FEMA Assistance Extended

FEMA extends rental assistance to over 31,000 families affected by the 2005 storms

By: Michael Snowden | WKRG-TV
Published: February 20, 2009

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The federal government is extending rental
assistance to thousands of families affected by the 2005
hurricanes, giving them six months to get into other housing aid
programs or achieve self sufficiency.
About 31,400 families have continued receiving federal help
paying rent as part of a disaster housing program that was set to
expire March 1.
Congress had appropriated $85 million in vouchers to help
families that would still need federal support after the program
ended. But U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun
Donovan said Friday that relatively few families had been moved to
the voucher system and the Obama administration did not want to
leave families who'd been unable to sign up at risk of
homelessness.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)