By Kevin McGill
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — The Federal Emergency Management Agency intends to extend by at least six months the transitional housing assistance program for Gulf Coast residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The program was scheduled to expire next month, potentially displacing more than 100,000 households from FEMA-funded trailers, mobile homes and rental units, according to the agency.
“We’re committed to the recovery of the Gulf Coast region, and we recognize that housing is one of the region’s greatest challenges,” said Aaron Walker, a FEMA spokesman. “We felt like a six-month extension was certainly appropriate in this situation.”
Housing advocates, including the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, had been pushing for the extension.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” said Gwendolyn Adams, ACORN’s co-chair for New Orleans’ devastated Lower Ninth Ward. “FEMA has finally made a decision that benefits those displaced by this storm.”
The extension eases pressures on some past recipients of the aid who were deemed ineligible and were appealing that decision.
In December, under a court order, FEMA sent letters to about 4,000 storm victims in Texas, explaining why they were deemed no longer eligible for aid. A federal judge ruled the original letters unconstitutional because they contained only hard-to-decipher computer codes and agency jargon.
With the new letters, storm victims can appeal the decision to FEMA and may be eligible for renewed housing payments of about $750 a month. But the appeal process can take up to three months — which would have left many of the storm victims out of luck had the program not been extended beyond February.
Walker said the court decision was not the reason for the extension.