More than 1,000 Katrina evacuees living in the District have transitioned from emergency housing assistance to longer-term federal relief, but even the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s extended program only provides three to six months of help.
As of mid-June, FEMA listed Washington as the temporary home for 1,229 evacuees from areas hit hard by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. All are now receiving aid through the Individual and Households program, FEMA’s program to assist people with housing needs and necessary expenses.
Meanwhile, FEMA recently denied transitions from emergency to long-term help to 17 evacuees residing in the District. Those people will have to search out aid from sources other than the federal government.
“Unfortunately, we’ve looked at every legal way we can assist them and they just didn’t meet the requirements for federal disaster assistance,” said James McIntyre, FEMA spokesman.
The households program only lasts three months, with an opportunity to apply for a three-month extension. Once the money runs out, Katrina survivors need to be on the road to permanent recovery or they may find themselves in dire straits.
That’s where Katrina Aid Today comes in. The organization, an arm of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, was issued a $66 million FEMA contract to help survivors regain a sense of normalcy and self-sufficiency, said Warren Harrity, the group’s executive director.
