Dear All:
Most of us received some money from FEMA, SBA, Red Cross, Crisis Center and others. I think its fair to say that these amounts are grossly inadequate for our needs. Now some more (but not much more) money is going to become available.
First, Governor Culver has allocated about $680,000 to Iowa City thru his Jumpstart Flood Recovery program. Please see attached PDF document for program details, eligible applicants and type of projects that will be funded.
Second, Congress approved a supplemental Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) award in June/July 2008. Per this, Iowa City will get about $1.3 million.
The City will soon invite IC flood victims to apply for funds from these two sources. I believe formal invitations will be sent out on Tuesday October 7 (after a Council vote that evening on some details). To reduce paperwork and expedite the process, there will be just one application for both the programs listed above. Please look over details of the Jumpstart program and see if you would consider applying for assistance and if so, what kind. To help speed up the application process (once it is announced), the City has put out a "jumpstart checklist" -- see the second PDF attachment to this message. Owing to federal and state regulations, the money will most likely not be evenly distributed among all applicants -- older persons and lower income persons may get more than others. [Personally, I think this would be a very fair approach to distributing scarce resources.]
Third, Congress approved another supplemental CDBG grant for disaster affected states in September. Iowa City will get more money from this appropriation as well. How much more is not known but I expect at least $1.3 million more that may become available before the end of the year.
And then, who knows, there may be some FEMA buyouts as well.
Its been a long and stressful time for all of us (over 100 days since evacuation). Hopefully the next 100 days will be better than the last 100. Best. -- Jerry
Most of us received some money from FEMA, SBA, Red Cross, Crisis Center and others. I think its fair to say that these amounts are grossly inadequate for our needs. Now some more (but not much more) money is going to become available.
First, Governor Culver has allocated about $680,000 to Iowa City thru his Jumpstart Flood Recovery program. Please see attached PDF document for program details, eligible applicants and type of projects that will be funded.
Second, Congress approved a supplemental Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) award in June/July 2008. Per this, Iowa City will get about $1.3 million.
The City will soon invite IC flood victims to apply for funds from these two sources. I believe formal invitations will be sent out on Tuesday October 7 (after a Council vote that evening on some details). To reduce paperwork and expedite the process, there will be just one application for both the programs listed above. Please look over details of the Jumpstart program and see if you would consider applying for assistance and if so, what kind. To help speed up the application process (once it is announced), the City has put out a "jumpstart checklist" -- see the second PDF attachment to this message. Owing to federal and state regulations, the money will most likely not be evenly distributed among all applicants -- older persons and lower income persons may get more than others. [Personally, I think this would be a very fair approach to distributing scarce resources.]
Third, Congress approved another supplemental CDBG grant for disaster affected states in September. Iowa City will get more money from this appropriation as well. How much more is not known but I expect at least $1.3 million more that may become available before the end of the year.
And then, who knows, there may be some FEMA buyouts as well.
Its been a long and stressful time for all of us (over 100 days since evacuation). Hopefully the next 100 days will be better than the last 100. Best. -- Jerry
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