Mountain Housing Opportunities (MHO) is pleased to announce a $100,000 gift from Montreat Presbyterian Church (MPC) in support of Starlight Cove, MHO’s new affordable homeownership development underway in Black Mountain, NC. This gift will directly support the construction of 20 affordable homes during Phase One of the development, helping make homeownership a reality for families across the region.
The partnership was announced by Pastor Keith Grogg at the beginning of worship on Easter Sunday. The substantial gift reflects the church’s deep and ongoing commitment to the people of the Swannanoa Valley.
“Our session (the church’s elected governing body) had set this amount aside in 2023 with the specific intention of addressing the housing crisis in our community. The Bible and our faith tradition are unambiguous about God’s will for people to share what they have, especially when other people’s ability to live is at stake. So the intention was to take whatever time was needed to identify a partner project that could make good, efficient, strategic use of what our congregation’s faithfulness had made possible. Then we saw how Helene had intensified the crisis, and when Mountain Housing Opportunities was brought to our attention—especially after our friends at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church had such a great experience with them—we focused on MHO and have been thrilled to see this come to fruition.”
—Rev. Dr. Keith Grogg, Pastor, Montreat Presbyterian Church
Starlight Cove is rising on an 8-acre property near Exit 66 off I-40, conveniently located off Old US-70 and just five minutes from downtown Black Mountain. The site will be developed in three phases of 20 homes each, for a total of 60 single-family homes. Phase One will include construction of 14 homes through MHO’s Turn-Key Homeownership Program and 6 through its Self-Help Homeownership Program, in which participating families contribute hundreds of hours of sweat equity building their own and each other’s homes. Located in a USDA-eligible area, the site is well-positioned to utilize USDA Section 502 financing, an important tool for supporting both homeownership programs.
“We are so grateful for the funding support from Montreat Presbyterian Church. As we saw in the immediate aftermath of Helene, it was neighborhood groups, nonprofits, and churches working together that helped provide storm victims with food, shelter, and safety in their acute time of need. It is so inspiring to see faith communities such as Montreat Presbyterian redouble their efforts through community-based philanthropy in support of long-term housing recovery efforts such as MHO’s Starlight Cove development. We cannot wait to provide 60 families with new, affordable homes at Starlight Cove and help rebuild the community along the way.”
—Geoffrey Barton, President and CEO, Mountain Housing Opportunities
Housing studies consistently highlight a severe shortage of affordable homes attainable for working families across Buncombe County and the broader region. Tropical Storm Helene compounded those pressures by destroying or severely damaging thousands of homes across western North Carolina. Housing displacement remains one of the longest-lasting recovery challenges facing the region. Each new home at Starlight Cove creates a new pathway towards homeownership and adds a well-built, permanent asset that will serve the region for generations.
To learn more about MHO’s Homeownership programs, please visit www.mtnhousing.org/own-a-home. For more information about faith community partnerships, contact Allison Rollison, Director of Philanthropy, at allison.rollison@mtnhousing.org.