Helen Savoye Minor
The disaster in Haiti has touched not only the nine million people living there, but the global community as well. One of the largest relief efforts in history is moving forward in order to save lives and avert further catastrophe. At HUD, we are doing our part by getting information to employees on how to donate safely and by staging a blood drive.
HUD also does its part to help with disasters here at home. HUD has partnered with other federal agencies to remove information silos and ensure transparency when it counts the most - after a disaster - with the creation of disasterhelp.gov. This site consolidates disaster assistance information in one place. If you need assistance following a presidentially declared disaster— which has been designated for individual assistance— you can go to disasterhelp.gov and apply online in one place for almost 60 forms of assistance from 17 government agencies. You can:
• Determine the number and forms of assistance you may be eligible to receive by answering a brief series of questions
• Start the individual assistance registration process immediately
• Apply for FEMA assistance and be referred to the Small Business Administration for loans through online applications
• Choose to have your Social Security benefits directed to a new address
• Access your federal student loan account information
• Receive referral information on forms of assistance that do not yet have online applications
• Access a call center in the event you do not have Internet access to ensure you can still register for assistance
• Check the progress and status of your applications online.
• Identify resources and services for individuals, families and businesses needing disaster assistance during all phases of an emergency situation
• Identify resources to help locate family members and pets
• Access assistance from the Department of State if you are affected by a disaster while traveling abroad
• Start the individual assistance registration process immediately
• Apply for FEMA assistance and be referred to the Small Business Administration for loans through online applications
• Choose to have your Social Security benefits directed to a new address
• Access your federal student loan account information
• Receive referral information on forms of assistance that do not yet have online applications
• Access a call center in the event you do not have Internet access to ensure you can still register for assistance
• Check the progress and status of your applications online.
• Identify resources and services for individuals, families and businesses needing disaster assistance during all phases of an emergency situation
• Identify resources to help locate family members and pets
• Access assistance from the Department of State if you are affected by a disaster while traveling abroad
There's also help so you can be ready before a disaster strikes. An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparednessis available on the site and there are also resources for managers and emergency responders.
More than 800,000 individuals needed emergency assistance, such as housing, food and clothing, after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. The lessons learned from that catastrophe not only helped us mobilize assistance faster for Haiti, but made us better prepared to help here at home as well.
Posts
1 comments:
www.DisasterAssistance.gov is the Web site the author is referring to. www.DisasterHelp.gov is a separate site with additional resources.
Post a Comment