Representatives and community leaders recently gathered to recognize the $10 million fund that AmeriHealth Caritas, N.C., granted to the Chief Cares Foundation, the philanthropic arm and developer of the Blue Haven housing community in Avery County.
The fund will also be used to build single-family and multi-unit housing in Mitchell and Yancey counties.
Country music star Eric Church, who is known as “Chief,” founded the Chief Cares Foundation with his wife, Katherine. Eric is from Granite Falls and spends about six months a year in Western North Carolina.
“They were aware of the housing pressure before the storm,” said Thomas Johnson, Chief Cares’ associate director. After the storm, Eric and Katherine immediately contacted some of their local friends in Avery County, and the project to provide housing relief was born, Johnson said.
“They moved half of the $24.5 million they raised from the Concert for Carolina, a post-Helene fund-raiser that Church and several other country music artists held on Oct. 6, 2024, to the Chief Cares Foundation,” Johnson said.
“We’re not just rebuilding homes — we’re investing in the people that will carry this community forward for generations,” Church said in a press release. “This isn’t about short-term solutions. It’s about long-term hope.”
AmeriHealth, in collaboration with the AMY Wellness Foundation and other organizations, decided to support the Chief Cares Foundation’s efforts due in part to its initiative called Blueprint for the Blue Ridge, which the foundation describes as a scalable model for disaster recovery rooted in housing, community, and mid- to long-term support.
AmeriHealth Caritas, N.C., is a Medicaid managed care company and covers almost 400 thousand low-income individuals across the state.
“We know housing is a challenge always, and it was further exacerbated here with the hurricane,” said Heidi Chan, AmeriHealth’s market president. “We just knew once we heard what was happening (with Chief Cares) that was really where we wanted to make an investment. The opportunity to help folks find safe, affordable, available housing is so critical ... so I’m humbled and very proud that we are able to make this $10 million community investment.”
On April 11, Chief Cares broke ground on its first housing development, named Blue Haven in Avery County. The foundation plans to build 42 houses. Floor plans to choose from include two, three, and four bedrooms with 1,000 to 1,600 square feet and a garage, and they will sit on about one-third of an acre.
Depending on the weather, “We are working hard to have a model home done by the anniversary (Sept. 27) of the storm,” Johnson said.
The first phase of the development invited Avery residents who were living in the county during the storm to apply for the homes being built in Blue Haven.
Elisa Mora, who has lived in Avery County for five years with her husband, Angus, and her son, Maverick, 16, is one of the residents whose application has been approved. During the storm, Mora’s basement flooded, her driveway collapsed, and her car was destroyed.
“We had to be pulled out of our driveway,” Mora said. “And I’m on an insulin pump, so I was waiting for supplies that were to be delivered the week of the storm.”
She and her family evacuated to Charlotte, and while there, she helped coordinate donations and helped fill tractor trailers that brought supplies to Avery County.
“When we got back to the county, I volunteered at the town hall, working every day with the community, whether it was receiving supplies, taking supplies, coordinating supplies, or helping people with whatever was needed,” Mora said.
Mora is renting now but looks forward to buying a three-bedroom home in Blue Haven, which is scheduled to be finished by October, and she said she appreciates the opportunity that Chief Cares is providing for her and her family.
“I feel very blessed to be able to be a part of this and to have been chosen,” Mora said. “It will give us a permanent place to live. Permanent roots in the county ... a new home and safe home, so we’re looking forward to that.”
The Build the Blue Ridge model is different from other home building ventures, Johnson said.
“There is a longer-term vision with Chief Cares and what these neighborhoods will do ... the opportunities these families will have will be generational. It will set them up in the form of home equity that is unique to this model.”
Building plans in Mitchell and Yancey counties are under negotiation. The foundation has purchased 15 acres in Spruce Pine and is exploring the possibility of building multi-unit housing.
“We are considering more condensed construction in Mitchell County to provide more units,” Johnson said.
And while land has been picked out, negotiations are ongoing with Yancey County, he said.
For now, applications for any of the building projects in Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey are closed.
“We will be providing additional details, press releases, and all the updated information on our website,” Johnson said. Residents can visit www.chiefcares.org for more information.
The decision to partner with Chief Cares Foundation and AmeriHealth, N.C., was an easy one, said AMYWF’s executive director, Luke Howe.
“The alignment between AMY Wellness Foundation, AmeriHealth, and in Chief Cares is more than strategic,” Howe said. “It’s deeply rooted in shared values, a belief in dignity and access, and in the power of community ... work that promises to put forth generational change in all three of our communities.”