OLD FORT, N.C. — It may not seem like much to some, but Rob Shepherd is ecstatic to finally call a camper home. 

For the last three months, Shepherd has been living in hotels after his housing situation fell apart following Helene. 

What You Need To Know

  • Rob Shepherd lost his housing during Helene

  • For the last few months he's been using FEMA hotel vouchers

  • He says the uncertainty of whether or not the vouchers would be extended has been overwhelming

  • He was recently donated a camper to live in from a nonprofit, taking some of the burden off his mind

“I ended up in the hotels down in Hickory,” Shepherd said. “Drug use and prostitution, it is pretty bad.”  

But Shepherd says what was even worse was the uncertainty of not knowing if the FEMA housing voucher program would be extended. 

“Sometimes it was just overwhelming,” Shepherd said.  

In the last week, Shepherd says almost every day he and his fellow Helene victims were stuck in limbo, hoping their vouchers would be extended through the winter storm. 

“I've talked to dozens, but there's hundreds, thousands that they don't know,” Shepherd said. “You know what's going to happen. I mean, the uncertainty, you know, it's just eating away at their minds.” “I've talked to dozens, but there's hundreds, thousands that they don't know,” Shepherd said. “You know what's going to happen. I mean, the uncertainty, you know, it's just eating away at their minds.” 

Last week, Shepherd got a glimmer of hope, when Hope for Crisis, a nonprofit based in Ohio, contacted him and said they had a camper for him. 

“Hope for Crisis, they saved my life,” Shepherd said. “I wouldn't have made it through the cold spell with my health like it is.”  

But he still is worried about his hotel neighbors. He believes FEMA needs to do more to get people into permanent housing solutions, instead of temporary hotels. 

“It ticks me off, and it saddens me,” Shepherd said. “I mean, it just broke my heart that people have to go through this. They went through hell with Helene, and now they got to go through hell because karma, and the way they're being treated. It's not right. It's wrong.”  

Shepherd says in his experience, it’s not just about getting the hotel vouchers but finding hotels in the area near where they live that are still accepting the vouchers.

Parks Hospitality Group, a group that owns a number of hotels in Asheville, said it is still accepting hotel vouchers.   

Parks Hospitality Group Director of Sales and Marketing Jack Benton says this has been a new experience for everyone in the mountain region. While Benton says they haven’t run into problems with the FEMA voucher program, he says it’s a learning curve for everyone. 

Benton suggests the best thing for people to do is to visit the hotels in person to help figure out their options. 

“Come on property, come to the hotel. We have the ability to log on to the portal just as you do. But let's do it together,” Benton said. “Let's do it face to face. I think a lot can get lost in translation from just navigating online or just making a phone call. We're in the people business. We want to be in front of people, and I think that's probably where the most positive traction can occur.”  

Benton says the FEMA voucher program has been an overall positive experience for him and his staff. In fact, he credits the voucher program for allowing his hotel to keep staff hired and working through the weeks following the storm.