Eric Church & Chief Cares Expand Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts

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Eric Church. Photo: Robby Klein

Eric Church and his nonprofit Chief Cares are expanding their relief efforts one year after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, Church’s home state. After breaking ground earlier this year on their first housing community, Blue Haven, the organization is expanding homeownership opportunities to those whose homes were directly impacted by the storm as well as people who serve in essential positions to the community including educators, healthcare workers, first responders and more.

“Keeping the community intact has been my goal all along,” says Church. “And what we’ve learned these past several months is that offering long-term housing to the people who hold our communities together—from those whose homes were impacted, to those who are critical to rebuilding—will bring the greatest impact. We’re responding in real time to the evolving needs of Western North Carolina. Chief Cares is here for the long haul.”

All recipients of a Blue Haven home will live rent-free for ten years. At the end of the ten-year term, the deed will be transferred, making the home fully theirs to own.

The initiative is bolstered by a recent $6 million investment from AmeriHealth and the AMY Wellness Foundation, which will fund key infrastructure, wraparound services and expanded housing capacity across Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties.

With the first families slated to move into Blue Haven by Thanksgiving, and additional properties under contract in surrounding counties, Chief Cares is on pace to deliver roughly 200 homes across the region.

“We’re not just building homes—we’re investing in the people that will carry this community forward for generations,” Church adds. “This isn’t about short-term solutions. It’s about long-term hope.”

More information on ways to help and the housing application process is available here.

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Lauryn Sink
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