BLADEN COUNTY, N.C. -- Two years after Hurricane Matthew hit, some residents' houses in Bladen County still have not recovered.

  • The application center opened Monday
  • Residents will be able to apply for block grant money to go towards housing recovery
  • If residents of Bladen County have gone to a different application center in the past, their files will be transferred to this center to convenience the residents

In hopes of helping some of those people, the Hurricane Matthew Recovery Application Center opened in the county on Monday. Residents will be able to apply for block grant money to go towards housing recovery.

One resident who had to completely gut his house said he was supposed to get help rebuilding his house a year ago, but it never came.

The center aims to fill in the gaps that other programs may have left behind.

"People are already struggling," said Bradley Kinlaw, Bladen County Emergency Services Director. "They have been struggling for two years since the hurricane, and this is just a way we can help them a little bit and bring this process closer to home."

This is the eighth application center in the state to open. The center's goal is to assist more people in need, since residents have to physically be in the building to apply for aid. 

"There's still a great need," said Kinlaw. "People are still out of their homes. They're still living in homes that are damaged."

Kinlaw said if residents of Bladen County have gone to a different application center in the past, their files will be transferred to this center to convenience the residents.

The new center is off US-701, at the site where the prison used to be located at 5853 US-701 in Elizabethtown.

Applying for the aid is just the first step in the process, next residents will see if they are eligible. 

Kinlaw said it's worth the trip because all Hurricane Matthew victims have the potential for aid, or reimbursement for damages a resident fixed themselves.

The center is open Mondays and Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

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