Back@Home is helping families who don’t qualify for FEMA Individual Assistance but need housing assistance.
Nov. 5, 2018 – To date, Back@Home NC, a program administered by the NC Department of Health and Human Services, has helped 45 qualified families find and move into permanent housing after Hurricane Florence.
Back@Home is a $12 million initiative announced by Governor Roy Cooper in the days following the storm. Back@Home is for individuals and families who are not eligible for Individual Assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or who may be receiving limited FEMA assistance and still need help securing housing or other supportive services. Services include help finding housing, rent and utility assistance, move-in supplies, and, if needed, help accessing other resources like job training and placement and child care.
Back@Home is currently focused on people who are still in disaster shelters or in a temporary housing solution after a disaster shelter closed that don’t have a safe and stable housing option following Hurricane Florence.
“Making sure families impacted by this storm have a secure and stable place to live is an important part of North Carolina’s recovery process,” said DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen, M.D., “Having a home lays the foundation families need to be healthy and safe.”
While DHHS is administering Back@Home, the program is being done in partnership with the NC Coalition to End Homelessness, the NC Housing Finance Agency, the NC Department of Public Safety, NC Emergency Management, Eastpointe, First Fruit Ministries, Southeast Family Violence Center, Trillium Health Resources, Volunteers of America, Socialserve.com and the American Red Cross.
The program can help up to 270 households in Phase 1, and right now the largest need is for landlords to get involved. Landlords that have units available in disaster-declared counties should contact NCHousingSearch and let them know that they have units to offer to Back@Home.
NCHousingSearch.org is being used to locate housing for those displaced by Hurricane Florence, including Back@Home program participants. On this site, landlords can add and/or update rental listings for free so people that need housing can find out about available housing options.