Beloved Asheville builds affordable housing village for Helene victims

    SWANNNANOA, North Carolina (WLOS) -- The nonprofit Beloved Asheville is working to find shelter for those who have lost everything from Helene.

Their latest project is in Swannanoa, where they’re building a village of deeply affordable homes.

Beloved Asheville plans for at least 15 homes in the Swannanoa village.

The nonprofit recently purchased almost 9 acres of land, in a non-flood zone, to develop the village.

Amy Cantrell, Beloved Asheville Co-Director, said that it’s very powerful to talk about rebuilding in the wake of Helene.

She said that it’s especially powerful because they’re building the village across from the hardest-hit area in Swannanoa.

Cantrell said deeply affordable means that they’re going to be affordable for those who lost everything.

Co-Director Ponkho Bermejo said that there are so many families in that area who lost their homes, so they’re building a place where those families can stay.

“As Swannanoa neighbors, this is a very powerful moment of healing and saying we will rebuild,” Cantrell said.

“It’s going to be families, it’s going to be kids, we’re going to have a playground here for kids,” Ponkho said.

This isn’t the non-profit’s only project; they’ve also just built a dozen homes in an East Asheville village.

“Our hearts have been broken, we've lost so many people, we’ve seen families that have lost literally everything. We’ve walked with them,” Cantrell said.

Cantrell said that she wants these homes to be affordable for generations to come, with their target market being families that make between 15% to 50% of the area median income.

“Those that are struggling the most, from elders on fixed incomes, and families that are struggling just to keep a roof over their heads to folks who are essential workers in our community,” Cantrell said.

Ponkho said that includes people who work in restaurants, people that work in hotels, people who used to live in mobile homes that lost everything and now are currently living in cars or living in tents or RVs.

Cantrell said that this village marks a promise and hope.

“We are going to rise from the ground from these ashes, from these floodwaters,” Cantrell said.

All of this is made possible by community donations, and Cantrell said the more they receive the more villages they can continue to build.

“People that have construction skills, people that have building materials, we’ve had folks reach out to us about appliances and cabinets and flooring,” she added.

Cantrell said that they’ve walked with people through this tragedy and they’re going to celebrate with them again.

“We were here before and we’ll be here for the long haul,” she said.

The goal is for the village in Swannanoa to be completely built by the end of this year.