spotlight.
If you’re interested in helping out, you can find more information about Church’s plans at the Chief Cares website, chiefcares.org. And the Concert for Carolina is also hosting an online auction with some pretty awesome stuff, all going to benefit the people affected by the storm.
