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In 2018, lightning struck Dolores Hewitt鈥檚 front porch in downtown Wilmington, in the midst of Hurricane Florence. The roof caught fire, but luckily the torrential rainfall of that storm put it out.
"Everything on that front porch was burnt," said Dolores鈥檚 daughter, Tonia Kerrin.
She said the family filed paperwork with their insurance company, but only got a few thousand dollars. That was enough for some repairs to the porch, but the rest of the house was damaged too: flood water crept in through the kitchen window, and an addition on the back porch was leaking. The house, which had been in the family for over a century, was in bad shape.
In the living room, Tonia pointed to one corner of the ceiling that鈥檚 cracked and falling in. "That's been like that for maybe five to six years,鈥� she said.
The family paid for their porch repairs with the insurance money, but the rest of the house needed more help. Tonia鈥檚 daughter, Sherry Taylor, works for the state government, and found out about a program called ReBuild NC. The program was part of the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency, or NCORR (pronounced, "N-core"), created by then-Governor Roy Cooper in late 2018. At the time, the state had been hit by two major storms 鈥� hurricanes Matthew and Florence 鈥� in two years; NCORR was set up to manage nearly a billion dollars in federal grants, alongside several tranches of state recovery funding.
It seemed like a godsend: the state would step in and help the family with their repairs.
"They had actually papers posted up all around the job showing about the program. And this was in early, 2020, right before Covid happened,鈥� Taylor said.
The family applied and got accepted into the program that summer. They were excited 鈥� the state promised they might be able to get the repairs done for free: or get the entire house replaced, if things seemed dire enough. And in Delores鈥� case, the house does need replacement: parts of the floor are soft and spongy, and the ceiling is peeling from water damage.
Little did they know, they鈥檇 end up trapped in bureaucratic purgatory. Sherry says it took three years for the family to be approved for a rehab, and they found out that was capped at $10,000.
"My grandma didn't wait this whole time, three years, just to get a rehab when they've been telling us this whole time they were going to rebuild her home,鈥� Sherry said. The family appealed, and then it took another six months to be approved for a rebuild. But the delays just kept coming.
"Even the people who worked at North Carolina Rebuild were frustrated," Sherry said. "They were like, 'my grandma鈥檚 claim was one of the oldest claims they had on their desk.'鈥�
Five years later, and the house still isn鈥檛 under construction. This family in Wilmington isn鈥檛 alone, however. There are over 500 families still waiting for the state to start rebuilding or fixing their homes, just from Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. Many are living in dilapidated housing, just like Delores.
And there are another 500 or so families living in temporary homes waiting for construction to finish. NC Newsline reporter has extensively covered the failures of ReBuild NC. She said Rebuild NC overspent their budget by 30%, with no clear explanation for how that happened.
"That is the $220 million question. I think, and this is my personal opinion, just from having reported on this, what needs to happen is a forensic audit," she told WHQR.
NCORR鈥檚 leadership has been under serious pressure to get their budget aligned, and they鈥檙e asking for $217 million to complete their programs. The program is still progressing: 75 homes have completed construction since January 15, according to NCORR.
But Lisa Sorg said delays have caused real harm to people in North Carolina.
"Somebody needs to be held accountable, because I have sat in people's living rooms just last week 鈥� hole in the ceiling 鈥� Sat in people's houses, their trailers are full of mold. People calling me at 10 at night crying, 'Somebody, please help me'. It's not just, 鈥榳here did the money go鈥�, but there are real lives at stake," she said.
But Delores' and her family's purgatory wasn't just about delays 鈥� it also prevented them from accepting help from other agencies. Rebuild NC's regulations even prevented them from doing their own repairs.
That meant Delores, who's struggling with dementia, was stuck in a house that's been falling apart for five years.
By the end of last year, the family had reached stage 6 with Rebuild NC, meaning they鈥檙e supposed to be going through contractor selection. They鈥檇 gone through a years-long bureaucratic process, with five different case managers. Finally, they were told they were ready to move their mother out, ready for reconstruction.
Then, the call came in early December, with devastating news, Tonia said.
"We've been waiting to do an EMO, which is an emergency move out, for my mother. And so she said, 'Tonia, I haven't heard anything from my supervisor.' She said, 'but it looks like it's no money to do the E M O, which is what we've been waiting for for five years.' [...] I said, 'What do you mean?' My mama been waiting to get out of this jungle [...] they had even told us to pack," Tonia told WHQR.
An email followed on December 14, 2024, confirming that the program had run out of money. It said, 鈥淒ue to increasing budget constraints, we have paused beginning all new construction projects.鈥�
The General Assembly has taken note of stories like Dolores鈥�.
A recent hearing by the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations aimed to hold NCORR accountable. Chairman Brendan Jones channeled some of that frustration near the end of the hearing.
鈥淣orth Carolinians have been waiting eight years for help, eight years of family stuck in motels, hotels, living with relatives struggling to get by. This is not a policy debate. It's about the lives being ruined by NCORR and their incompetence. This was the last chance to come in here and restore credibility, and that did not happen today,鈥� he said.
It鈥檚 unclear whether Rebuild NC will be allocated more money to complete the projects it has lined up. Sorg thinks the legislature is likely to keep its promises to the residents who are still in limbo, but it鈥檚 unclear exactly how.
"I think the lawmakers find themselves in a really difficult position. They want the money to serve their constituents, but they're very uneasy about giving it to ReBuild to do," she said.
Asked about the indefinite pause on new construction projects, a spokesperson for NCORR tried to substitute the word 鈥渟lowdown.鈥� The spokesperson added, 鈥淎s the General Assembly reviews state funding options for the program, NCORR is working to reallocate existing funds and consulting with partners to identify additional funding sources. As funding becomes available, the program continues to move projects forward."
In the meantime, Tonia is still waiting for the state to do what it promised to help her mother.
"They left my mother in these horrible when I say deplorable conditions and almost inhumane conditions," she said. "She's been tortured throughout this whole process, just waiting.鈥�
Waiting for Rebuild NC to follow through on its promises.
