GREENSBORO, N.C. — Greensboro mayor Nancy Vaughan said Friday that the Greensboro Migrant Facility, formerly the Hebrew Academy, could be used to provide shelter to Hurricane Helene victims.
Vaughan said she contacted the Governor's Office and Representative Kathy Manning about the possibility.
"The people in Buncombe County have a lot of very hard decisions to make, but we would like to be part of the solution," Vaughan said.
Right now, the academy is in the hands of Homeland Security. The agency would have to release the academy to FEMA, and the Hebrew Academy board would have to approve the use for Helene victims as well.
Vaughan said all that paperwork is doable - it will just take some time.
"Buncombe County right now does not have school. They feel that the schools are in pretty good shape, but the problem is there's no water in the schools right now. So you can't have school without that. And then the roads leading to the schools are in bad shape. You know, it's possible that if families came here they could continue online with the schools that they were with - in Buncombe County, in Asheville. So, I think it is a great solution," Vaughan said.
Back in March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services operationalized the site, saying it was ready to take in migrant children. However, in July, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) said it would be scaling back to only facility upkeep.
