Overview
If a federal Major Disaster is declared by the President, dependent on the severity of damage, FEMA's Individual Assistance (IA) and its related programs may be made available to the affected areas. Should IA be made available, you will be notified through multiple media; It is important to stay informed during a disaster situation to know if resources are available to you.
FEMA’s Individual Assistance (IA) program includes a number of programs geared toward providing assistance to individuals impacted by a disaster.
Individual Assistance: Individuals and Households Program (IHP)
The Individuals and Household program is broken down into two grant programs: Housing Assistance (HA) and Other Needs Assistance (ONA).
- Housing Assistance offers funds for temporary housing (rental assistance while a survivor is displaced from his/her home) and home repair.
- Other Needs Assistance offers funds for some essential needs, such as disaster-related funeral
expenses, necessary medical equipment, limited personal property such as furniture, appliances and transportation.- Most categories of Other Needs Assistance are dependent on survivors completing a Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan application. This application is automatically sent to a survivor after completing the FEMA registration process. If a survivor qualifies for an SBA loan to replace personal property, he or she will not be eligible for SBA-dependent Other Needs Assistance. Disaster-related funeral, dental and medical expenses are the only categories of Other Needs Assistance that are not dependent on completing the SBA loan application.
Additional IA programs
Additional Programs available under IA may include
- Federal disaster unemployment assistance administered by the Connecticut Department of Labor;
- State and Federal income tax assistance; and
- food coupons administered through the Department of Social Services Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).