LUMBERTON, NC (WBTW) – Realtors from across North Carolina have spent nearly a month in the city of Lumberton.
A group of realtors from Moore County walked through neighborhoods in West Lumberton Thursday afternoon with applications for grant money.
The National Realtors Association is giving $300,000 to the state of North Carolina for anyone displaced from their permanent homes.
According to realtors each househould could recieve the maximum of $1,000.
“The situation here is more desperate than I thought it would be,” said North Carolina Realtor Mary Stewart.
Though many homes were empty in West Lumberton Thursday afternoon 70 year-old homeowners like James and Shirley Evans never planned to leave their home.
The Evans family does not have flood insurance and lost many of their belongings in the flood so the extra cash could help fix their home.
“We’ll clean it and get the mold off of it, dry it out and put it right back in it was just as good as it was before,” mentioned 72 year-old Shirley Evans.
Realtors say many of the homes in West Lumberton are inhabitable.
“I think that with each day that goes by some people will lose hope if they don’t see some type of help coming somewhere over the horizon,” said Stewart.
Shirley Evans says she is grateful someone stopped by her home to offer help.
“It feels great. It makes you feel like there is still hope for all of us,” she said.
North Carolina Realtor s say there is a chance more money could become available.
You can find applications at Sandy Grove Baptist Church in Lumberton from 10am to 3pm.
Link to the application here: http://www.realtor.org/programs/realtors-relief-foundation
