Chase Rice Helps Hurricane Helene Victims Build New Home After FEMA Declined Their Relief Request

There’s just something special about the country music community.

North Carolina and many other states are still trying to pick up the pieces after their communities were devastated by Hurricane Helene. The natural disaster moved up through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia last September, and completely devastated mountain towns in western North Carolina.

That’s where much of the relief efforts are still ongoing. Though you might not hear about in the news cycle much anymore, some people are still without homes months later, and many North Carolina residents are just hoping for some sense of normalcy once again.

One of the families that was impacted by the hurricane and the subsequent flash flooding was the Pogalz family. They hail from Yancey County in North Carolina, and around six months ago, they watched their home – and thus their entire life – wash away from the rushing water brought on by Hurricane Helene.

They recently found out that FEMA would not cover their cost to rebuild, which left the Pogalz family helpless. Ashley Pogalz explained why FEMA declined their relief request to WSOC-TV:

“We make too much money for help, and that’s not fair, because the hurricane didn’t ask us how much money we made before it took everything. So why? Why does it matter how much we make? We need help.”

That’s where Chase Rice comes in.

The country music star partnered up with the Montana Knife Company and a non-profit by the name of We Must Protect, and together, they raised enough money to rebuild the Pogalz family’s home. The family had received some funds from FEMA, as well as some money from their flood insurance, to buy a plot of land. Rice and Montana Knife Company CEO Josh Smith recently met them there to surprise them with the news that their life was one step closer to being back to normal.

We Must Protect, which is currently working to rebuild homes in western North Carolina until there are no homes left to be rebuilt (or they run out money), said that they couldn’t have embarked on the Pogalz rebuild without the help of Rice and Smith:

“From the first day we met you all, we knew we wanted to build you a house, but our thing is we can’t commit until we have the funding to finish the house. We are so grateful for what Chase and Montana Knife Company did because now we can build you the house that you need.”

So now, thanks to some collaboration, a country music star, a non-profit and a knife company, a family that has waited over half a year for help and a home is finally receiving it. Chase Rice, whose hometown was also devastated by Hurricane Helene, is just inspired by the Good Lord stepping in to organize the relief effort from above:

“There’s so many different things that came together. I’d say the number one thing coming together was God, putting all these people together to make this family finally have a home.”

And Danny Pogalz, the patriarch of the family, is beyond grateful for the hodgepodge of help that his family finally received:

“I keep repeating, just unreal. Never thought we would be in this kind of situation to begin with, and now, you know, we got knocked down, but now we’re going to be ahead.”

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