100 Homes Gifted Just In Time For The Holidays

From September 24th to September 27th, 2024, a Category 4 hurricane named Helene devastated the East Coast of the United States.

The hurricane touched down in Florida and worked its way up the coast, destroying large portions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.

It has been over three months since the hurricane’s deadly path through the United States, and families are still recovering. Many have been left without their homes. According to Danny Kelly, co-owner of Kelly McArdle Construction of Charlotte, they have been living in tents. He said:

“It was shocking to see. It was like a war zone. It was unbelievable. When I drove by and saw tents and tarps and stuff people were sleeping in out there knowing winter is coming, I didn’t know what these people were going to do.”

They are trying to rebuild, but as the months get colder, it is becoming increasingly dangerous for those who have been made homeless by the massive storm.

There Is Hope For The Helene Victims

Seeing the massive need, Kelly talked to Julie Yenichek, Lowe’s Senior Director of Community Relations, and the pair devised a plan.

It was lofty, but they decided to build 100 homes for those who were in need.

Kelly had the know-how, and Lowe’s had the resources.

Yenichek had 16 volunteers lined up for the project and access to everything Kelly needed to get the homes done. Kelly shared in his own words the origin of the idea.

“She told me she wanted to build a hundred tiny homes and I thought, oh my God, that’s perfect. I’ve been looking for my opportunity to do something big, but I don’t have the resources to do it and she said they had all these volunteers lined up, and all the supplies lined up, they just didn’t know how to do it. So, we got on a few phone calls with different people and just sketched it up and within couple days had the plan together.”

Lowe’s partnered with some amazing volunteers to build 17 tiny homes. However, they needed help and enlisted Incredible Tiny Homes from Newport, Tennessee, to build 50 more.

Just in time for the holidays, the amazing team of people constructed 67 homes and plans to finish 33 more by the end of January.

The tiny homes are incredibly small and filled only with the bare necessities.

To one Hurricane Helene survivor, it was a Christmas miracle.

Kathy Graham shared that she felt forgotten in the aftermath of Helene. So when she saw her new home she shed grateful tears.

Watch her sweet reaction below.

NASCAR Helps Transport The Tiny Homes

Once the homes were built, they had to find a way to get these tiny homes to those In need. That’s where NASCAR came in. See below!

🚨#BREAKING: NASCAR and Lowes have confirmed they successfully delivered 17 tiny homes in the 24 hours before Christmas to #WNC.

In the past 7 days alone, they have donated and delivered over 100 tiny homes for victims of Hurricane Helene for Christmas! pic.twitter.com/CzINHlEysU

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) December 25, 2024