Country musician and North Carolina native Eric Church is continuing his quest to provide permanent housing for Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina.
During a recent podcast interview with radio personality Bobby Bones, Church confirmed that he has purchased two additional properties and plans to build at least 200 homes for Helene victims in North Carolina.
He recently broke ground on his first development, Blue Haven, in Avery County. The 40-45 home development has already completely sold out. Church hopes to have people in these homes by the end of the summer. He purchased these properties through his non-profit, the Chief Cares Foundation, which he and his wife, Katherine, founded in 2013.
Following the Concert for Carolina last October, when Church and Luke Combs, also an North Carolina native, raised almost $25 million for Helene’s recovery efforts, Church was approached by several charities. As he spoke with the charities to discover what aspects of recovery they were focused on, Church said he found a void: No one was doing anything about housing.
He explained how, in post-disaster situations, the federal government provides temporary housing for victims outside their communities. The problem is that many of these small communities only have about 300-400 people, and the community will be lost if the people are removed. Church wanted an alternative solution, so he contacted his network, including Kevin Clayton, CEO of Clayton Homes.
“We came up with a novel idea of building permanent housing, not temporary, and not only allowing them to live there for a period of time cost-free,” Church told Bones. “We call it “A Blueprint for the Blue Ridge.” The whole key is that we want to give them a path to ownership for that home. A lot of these are people who maybe could have never owned a home in their lives because of their financial situation. Now, with our help and with the people who gave help, you can change that entire family’s generational life, and not just theirs, but their kids’ lives. And so for those 45 families [Blue Haven], the idea would be they’ll end up owning those homes.”
Church explained that as he looked around the country, he noticed that no one else was doing this, it wasn’t done during Hurricane Katrina or any other disaster. And he found that shocking.
“Affordable housing is a major problem in the US, and when a disaster happens, it just shines a spotlight on that problem,” said Church. “So we’re trying to solve that, the best we can, into something that’s blueprintable for other states.”
Church explained that from a government standpoint, a large amount of money is being used to impact many people’s lives in a small way. But he believes this is kicking the can down the proverbial road. This approach creates a second problem: What do you do two or three years out from a disaster?
“The Eric Church brand cares now, which is different than it was even 10 years ago,” said Bones, commenting that he felt Church is in the advocating season of his career, where he spends a lot of his time advocating for other people.
“I think a lot of that is ‘things happen.’ I’m fortunate to have done what I’ve done in my career to be in a position that I could influence, specifically North Carolina,” continued Church. “When Hurricane Helene happened, I was able to help there.”
Church discussed being on a call with state legislators and a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employee from Washington, DC, and thinking, “How is this not what we already do? How has this not been thought of or tried?”
He also discussed that no system or down-chain is in place to weaponize the money for disaster relief. “Between the money and putting people under a roof,” the links in the middle of the chain, like contractors and land, are missing.
“Some of this is trying to develop one tiny arm of that chain that we’re into mid- and mid- to long-term housing, and we want them to own,” said Church. “So it’s not trying to solve all the problems, but it is trying to solve one of them.”
An Anthem for the Moment
Church also briefly discussed his single “Darkest Hour,” for which he signed over all the publishing royalties to the people of North Carolina. Many assume that Church wrote this song in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, but this song was written by Church just 10 days before Helene hit western North Carolina, east Tennessee, and other parts of the Southeast region.
“I was in Florida for something, I was on my way back when Hurricane Helene hit,” said Church. “I got back home, and I remember seeing the devastation, which I couldn’t fathom, being from that area. I didn’t recognize any of the areas that I knew intimately.”
Church references a line in the song that says: “In your darkest hour, I’d come running, I’ll light your way.”
He explains that this song was actually released way ahead of schedule. Church recounts calling his manager and telling him he thought he would regret it if they waited until the following year to release the song.
“I think this song could be an anthem mainly for the moment,” said Church.
He goes on to explain that in this world, disasters happen, and everyone pays attention, but the focus is lost by the next disaster or the next news cycle.
“We need something just to keep people focused on this problem, and that it’s going to take years,” Church told his manager. “I think it’s a great anthem for the people there.”
Church went on to say that this circles back to his point that everything happens for a reason. Everyone thinks the song was written in the aftermath of Helene, but it was actually written before.
“It was sitting there ready to go, said Church. Sometimes you give a song its’ moment, sometimes a song finds its’ moment.”
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