Housing Program Ends
The Individual Assistance Housing Program for Hurricanes Katrina & Rita ended on May 1, 2009.
Since the storms hit in 2005, hundreds of Louisiana IA employees have helped nearly a million people with $6.1 billion in recovery assistance.
Today we were delivering the final notice for applicants to get out of the trailer.
I've been doing this since Katrina, 2005 September. Been in it for 3 and a half years, maybe.
This is my second year doing it. I started, I believe, in September of 07.
I received a few damages from Katrina, mostly water damage. But it wasn't nothing as major as what happened down here. Looking at it on television, CNN, watching them pull applicants out of their houses off their roofs, things of that nature. My heart went out to them. I think that kept me going, working out of a DRC, working in IA since the beginning, with the applicants. That's what I love the most about it.
It brings me a lot of gratification to see that they get the things they have, or reach their goals, whether it be to get back into their home, or locate a job.
We're progressing, we did a great job, individual Assistance.
Well, personally, it can be bittersweet because I know my job is ending, but I was able to help out thousands of applicants find permanent housing. They have been able to go home with their family into something permanent and go on with their lives.
I think the most important thing to realize is that we have helped quite a bit of people across the state of Louisiana, in keeping with FEMA's mission, and that is to help those disaster victims be more self-sufficient again after a disaster.
Think about it as we've done a great job of moving applicants out.,families. Think about the kids and things of that nature, where we've done a great job on that. It's not about us, it's about the applicants.