Asheville's Shiloh community receives $500K neighborhood revitalization grant

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Half of a million dollars is coming to the Shiloh community in Asheville.

The Shiloh Community Association is partnering with Dogwood Health Trust and the WNC Bridge Foundation to make its revitalization efforts a reality.

The $500,000 grant will go toward hiring a neighborhood navigator for the Shiloh community who will ultimately support the creation of a community-based strategy that will address housing and neighborhood revitalization.

Shiloh Community Association president Sophie Dixon was born and raised in Asheville and has lived in the Shiloh neighborhood for more than 50 years.

“A lot of people who were born and raised in Asheville were raised in Shiloh, and so we do what we can to try and grow it, support it and keep it going,” she said.

Dixon believes this grant will be a perfect opportunity to do that.

She said having the money to revitalize their neighborhood isn’t something she ever dreamed of being able to have in her lifetime.

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The big dream for the community is to have a resource center where residents can create more opportunities for youths.

Dixon said the neighborhood navigator will really sit down and think about what Shiloh means to them and how to use the money.

“We’ve got what we call a navigator, and she’s actually going to identify properties, work with families who are still there in those homes, get information that we need to then go back and try to help,” Dixon said.

Dixon will not have a lot of time to continue this work, but there will be others who come behind her, she said.

“It’s about making home, home,” she said.

She said Shiloh is about home, and one element the residents have fought hard for is to keep single-family homes in the community.

“Everybody should have a place to live, and we understand that. But our goal is to try and maintain the neighborhood part of it, which is single-family homes and families, because it’s about family,” she said.

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Dogwood Health Trust CEO Dr. Susan Mims said they’re looking forward to seeing what the Shiloh community can do with this money.

“Really thinking not only how they revitalize but how they address this community-lead effort to address the needs in their community,” she said.

Mims said she sees this as a long-time project with the Shiloh community.

“They have such strong leadership and vision for their community. It’s a real privilege,” she said.

To learn more about the Shiloh Community Association and how you can get involved, click here.