• HEF Fact Sheet (PDF)

The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps' Household Establishment Funds (HEF) program has supplied direct assistance of nearly $12 million to more than 7,000 households (nearly 15,000 individuals) impacted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The HEF program quickly and efficiently provides households with the necessary assistance to secure or help maintain affordable housing. The funds provided are paid on behalf of the household to utility companies for payments and deposits, landlords for rent payments and deposits, and third parties who provide major appliances and bedding. Recovery Corps research shows that these resources assist clients in overcoming some of the main barriers impeding their recovery process.

One of the program’s objectives is to identify households in federally declared disaster parishes with the ability to be self-sufficient. These households are not typically chronic social service clients and have enough income through employment or retirement to support their basic needs, though many of the clients receive some assistance such as Supplemental Security Income or disability income.

The Recovery Corps has executed four iterations of the HEF program to date. The first two iterations of the program are considered Phase I of HEF. These programs were executed in 2007 and were funded from a $10 million appropriation from the state of Louisiana. HEF Phase II, executed from November 2008 to June 2009, is the second phase of HEF and was funded from a $5 million state appropriation received in 2008.

• Some of the essential lessons learned during the implementation of the HEF program across the state are:There are vulnerable communities, populations, and cultural groups that need assistance but are not served or are underserved because of cultural issues. Some examples include the elderly, disabled, households without transportation, those with language differences, and clients with physical and/or mental health issues.
• The need for resources far exceeds the capacity and funding to serve.
• Many families requesting benefits from the HEF program are in an emergency state relative to needing utility payments and rental assistance. With cutoffs and evictions looming, they seek relief for their hardships.
• More than one-third of those served via the HEF program had someone in the household with a disability – primarily a physical disability.
• Households that would otherwise be resilient are unable to “bounce back” financially, emotionally, or physically under the stress and long-term effects of disaster recovery.
• Disaster impacts are more challenging and longer lasting than typical lifetime events.
• Human services organizations provide essential monetary resources, hope, resiliency, and access to human recovery efforts.