Plaquemines Parish, LA
March, 2009

Coming Home Again
FEMA's Voluntary Agencies Liaisons work to make sure homeowners get the funding they need to repair and rebuild after disasters.


I lost my house in Katrina.

And then they had volunteers that came down and you know building the house and everything. So I was very thankful for that.

Volag is a unique department within FEMA. It's made up of FEMA employees which are called voluntary agency liaisons.

Our main role is to work with those cases that have unmet needs, meaning that there is a need that is still there that FEMA cannot resolve, so we refer them out to one of the voluntary agencies to assist.

One of the other functions of the voluntary agency liaison is to form what's called long-term recovery organizations in each of the devastated areas. So specifically in Louisiana, we have 26 long-term recovery committees covering the entire state. Specifically, here in Plaquemines Parish it's called the committee for Plaquemines Recovery.

With Mrs. Reddick's case in particular, she was brought to the long-term recovery committee needing financial assistance to rebuild her home. And so members of those agencies put up funds to assist her in the rebuild project.

It's kind of a tear-jerker for me. I'm actually from Plaquemines so it really hits home for me to see the area start to recover. To date, the Plaquemines committee for recovery has helped 72 families get back in brand-new homes along with purchasing mobile homes and any other needs that were out there.

I thank God, I thank them for everything they have done for me. I can't thank you enough.

For more information, visit www.fema.gov