Help LA Transitional Home Communities

There are currently over 12,000 occupied FEMA trailers located in several hundred clusters around the state with an estimated 25,000+ people living in them. While this was an immediate answer to a catastrophic situation, reality is that many of these temporary FEMA trailer sites were placed on available land found in remote areas, far away from accessible services such as grocery stores, medical facilities, jobs and childcare. Many of them do not have transportation to gain access to the nearest services. Unless a church or community group has taken the site under its wing, many displaced citizens are virtually isolated from services and information. Still in shock a year after being uprooted overnight, many people have ended up in unfamiliar territory, isolated and alone, with the overwhelming task of integrating into established communities they did not choose as their homes.
The goal of the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps is to empower these residents to move into more permanent housing situations as quickly as possible.
There are many short term goals that must be accomplished in order to achieve the goal of more permanent housing.
Some Common Critical Issues Facing these Residents:
Lack of Transportation
Employment
Access to Primary and Behavioral Health Care
School Registration and Attendance
Substance Abuse Counseling
Child Care programs
After-school youth programs
Elderly Services
Services for Disabled residents
Help in Completing & filing documents/applications for FEMA, Social Security/Medicaid, etc.
To accomplish our goal we need YOUR help…
We need church groups and community organizations to formally adopt a site in their communities – an incredible step in helping many of our neighbors affected by the hurricanes to resume a quality life, but also a serious responsibility to empower new members of your communities.
There are two main types of sites:
Group sites have security and management and service providers need permission to gain access.
Commercial sites are already existing trailer parks in which FEMA has leased lots. There is usually no management on site.
Sites range in size from one or two trailers to 573 and they are in urban, rural, and suburban areas.
If you are interested in adopting a site or partnering with another organization, please contact me at kim@recoverycorps.org.
Empowering these residents through communication and access to resources is vital to the recovery of Louisiana.
If a group has already informally adopted a site, that’s fantastic. Please send me their contact information at kim@recoverycorps.org, so that we can work together to access more resources.
There are reintegration specialists from the Department of Labor working diligently around the state.
If you have a job opening, please go to their website and make the opening available.
Phone Numbers
Non-emergency medical transportation phone numbers – 1-800-864-6034