Funding For Hurricane Katrina Evacuees Dries Up
Things are grim for many Hurricane Katrina evacuees, as funds are either drying up or are tangled in bureaucracy and never ending red tap. Trailer parks provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are closing, and contracts for workers are expiring. “I know we’re behind the eight ball,” Paul Rainwater, the executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, told The New York Times. “People talk about recovery, but on one level, we’re still responding.”
So where is the available money going? The Times reports that of the $11.5 billion in federal community-development block grants allocated for housing in Louisiana, $25 million has gone for homelessness prevention and $72 million for the supportive housing-voucher program.
A chunk of $100 million out of a $220 million block grant for social services went to the state Department of Health and Hospitals for medical and mental healthcare. An additional $260,000 of that grant was given to the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps, a nonprofit group that works closely with the state recovery authority. The group plans to use those funds for people ineligible for FEMA rental payments, reports The Times.
