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The leaders completed the second of at least three rounds of Helene-recovery funds built on donations from businesses and individuals.
NEWPORT, Tenn. — Members of the Cocke County Partnership delivered notices to 99 individuals that they would receive money from the partnership’s Mountain Strong fund on Monday afternoon.
Those individuals will receive $539,500 in total to repairthe damage that Hurricane Helene caused to their homes. They joined 39 businesses that received $257,000 in total during the first round of payments from the fund.
Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis said he and leaders at the partnership, which focuses on economic development in Cocke County, talked about the idea after Helene hit East Tennessee in late September.
“Shortly after the flood, we realized there was going to be a huge need for our individual citizens to some kind of support, some kind of aid, and it was important to us that came from within the county,” Mathis said.
He said the fund has collected donations, large and small, from businesses and individuals from the county, East Tennessee and across the country.
Bush’s Beans has donated $1 million to the fund. The Boyd Foundation is expected to contribute a similar amount as well, he said.
Mathis said the tiered payment schedule allows Cocke County leaders to review applications, verifying a business or household’s need with publicly available records. The deadline to apply has passed, though he expects the program to continue into 2025.
“Phase One was business owners. Phase Two are these homeowners. Phase Three is going to be paying the property tax for the folks whose homes were either destroyed or significantly damaged,” he said.
Kimberly Suggs, the owner of the Sweet Southern Charm store in downtown Newport, received help from the fund. Pictures taken during and after Hurricane Helene show that the storm flooded her store.
“I can’t put into words how appreciative we are, because we were worried, we would not be able to reopen, because we did leave the building,” Suggs said.
Federal leaders said in a press release on Monday that recovery funds through FEMA are still available as well, including in Cocke County.