Speaker 1: Well, despite President Trump's criticism of FEMA, its voucher program has helped thousands of people in the state find shelter. But as Mina Gjersen found out, the sometimes confusing process to get assistance has left some there out in the cold or fearing another displacement. Let's take a look.

Speaker 2: Here's another spot to kind of do some schoolwork and eat.

Speaker 3: We've got our second bathroom. Slash closet. Yeah, it is. Right now, this hotel room is home for Megan Stelchuk and her daughters. In September, the house they'd just moved into flooded in Hurricane Helene, and they bounced from shelter to shelter until a FEMA housing voucher came through.

Speaker 2: We stayed at La Quinta there for a couple weeks, and then they said they didn't have any more vacancies for us. So we had to move over to the Comfort Suites, and then that hotel decided to not participate in the voucher program any longer.

Speaker 3: They've lived in this hotel for the past month, but her voucher is set to expire on February 7th.

Speaker 2: I'm terrified that I'll wake up and, you know, I'll just get a phone call and it'll be like, yeah, your voucher's no longer active. It makes it hard to breathe. It's very difficult to sleep. It's the most, you know, disabling feeling I've ever, you know, ever felt.

Speaker 3: The voucher is through FEMA's Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program. The agency says almost 13,000 households have used the program in western North Carolina since Helene, and benefits have repeatedly been extended. FEMA says it reassesses the need every two weeks, a process displaced residents say has been confusing and stressful.

Speaker 2: I can't tell you how many hours I've spent down there thinking I was making some progress here, you know, because I am really limited on funds. I'm trying to, like, properly, you know, make sure that I'm filing correctly, you know, so that I can get the assistance that, you know, really, really need.

Speaker 3: Stelchuk says she relies on updates from Mira and Brian Williams. They own the Blue Ridge Tourist Court where she and other storm victims have been living. Access to information for us

Speaker 4: as hotel owners is a little more straightforward. We're able to speak directly to the third party that oversees the FEMA voucher program. So we have a direct line to them that I'm not sure displaced people do have. How long do you think you're going to be able to be a participant in this program? I think it depends on how long FEMA keeps the program active.

Speaker 3: FEMA's relief program in North Carolina has drawn a lot of criticism. False claims went so viral the agency had to create a rumor page to debunk misleading information. In a letter to the governor Sunday, FEMA said the voucher program is approved until the end of March and is still supporting over 2,700 people. The agency says it will call anyone whose voucher may become ineligible and give three weeks notice instead of seven days. But Leanne Boland says she never heard from anyone at FEMA before the hotel where she stayed

Speaker 5: told her that her voucher expired. They knocked on my door on the 13th and said, FEMA just sent us an email saying that tonight is the last night they're going to pay for you.

Speaker 3: She filed for FEMA assistance as a household with her boyfriend at the time and says she was told she could change it to an individual claim later. She says FEMA ended the voucher for the household 10 days ago, but she hasn't been able to get help filing for benefits as an individual. You haven't been able to get a hold of anyone to untangle that situation? Nope, since then. No, I've called nothing. Out of money, she had to move out of the hotel and take everything to a campground. We got donated a camper, not from FEMA. FEMA sucks. With the area already crunched for affordable housing and temperatures now in the single digits, displaced residents fear they'll have nowhere to go and that they've been forgotten.

Speaker 6: I guess we're just mountain people that nobody cares about, that nobody tells their story or nothing about how bad it is here. You're feeling left behind? Very much so. I mean, we're just thrown out like garbage.

Speaker 2: I hope that we haven't been left behind. There's got to be a better way. I mean, I don't know it, but there's got to be.

Speaker 3: FEMA told us they are still here and they are encouraging anyone who still needs aid to apply for it if they haven't received it. They insisted that they have been notifying applicants if their eligibility status for these vouchers has changed. But locals told us this is really an issue of people slipping through the cracks because of bad communication. Mina Derson, CNN, Boone, NC.

Speaker 7: With us now is Zeb Smathers. He's the mayor of Canton, NC, just west of Asheville. It was hit hard by Hurricane Helene. Mayor, it's great to see you again and get an update, just first of all, on the recovery efforts in your town.

Speaker 8: Well, we're making progress in Canton, just like every community in western North Carolina. We're still here. Our people are continuing to show grit and grace across the region, over 30 counties. The amount of help and prayers from across the nation, both politically, from California to the Carolinas, you see people having our backs. But at the end of the day, the grit and grace of people that have lost so much, their homes, their businesses, their loved ones, they're finding a way. These are tough times, but western North Carolina, we just simply have tougher people.

Speaker 7: Now, I know it's not clear yet whether or not you will actually get to meet with President Trump or see him in person, but what would your message to him be?

Speaker 8: Well, first off, we're honored to have the President in western North Carolina, you know, opportunities like this. One fear we have in this region is that we're going to be left behind. And these people, their setbacks, their successes, they're just as important as anywhere else in this country. And so, I think to have the President here and to tell our story is important, so people don't forget about us. But again, I think, I hope the President, you know, steps back and sees this as an American success story. We have a long way to go, but this doesn't fit in political boxes. You have Democrats and Republicans, independents, different religions, no one's checking voter ID cards. What you're seeing is the best of North Carolina and the best of America, people that are coming together and getting results done. And so, there's a time for politics. Obviously, the President, as any politician, you know, has a time and place for that. But I think, you know, a time and place for that. But I think what he'll see today when he meets with these families is a region fighting its way back. Challenges lie ahead. But again, if you give the people of the mountains the resources and the respect they deserve, we're going to find a way.

Speaker 7: And we've been showing a lot of pictures of some of the destruction and the recovery efforts, some of which you provided yourself. It's just a reminder of how bad things were there. And it is good to hear that you're making progress. You've got some frustrations with FEMA. What are they?

Speaker 8: Well, I mean, again, we've seen FEMA step up. I think it's been a better result this time than what Canton and Haywood County worked through in 2021 when Tropical Storm Fred hit us. But again, it's communication, especially with housing. You know, I've seen, obviously, you know, Governor Josh Stein, who will meet the President on the tarmac today, step up and work with housing, especially private roads and bridges. But again, we're hearing that frustration. And these people that are in hotels, sometimes, you know, hours away from their home, finding a very efficient way to get them back on their property with trailers, cut through the regulations, cut through the red tape and find a way. I think, you know, when you're in local government, you start at yes until you have to say no. And so the inability to communicate, having people getting ready to get thrown out of their hotels an hour and then finding out it could be extended. I think Washington and Governor Stein have done a good job extending that now for months. People need that stability. You know, again, as I've said time and time again, other than the words, I love you, the most important word in the English language is home. And these people want to stay home. They want to rebuild and cutting through that red tape, having FEMA as a partner. But also in fairness to FEMA, it's not their job to do everything. We've seen so many community members, churches step up. It's a joint effort. I think FEMA has done some things well. There are some things that FEMA still needs to do. And so we'll continue to work with our federal partners, Democrats and Republicans, FEMA, whatever it takes, again, to give these people the respect and resources. And again, we're looking at live pictures from

Speaker 7: Joint Base Andrews as President Trump arrives there to depart on this journey. Mayor Zeb Smathers, thank you for being with us. It's a long road back, as you say, but it is nice to know that you have made some steps on that road.