Help Ali Rebuild Her Home After Hurricane Helene

Ali Houghton lost her beloved home on Green River Cove Road in Saluda, North Carolina to Hurricane Helene. In October 2022, at 28 years old, Ali bought her first home. The house was a 600-square-foot cabin that sat nestled in the Green River Cove. Ali called it a miracle. The cabin had been a family retreat for long-time cove residents, but was in need of some love, sprucing up, and new pipes. She quickly set to work on it. She planted the yard with gardens, painted the walls, put in a wood stove, and gave it so much love and elbow grease that the house came alive again. As she settled into her new home, Ali fell in love with the Green River Cove community. She was welcomed by her neighbors and celebrated the beauty of the river community. Ali and her two dogs, Max and Lenny, walked the trails in the Green River Gameland daily and went for swims in the Green River every month of the year. She had found her home and it was apparent to friends and family how alive, happy, and herself she felt there.

Sadly, Hurricane Helene ravaged the Green River Cove community. The storm upended the lives of dozens of families in the cove. Ali’s house itself was picked up by the force of the river and placed on top of her neighbor’s home. Since the storm, Ali has been devastated and heartbroken by the loss of homes, the impact on lives, and the destruction of the land and river she loves. Her friends and neighbors in the cove have shown remarkable resilience and solidarity as they work together on a long recovery and restoration process.

Unfortunately, the bank that holds Ali’s mortgage is not showing much flexibility in negotiating the mortgage. Ali is continuing to pay a mortgage on a home that is not there. With a mortgage still in place, she is ineligible for another loan, and did not receive enough FEMA assistance to be able to rebuild. Ali has exhausted all of her options outside of losing her land or hoping that more assistance will become available. Ali hopes to use the FEMA funds she has already received and any additional funding she can source from the community to rebuild a small cabin, about the size of the home she lost, and elevate it.

She will use the funds to grade the land, put in a foundation, buy materials for building, and for any labor and expertise she needs to hire to make it possible. Her dream is to have a small cabin and replant her gardens, so that she can start to heal herself and her piece of the cove alongside her beautiful community. Any help that you can offer to support is deeply appreciated.