Press Releases
Released on November 23, 2008
RECOVERY CORPS TO PROVIDE DIRECT ASSISTANCE TO THOUSANDS IN ACADIANA
Hurricane-affected families to receive assistance with rent, utility payments, and home furnishings
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps will provide more than $3 million to assist hurricane-affected families and individuals in a six-parish area with rent payments and deposits, utility payments and deposits, and household furnishings via its Household Establishment Funds (HEF) program.
The Recovery Corps’ HEF program will provide up to $1,500 in benefits on behalf of families and individuals who meet certain residency and household income criteria. Funds will be distributed on a first come, first served basis.
The Recovery Corps will begin pre-screening applicants for assistance beginning on Monday, November 24, 2008. Those who think they may qualify for the assistance should call 1-800-333-3104 beginning at 8:30 a.m. on November 24. Applicants who advance past the pre-screening process will be scheduled for meetings with local case workers, who will work directly with each family and individual to provide the HEF assistance.
The phone bank will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. It will be closed on Thursday, November 27, 2008, for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The HEF benefits are intended to provide one-time help for families attempting to re-establish or maintain their household as part of their recovery process from hurricanes Katrina or Rita. The program will be offered for four months or until all available funds have been exhausted.
“This is just another way that the Recovery Corps continues to provide leadership in the recovery efforts of Louisiana families,” said Raymond Jetson, CEO of the Recovery Corps. “We are very grateful to the state, the Legislature, and Governor Bobby Jindal for allocating these funds to our organization and we realize that programs like HEF and our housing repair programs provide direct assistance to those who are fighting every day to rebuild their lives.”
Current residents of Acadia, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Mary, St. Martin, or Vermilion parishes are eligible for the assistance. Those receiving assistance must also have an income that is no greater than 300% of the federal poverty level and must have been affected by hurricanes Katrina or Rita while residing in Acadia, Allen, Assumption, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, or Washington parishes.
“The Recovery Corps is uniquely positioned to provide outstanding service to Louisiana residents recovering from disasters,” said Dr. Monteic Sizer, the Recovery Corps’ Chief of Staff. “Because of this we have been entrusted with state and federal taxpayer funds to provide much-needed programs such as HEF and we do so based on a high level of accountability. Therefore we are able to put together outcome-based and focused programs designed to help individuals and families who are seeking the opportunity to better their lives.”
The HEF program is one of the Recovery Corps’ most successful and well-received programs. To date the program has distributed nearly $9 million to assist more than 7,000 households throughout the state.
To administer and implement the HEF program in Acadiana, the Recovery Corps awarded a services contract to Volunteers of America. VOA will administer the pre-screening process and work with the Recovery Corps to help distribute the HEF benefits to qualified families and individuals.
ABOUT THE LOUISIANA FAMILY RECOVERY CORPS
The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps (www.recoverycorps.org) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation based in Baton Rouge, La., and formed in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The Recovery Corps’ mission is to facilitate human recovery for the State of Louisiana in the aftermath of disaster, both natural and man-made. The Recovery Corps has partnered with human service and non-profit organizations throughout the state and the country to deliver assistance as effectively and efficiently as possible, allocating more than $55 million to recovery efforts and assisting more than 30,000 families and individuals since January 2006.
