Columbia Homeowner Assistance Program: Low-Income Housing Support After 2015 Flood

The Columbia Homeowner Assistance Program (CHAP) is a long-term flood recovery initiative operated by the City of Columbia, South Carolina to restore safe, disaster-resistant housing for low- and moderate-income (LMI) homeowners whose single-family homes were heavily damaged during the historic October 2015 floods. CHAP is a critical component of Columbia's CDBG Disaster Recovery Action Plan, which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) formally approved on January 24, 2017, unlocking nearly $20 million in federal funding to address unmet housing needs in the city.

Who the Program Serves

CHAP was designed to address 76 low- to moderate-income single-family households that FEMA identified as having sustained Major or Severe damages as a direct result of the October 2015 flood event. Elderly households, households that include a person with a disability, and female-headed households with children are prioritized for participation, while all eligible LMI households are given the opportunity to receive assistance. The program's focus on LMI homeowners reflects HUD's overall CDBG-DR mandate to direct disaster recovery dollars toward the populations with the fewest private resources to rebuild.

How CHAP Assistance Works

Funding for individual CHAP awards is capped at $150,000 per household, a figure that does not include additional relocation assistance that may be provided while a home is being rehabilitated or reconstructed. Depending on the condition of the damaged property and the scope of unmet need, CHAP funds can be used for rehabilitation of the existing home, reconstruction, or, in some cases, replacement housing solutions. The overarching goal is to return displaced homeowners to safe, code-compliant, disaster-resistant housing without pushing them into unsustainable debt.

Federal Funding and Oversight

The CHAP program is funded through the city's Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) allocation. Under a Federal Register notice dated December 18, 2015 (implementing Public Law 114-113), the City of Columbia was allocated $19,989,000 to address unmet disaster recovery needs stemming from the October 2015 flood. HUD's January 24, 2017 approval of the city's Action Plan authorized Columbia to deploy that allocation across recovery programs including CHAP, an infrastructure program, and a small-business assistance track.

Context: The October 2015 Flood

In early October 2015, a historic rainfall event dropped more than 20 inches of rain on parts of the Midlands in a matter of days, causing catastrophic flooding across the Columbia metropolitan area. Dams failed, neighborhoods were inundated, and thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed. The flood was formally federally declared a major disaster, triggering FEMA Individual Assistance and the subsequent CDBG-DR appropriation that funds CHAP today.

Why It Matters for Low-Income Homeowners

Lower-income homeowners were disproportionately affected by the 2015 flood because older, more affordable housing stock in Columbia tended to sit in lower-elevation, flood-prone areas. Many of those owners lacked flood insurance and did not have the savings or access to credit needed to fully rebuild after FEMA and insurance proceeds were exhausted. CHAP was created to close that gap by directing federal disaster recovery dollars specifically to LMI single-family households with documented unmet need, prioritizing the most vulnerable residents for rehabilitation, reconstruction, or replacement housing assistance.

Applying and Learning More

CHAP is administered by the City of Columbia's Disaster Recovery office. Detailed program descriptions, eligibility criteria, and intake information are published on the city's official disaster recovery portal, and periodic Action Plan amendments document how funds are being spent and reallocated as recovery needs evolve.