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NORTH CAROLINA PERMANENT HOUSING INITIATIVE The cumulative impact uf three hurricanes (Dennis, Floyd. and Irene) in a 30 day period left central and eastern North Carolina with a total of 11,000 homes that were either destroyed nr severely damaged. Several factors compounded the housing recovery effort: the scope of the damage to the hnusing stock; the limited resources of the impacted population and local government.,; the lack of flood insurance coverage; the shortage of temporary housing in the impacted counties; and the costs associated with repairing or replacing the damaged infrastructure - water, electric, and transportation - thal are essential to housing recovery, The most critical problem - and priority - was to meel the long-term, permanent housing needs of the estimated 2,000 home owners whose houses were destroyed or substantially damaged, and who had few if any resources with which to rebuild, These families were typically on fixed incomes, owned their homes, lived in the floodplain. and did not carry flood insurance." A Collaborative Effort The North Carolina Permanent Housing Initiative is an ambitious undertaking, organized by the NCEMD in cooperation \lith other state and private agencies, The program is designed to assist the most vulnerable 2,000 families in finding pennanent housing, specifically those homeowners who have incurred substantial damage to lheir homes, who live in the floodplain and do not have flood insurance, and who are unable to qualify for a conventional mortgage, The Initiative is a collaborative effort that brings togetiler and leverages the resources and expertise of a wide range of groups and organizations in government and the private sector. The NCEMD has taken the lead in developing the program, reaching out to potential participants, coordinating the project funding, prmiding technical assistance, and prmiding overall project oversight. Program implementation will be the responsibility of the local government. Local government will be responsible for developing hazard mitigation plans that will guide the location of potential housing lots, in coordination with community land use plans; identifying potential applicants; and coordinating the on-site development process, Program Elements Among the key features of the North Carolina Pennanent Housing Initiative: Goal. To prmide decent and affordable housing for the estimated 2,000 homeowners whose homes were destroyed or substantially damaged in Hurricane Floyd, and who do not have access to the resources necessary to rebuild in a timely manner, APproach, A partnership of public, private and voluntary organi7.ations that optimizes and leverages existing resources - financial, technical, and in-kind - to meel the housing needs of the target group, A "House Adoption" philosophy will be used that links sponsoring nrganizations with pilot housing construction projects. Eligihility, Participant., are eligible for the Permanent Housing Initiative if thl) have been approved for home and property acquisition under the Hazard Mitigation Gr'Jlll Program. The gnal is to utilize these funds to construct new pennanent housing in areas that are safe from the effect., of flooding and other natural and man-made hazards. The program is entirely voluntary, Priority is given to homemvners who: . lost their homes in Hurricane Floyd, or suffered substantial damages 31