Hurricane Katrina Relief Resources

If you are housing an evacuee, please pass this information on to him or her. Any assistance you can provide in navigating these resources would surely be appreciated as well.

Info for Hosts to Pass on to Evacuees

Registering for Emergency Financial Assistance (All Evacuees Should Do This As Soon As Possible)

• FEMA strongly urges all evacuees to register with them, regardless of their situation. Contact FEMA Online or at 1-800-621-FEMA (TTY 1-800-462-7585)

• Register with the Red Cross by calling 1-800-975-7585 or search for your local Red Cross Chapter by visiting http://www.redcross.org/where/chapts.asp

Survivor Registries

• Evacuees should register on survivor lists so friends and families can locate them. The Red Cross' database is available at http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/katrina.

• A comprehensive list of other similar sites is available at http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/PublicSafety/Hurricane_Katrina_Recovery.shtml#vgn-finding-loved-ones-vgn

Health and Safety

• Information about health and safety issues relating to Katrina is available from the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC has a special Katrina page at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/index.asp

Goods and Supplies

• Food Stamps:
  Most evacuees will be eligible for food stamps, regardless of income, as a separate family unit from anyone with whom they are residing. Please see http://www.fns.usda.gov/disasters/disaster.htm#stamps for more information. A useful guide for disaster relief food stamps can be found at http://www.frac.org/pdf/dfsp05.pdf You can find the relevant agency in your state at
  http://www.aphsa.org/home/StateContacts.asp
  

• Voicemail:
  Free Voice Mailbox for qualifying evacuees
  

• Clearinghouse of Donated Goods and Supplies:
  Been There Blog is connecting families in need (this can be evacuees and/or hosts) directly with others who have offered to help. You will find here a list of goods that people are willing to donate and send directly to you and/or those you are hosting—everything from clothes to toys to walkers.
  

• Sign up to receive needed household goods:
  Family-to-Family matches sponsors with families who lost everything to Katrina.  If you are in need of household goods like towels, sheets, baby care items, and over-the-counter medications, Family-to-Family will work to connect you with a family that can help.

Pets

• Help locating lost pets is available at http://disaster.petfinder.com/emergency/

Education

• School-age children displaced by Katrina may be able enroll in the school district in which they are temporarily residing. Contact your local school district for more information.

• College students displaced by Katrina can find resources and lists of universities accepting displaced students at http://www.campusrelief.org/x221.xml

• Info For Medical Students

• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Relief

Jobs

• Disaster Unemployment Assistance Information can be found at http://www.dol.gov/opa/hurricane-recovery.htm

• Listings of jobs for hurricane evacuees are available at http://neworleans.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/search?areaID=31&query=katrina&cat=jjj and http://www.katrinajobrelief.com/

Permanent Housing Assistance

• For housing information, call the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-866-641-8102.

• If you are a Section 8 voucher holder or public housing resident, call 1-800-955-2232.

• HUD/FEMA grants to help rebuild your home

• Habitat For Humanity is building new homes for displaced hurricane victims

Resources Specifically for Hosts

Donations for Hosts

• Assistance for those hosting victims of Katrina may be available locally through local relief organizations, community organizations, and religious groups or through http://www.modestneeds.org/help/applications/hurricane/

Housing Contract

• MoveOn has a Sample Housing Contract available for download