Director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC), met with students and administrators from McDowell Technical Community College to highlight the state’s emergency grant and scholarship programs to help college and university students impacted by Hurricane Helene. So far, 45,000 scholarships and grants were awarded to Helene-impacted students and students at Helene-impacted schools. More than $48 million in state funds were directed to scholarships and emergency grants. Thousands of community college students like those at McDowell Tech were able to stay enrolled and continue pursuing their degrees and certificates because of these grants.