FEMA's Funding Solutions Support St. Mary's Recovery Needs 

Release Date: August 20, 2009
Release Number: 1603-868

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NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) recently announced $27.8 million in consolidated funding for St. Mary's Academy, allowing the school to benefit from not only one, but two of FEMA's innovative public assistance solutions.

Of the $27.8 million in total funding, approximately $3.3 million has been allocated for the repair or replacement of the school's lost contents and $24.5 million for the consolidation of 11 campus buildings into one educational building.

Under FEMA's Public Assistance Program, eligible applicants are able to take advantage of several flexible funding policies that were created following Katrina. Like other applicants throughout New Orleans, including the Recovery School District, St. Mary's Academy has opted to utilize FEMA's "building contents" and "project consolidation" innovative funding approaches to combine grant monies to rebuild its damaged facilities.

"When applicable, the consolidation of project worksheets, as allowed in our building contents and project consolidation policies, offers a simplification of project formulation and more effectively facilitates grants management," said FEMA's Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office Acting Director Tony Russell. "Such policies provide applicants, like St. Mary's Academy, the flexibility to use federal monies to rebuild in a way that best implements their own recovery plans."

Pre-Katrina, St. Mary's campus consisted of 11 educational buildings, including classrooms, a gymnasium, library, kitchen, restrooms and administrative offices. During the storm, these buildings were inundated with approximately four feet of brackish floodwaters, which remained in the buildings for two weeks and caused significant damages to their structures and contents. 

Through utilizing FEMA's solution-based funding policies, St. Mary's Academy now has the flexibility to combine all of its previous obligated public assistance grants for Katrina-damaged contents, covering seven project worksheets in total, into one, consolidated project worksheet.

"Any time we can find a way to make funds more readily accessible, it is a good thing," said Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. "Reopening schools is a priority throughout the hurricane-impacted parishes, and we are glad that the St. Mary's Academy family now has the funds it needs to rebuild and restock their facility so that they can further their mission of educating young women."

As a result of this building contents policy, instead of having to replace contents "book for book," St. Mary's Academy and FEMA have agreed to group contents into four major categories - furniture and fixtures, instructional materials and supplies, school equipment and supplies, and technology. This grouping of contents allows the school to maximize its funding and adjust it to their specific content needs within these four categories.

On a larger scale, under FEMA's project consolidation policy, St. Mary's Academy will also pool together funding that was previously provided throughout 11 project worksheets, each written for one of the 11 campus buildings, into one project worksheet for the construction of a single educational building. The new, stand-alone facility will provide a similar capacity and function as previously provided throughout its 11 campus buildings.

When FEMA approves projects through its supplemental Public Assistance grant, the funds are transferred to a federal Smartlink account. Once the funds have reached this account, the applicant can request reimbursement from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) for eligible work completed. Obligated funds may change over time as the project worksheet is a living grant that is often adjusted as bids come in and scope of work is aligned.

The Public Assistance program works with state and local officials to fund recovery measures and the rebuilding of government and certain private nonprofit organizations' buildings, as well as roads, bridges and water and sewer plants. In order for the process to be successful, federal, state and local partners coordinate to draw up project plans, fund these projects and oversee their completion.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, claiming 1,464 lives, destroying more than 200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses. The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the planning and coordinating body that was created in the aftermath of these storms to lead one of the most extensive rebuilding efforts in the world. The LRA is a 33-member body which is coordinating across jurisdictions, supporting community recovery and resurgence, ensuring integrity and effectiveness, and planning for the recovery and rebuilding of Louisiana.

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Last Modified: Thursday, 20-Aug-2009 14:08:08