Representatives from Pisgah Legal Services, Legal Aid of NC and NC Bar Foundation provided details about the role their respective organizations have played both in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene and in the longer-term efforts of recovery.
Trustees Hear About Ongoing WNC Disaster Relief Efforts at Annual Meeting
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On Sept. 22-23, members of the NC IOLTA Board of Trustees joined staff in Blowing Rock, NC, for the program’s annual planning meeting. Led by incoming chair Judge John Arrowood, the board had the opportunity to review staff and committee reports and engage in planning for the coming year.
The agenda also included a panel discussion featuring representatives of legal aid organizations providing ongoing disaster relief support in Western North Carolina. In the fall of 2024, NC IOLTA awarded nearly $1M in emergency and out-of-cycle grant funding to help deliver civil legal aid resources to the region after Hurricane Helene caused widespread damage and more than 100 deaths in 39 North Carolina counties.
Jackie Kiger of Pisgah Legal Services, Alicia Edwards of Legal Aid of NC and Kim Bart Mullikin of the NC Bar Foundation provided details about the role their respective organizations have played in both the immediate aftermath of the storm and the longer-term efforts of recovery. From support in replacing lost documents to filing FEMA applications and insurance appeals to securing death benefits for families who lost loved ones, civil legal aid organizations — working in partnership with one another and with scores of volunteer attorneys and paralegals — have provided critical support to residents of hard-hit communities.
All three panelists emphasized that recovery from the storm, with a cost Kiger noted has been estimated at $60B, will be a decades-long process. In communities that were already facing economic hardship and a shortage of affordable housing before the storm, they noted, lower-income residents face particularly steep challenges.
“In times of disaster such as these, a whole segment of the affected population is at risk of being left behind,” Kiger, executive director of Pisgah Legal, said. “With less access to resources and information, the cycle of poverty they’re in deepens, threatening the future for families and children.”
Clockwise from top: Executive Director Mary Irvine, second from right, discusses staff and committee reports with board members including Vice-Chair Ted Edwards, Arrowood and Alex Dale; Bart Mullikin, Edwards and Kiger share their updates on recovery efforts in WNC; the three panelists join Arrowood and Irvine for a group photo.
Legal aid organizations, the panelists said, will continue to support these North Carolinians.
“People are calling us more than ever,” Edwards, LANC’s Disaster Relief project director, said. “Our goal is to make sure everybody recovers from the storm. We all need our neighbors to recover.”
Bart Mullikin, senior director at NCBF, the charitable arm of the NC Bar Association, noted that the partnerships forged by these organizations have been “critical to getting services to areas of need across the state.”
“Our disaster recovery program in North Carolina is a shining star across the nation,” she added. “We are regularly connecting with peers in other states to share resources, technologies, outreach strategies, volunteer training materials and other guidance. It really drives home how effectively we all work together to provide critical disaster legal services in our state. It’s something to be proud of as a North Carolina legal community.”
Arrowood said trustees appreciated the opportunity to hear directly from the providers doing this vital work.
“The news that came out of Western North Carolina last fall was so concerning, and the board was gratified to contribute to relief efforts through grants to legal aid organizations in the region,” he said. “Thank you to Kim, Jackie and Alicia for providing an update as these communities continue on the path to recovery.”