Kathy Graham never expected the barrage of rain that pummeled her home on September 26. Like so many in the mountains near Asheville, she knew there would be a lot of rain, but could never have imagined the amount of water that ultimately devastated her community. “The water was rising, rising so fast. All the cars went underwater. You couldn't even see them. The water was so high, things were floating by.”
More than a foot of water got inside her house.
Graham has lived on the same property for 24 years and when the flood waters receded, there was mold left behind and no heat, but she says she couldn’t go anywhere else because she didn’t want to leave all of her animals. That’s why she was overcome with emotion when she saw her new, temporary home for the first time this week.
“Thank God. I got my new home, my tiny home. It's awesome. It's gorgeous. It's gorgeous. I can't believe it. I can't even say how much I appreciate it. The Lord has answered my prayers, honestly. Answered my prayers.”
Graham is one of several dozen people who will be moving into new so-called tiny homes in the coming weeks, all thanks to a massive effort that Lowe’s associates and a community of builders have worked round the clock to make happen.
The tiny homes project came together after Lowe’s Senior Director of Community relations, Julie Yenichek, had what she thought might be a crazy idea and ran it by an old friend, Charlotte based home builder Danny Kelly.
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.
Kelly had repeatedly been up and back to the mountains near Asheville in the weeks just following the floods, desperately trying to help in any way he could. “It was shocking to see. It was like a war zone. It was unbelievable.” The co-owner of Kelly McArdle Construction, Kelly thought he’d be able to put his skills to work but soon realized just how widespread the devastation was. “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.”
A chance meeting with his old friend Julie Yenichek, sparked a movement that will help to house 67 mountain families just in time for the holidays.
“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,” Kelly explains. He and a team of volunteers built a protype in his backyard and soon moved to a Charlotte warehouse to build 16 more.
Lowe’s and a community of volunteer builders are constructing 17 tiny homes on wheels in Charlotte and the company will purchase another 50 homes built by Incredible Tiny Homes at its Newport, Tennessee facility.
The plan is to build and deliver 67 tiny homes to flood victims just in time to make sure they have a home for the holidays and deliver an additional 33 by early January.
Yenichek says, “The idea really came from several people that have been in Western Carolina, seeing all the devastation and all that people lost and knowing that people that desperately want to stay on their land and be there as they rebuild. And so as we thought about that, building a tiny home on wheels allowed them to stay on their land while they rebuild.”
Each tiny home is eight feet by 16 feet, permanently fixed on wheels and can sleep three to four individuals. The homes will connect to electricity, are heated and come equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, two full-size beds and a selection of furnishings and décor curated by Lowe’s design team.
Amanda Hayes and Randy Jones co-own Incredible Tiny Homes and say they watched as the floods ravaged their hometown. They knew immediately they had to help. “When the hurricane hit, it was such a scare and such a shock, and we were so surprised at how many people that it affected here in East Tennessee,” hayes says.
“The whole downtown of Newport was underwater. Seeing all the devastation around us and people were going to churches and camping out and leaving everything at home, and then just packing up as much as they could and going somewhere to higher ground. As soon as we started evacuating and everything, it was like, oh my goodness, there’s going to be people who need housing. We just knew it. So, we knew immediately that we wanted to be able to offer to the flood victims somehow, some way.”
She gets emotional describing getting the phone call, learning that Lowe’s wanted to partner with them to get as many people into tiny homes as possible. “Thank you Lowe’s for approaching us. Because you all on a big scale are letting us build these homes, we can get these houses out very quickly to the people who need these homes so desperately. They have been displaced for so long. They’re in tents and it’s wintertime. We want to get these houses there immediately and now we can do it. “We’re so proud of Lowe’s and so grateful to Lowe’s for letting us be a part of this.”
The team in Tennessee already delivered 35 homes and Hayes says she saw firsthand the impact of the partnership with Lowe’s. “The first home went to a mom with three kids and it really hit me whenever they sent me the pictures with the tents that were all around and it was like, my goodness, these people don’t want to leave their land. Knowing that these people are going to have a home before Christmas, that they are going to get some type of relief and have some kind of security with their kids because Lowe’s is providing these homes for these flood victims, it just means everything. To provide housing for these people who have lost everything, this is the most special thing that we’ve ever done with Lowe’s.”
In addition to funding from Lowe’s and support from the Home Builders Association of Greater Charlotte, the Charlotte build is being supported by an enormous volunteer effort. Kelly donated his time and Lowe’s volunteers have been working alongside skilled volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, Advance Roofing and Exteriors and many more Home Builders Association member companies. In addition, industrial developer, SunCap Property Group donated the warehouse space in partnership with the Home Builders Association of Greater Charlotte to host the build. A portion of the tools were also supplied by the Charlotte Community ToolBank.
We’ve had volunteers- everything from framing crew, roofing crew, plumbers, electricians, to the actual builders in the markets sending their project managers to our associates, which are the suppliers, sending their people to be a part of this.
The Home Builders Association of Greater Charlotte is spearheading the volunteer effort. Jennifer Schuster is the Executive Officer of the Home Builders Association of Greater Charlotte and says they had more than 400 volunteers sign up to help put the tiny homes together in just a matter of days. “It’s really profoundly impacting, you know, to be a part of it. I grew up in Western North Carolina, and I was like a lot of other people. I didn’t know what to do or how to help and this feels very impactful. We’ve had volunteers- everything from framing crew, roofing crew, plumbers, electricians, to the actual builders in the markets sending their project managers to our associates, which are the suppliers, sending their people to be a part of this.”
Once the homes are ready to be delivered, NASCAR haulers will load them up and bring them to Western North Carolina.
Kelly, who along with his team continues to lead the project alongside the team from Lowe’s, says, “It feels great. This is a small drop in the bucket of how many people are in need right now. I wish we could do more but I’m so grateful we had this opportunity.”
Graham’s daughter is grateful her mom finally has a safe place to stay. “She has been staying in the house that got close to a foot of water in it and has mold in it. I know it's not safe. We've been trying so hard to find something and there's just been nothing. She's lived here a long time. She wants to stay here, she wants to be in this house, she wants to be here and what she knows. So, this is magical and amazing. For this to happen, we finally have a place and a starting point that we can rebuild and get our lives back together. I don't even know how to express my gratitude.”
Yenichek says the goal is to get at least 100 tiny homes completed and delivered to the flood victims in the mountains as soon as possible. “This is a part of a big initiative that Lowe’s has. Lowe’s has really been there every step of the way and really have met people where they are in trying to help. Everyone has come together, so we all helping our neighbors in Western North Carolina and to be able to build tiny homes to give people a sense of hope, to give people a sense of neighbors helping neighbors, I just really think that this is going to mean a lot for people this holiday season.”
The initiative is part of Lowe’s $12 million pledge to support relief and recovery efforts in the wake of the devastation in Western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene and the extensive damage from Hurricane Milton in Florida. Donations have also supported first responders, local nonprofits and small businesses.
