There's No Place Like Home: FEMA's Mortgage and Rental Assistance Program

James Johnson believes in miracles. Laid off and facing eviction, Johnson, a licensed practical nurse, was packing the last boxes in his Bronx apartment when the phone rang. The voice on the other end was from FEMA, telling Johnson that money for his back rent and the upcoming month was being transmitted to his checking account.

Johnson, 44, had no idea his Mortgage and Rental Assistance (MRA) application was being reviewed again. He later learned that FEMA had expanded the MRA eligibility guidelines to address the needs of people like him who needed help.

For Johnson, FEMA's program flexibility meant a check for $9,125 -- and peace of mind.

"Without FEMA I would have been homeless," says Johnson, who was employed by a home health care company that served clients in lower Manhattan. "I would have been lost because everywhere I turned was a dead end."

Initially, James Johnson's MRA application was not approved because his employer stated that his release from employment was due to a general decline and downturn in business. Under the traditional MRA guidelines, which tied the loss of income to businesses physically damaged by the attack, the reasons would have made Johnson ineligible.

When FEMA expanded the guidelines to address the needs of residents who worked or lived in the borough of Manhattan and suffered significant income loss regardless of whether their place of employment was damaged or not, Johnson's application came up for review. Hence, the phone call.

"It was a miracle," says Johnson.

John Rights doesn't consider himself a miracle worker. But he does enjoy delivering good news to people like James Johnson.

"This is a critical job," says Rights, one of the caseworkers on FEMA's MRA task force charged with reviewing applications for accuracy so that FEMA can assist all those who are in need of help and eligible for assistance.

Rights, a New Jersey resident, reviewed Johnson's file using the expanded guidelines.

"We spend as much time as needed to understand every facet of each case to determine eligibility," says Rights.

The expanded MRA guidelines are the broadest interpretation of the program in FEMA's history. Realizing that many residents in the surrounding area continued to face tremendous hardships because of the unprecedented devastation of the World Trade Center disaster, FEMA heeded the September 11 call of President George W. Bush to do "whatever it takes."

As a result, FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh directed the agency to exercise greater flexibility in interpreting the guidelines for MRA eligibility.

Eleven months after the terrorist attack, FEMA had provided more than $41.5 million in MRA grants, representing the largest use of the program in FEMA history.

Before September 11, James Johnson had never heard of FEMA or John Rights. He certainly had never heard of the agency's Mortgage and Rental Assistance program. A year later, he's glad he applied for assistance -- and was home to answer the phone.

John Rights is just glad he was able to help. "It's a good feeling to help someone keep a roof over his head."