Sandy Funds Fall Short of Rising Need

Additional funds for the federal Sandy Homeowner/Renter Assistance Program (SHRAP) will not meet the growing needs of many residents throughout Monmouth County who remain displaced by the superstorm, The Independent is reporting.

SHRAP is a $57 million statewide initiative funded by a federal Social Services Block Grant that was designed to provide temporary relief to working families that have been financially strained by the storm. With the original funds nearly depleted, the additional federal funding is much needed but is not intended to expand the program to cover a larger pool of applicants, and will only be available to those who applied prior to a June 30 deadline and have already been approved.

“My understanding is that the additional money that will come in will fund applications that are already standing but have not been funded yet,” said Laura Kirkpatrick, director of Monmouth County’s Department of Public Information. “The demand exceeds the funding currently available.”

“As every day goes by, people who are sustaining themselves on their savings, on their retirement funds and their credit cards — with the hopes that they’re going to be returning to their homes — haven’t done so,” Affordable Housing Alliance (AHA) CEO Donna Blaze said. “The numbers of people that find themselves in need of programs like SHRAP are increasing.”

Monmouth County, which receives the grant funds after they have been allocated to the state, has been working with five providers to reach applicants in need of assistance. The providers in the county are Affordable Housing Alliance (AHA), based out of Eatontown; Novadebt consumer counseling, Freehold; 180 Turning Lives Around, Hazlet; Middletown Township; and Interfaith Neighbors and the Community Affairs & Resource Center, both of Asbury Park.

SHRAP has disbursed more than $38 million in assistance to over 15,500 New Jersey residents across 6,700 households, according to a press release from the N.J. Department of Human Services. Middletown Township, one of the five providers, has already allocated $1.3 million of the $1.5 million originally allotted to it.

Additional funding will be given to qualified applicants who have not yet reached the $15,000 cap, or a six-month limit.

Many of those who remain displaced have already reached this cap, or are approaching rapidly, as they have been forced out of work or to rent elsewhere temporarily because of the storm. Other residents have been forced to allocate the funds toward tax bills and home repairs.

To read more, go to: http://ind.gmnews.com/news/2014-08-07/Front_Page/Sandy_funds_will_not_meet_rising_need.html