Grants from NC IOLTA speed disaster relief resources to four organizations serving Western North Carolina.
Delivering Legal Aid After Hurricane Helene
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In the weeks following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, NC IOLTA moved quickly to support groups delivering critical legal aid to Western North Carolina residents.
On Oct. 11 — just two weeks after the storm destroyed homes and businesses, wiped out bridges and roads, cut off power and cell service, and killed more than 100 people in 39 counties — the Board of Trustees approved $60,000 in emergency grants for individual employee assistance for two groups, Legal Aid of North Carolina and Pisgah Legal Services, with staff living in the affected areas.
The board also authorized the release of a grant opportunity to speed much-needed resources to legal aid organizations on the ground in hard-hit areas.
Much of the funding from NC IOLTA was used to increase these groups’ capacity to assist the thousands of North Carolinians affected by the storm — with demand for services expected to continue.
In November, NC IOLTA awarded $910,500 to four organizations to support efforts including FEMA applications and other housing needs, access to unemployment and food assistance, consumer protections, and safeguards for residents with disabilities and survivors of domestic violence.
As Jackie Kiger, executive director of Pisgah Legal Services, explained in November, the need was urgent and widespread.
“We’ve seen our neighbors’ businesses and livelihoods destroyed, our communities literally washed away. We quickly mobilized and held two of our first FEMA application clinics at our Asheville and Hendersonville offices on Oct. 7, even though most of the area didn’t have power or running water. In the month since, we have held clinics throughout WNC with staff and volunteer attorneys and deployed our mobile Justice Bus, which is equipped with much-needed Wi-Fi capability,” she wrote.
Much of the funding from NC IOLTA was used to increase these groups’ capacity to assist the thousands of North Carolinians affected by the storm — with demand for services expected to continue as residents work to rebuild their homes, businesses and communities.
NC IOLTA funding has supported a range of disaster-related civil legal aid provided by these four grantees. At top, Pisgah Legal Services attorney Nick Bondurant assists a client at a disaster aid clinic in Burnsville on March 28, 2025.
“Many disaster assistance groups will have to move on to help other survivors from different storms, but the legal needs will remain, as will we,” Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Alicia C. Edwards, Disaster Relief project director, and Jonathan Perry, western regional manager and managing attorney of the Foothills Office in Morganton, wrote in November. “We are prepared to represent survivors for as long as it takes.”
This story originally appeared in NC IOLTA’s 2024 Annual Report.