COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR) is proud to reach completion of a Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program. The Office used funds awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to repair, replace, or rebuild 1,142 homes damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. After completing construction in December 2022, SCOR finalized its required HUD reporting in June 2024, effectively concluding the grant program. 

Homes in 24 counties along the state’s coast were eligible to receive CDBG-DR funding—including four ‘most impacted and distressed (MID)’ counties to which approximately 81.5 percent of the $95 million total grant funds were allocated: Georgetown, Horry, Marion, and Williamsburg. Additionally, SCOR complied with HUD policies to prioritize homes belonging to low and moderate-income (LMI) residents. Excluding administrative and planning costs, 100 percent of the grant funds benefitted LMI applicants. 

Disaster Recovery Director Scott Sharpe emphasizes SCOR’s commitment to “…focus on those least likely to recover—households with elderly or very young household members, those with disabilities, and those without the means to recover themselves.” Sharpe highlights that SCOR’s partnerships with communities, counties, and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOADs) give the Office access to resources, remote areas, and underserved populations that it may not have previously identified. 

To ensure timely assistance to those in need, HUD requires states to use CDBG-DR funds within six years of the grant agreement’s execution. SCOR is proud to have met this deadline, making Hurricane Matthew CDBG-DR program its second to conclude on time, following the 2015 Severe Storm (flooding) program. 

Sharpe indicates that “SCOR’s long relationship with HUD allows us to keep moving toward our main goal: timely completion of the recovery process.” Additionally, the Office’s ongoing relationship with the state's Housing Finance and Development Authority “has allowed SCOR to extend HUD funding, helping more of our citizens to recover more quickly.” 

An office of SC Governor Henry McMaster, SCOR continues pursuing its mission to improve and coordinate disaster mitigation and recovery statewide. To date, SCOR has deployed $305 million—including $11.3 million from SC Housing—across three CDBG-DR programs to repair or replace 3,435 homes in SC. In addition to the Hurricane Matthew program, the Office has completed 1,829 homes damaged in the Historic 2015 Floods due to Hurricane Joaquin, and 464 homes impacted by Hurricane Florence in 2018. The Hurricane Florence program will likely complete construction in October 2024 with a total of 488 homes repaired or replaced.