National Disaster Housing Strategy Resource Center

Disaster Assistance Available from FEMA: FEMA website that outlines the full range of assistance programs available to help disaster victims including housing and other key services.
FEMA Assistance Beyond Housing: FEMA webpage that describes services such as crisis counseling, disaster unemployment assistance, legal services, and special tax considerations that may be particularly useful in assisting those who must occupy interim housing.
Joint Housing Solutions Group: FEMA’s Joint Housing Solutions Group (JHSG) initiative is a multi-year effort to develop a systematic process to evaluate and rate various and innovative disaster housing options, identify viable alternatives to FEMA travel trailers and manufactured homes, and recommend improvements to disaster housing operations. The JHSG is guided by a steering committee consisting of FEMA staff with considerable experience in disaster housing operations. FEMA also has secured the support of the National Institute of Building Sciences to provide direct technical guidance and services, and to promote linkage to relevant partner organizations. Current key milestones for the JHSG efforts include conducting research and outreaching to the housing community, developing evaluation criteria for alternate housing, a testing process, and a housing assessment tool, as well as evaluating FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes to establish a baseline. Future milestones include testing and rating alternative housing options, and developing a housing option “compendium” for matching specific disaster conditions to viable housing options.
FEMA Housing Portal: This portal is intended to help individuals and families, who have been displaced by a disaster, find a place to live. The portal consolidates rental resources identified and provided by federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Veterans Administration (VA), private organizations, and the public, to help individuals and families find available rental units in their area.
FEMA Housing Assessment Tool (HAT): The HAT is designed to collect information on housing products and help FEMA determine whether or not these options are suitable for disaster housing needs. It is the first step in a larger process of evaluating the viability of housing products for disaster and post-disaster environments.


		Interim Housing Resources
		Disaster Assistance Available from FEMA: FEMA website that outlines the full range of assistance programs available to help disaster victims including housing and other key services. FEMA Assistance Beyond Housing: FEMA webpage that describes services such as crisis counseling, disaster unemployment assistance, legal services, and special tax considerations that may be particularly useful in assisting those who must occupy interim housing. Joint Housing Solutions Group: FEMA’s Joint Housing Solutions Group (JHSG) initiative is a multi-year effort to develop a systematic process to evaluate and rate various and innovative disaster housing options, identify viable alternatives to FEMA travel trailers and manufactured homes, and recommend improvements to disaster housing operations. The JHSG is guided by a steering committee consisting of FEMA staff with considerable experience in disaster housing operations. FEMA also has secured the support of the National Institute of Building Sciences to provide direct technical guidance and services, and to promote linkage to relevant partner organizations. Current key milestones for the JHSG efforts include conducting research and outreaching to the housing community, developing evaluation criteria for alternate housing, a testing process, and a housing assessment tool, as well as evaluating FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes to establish a baseline. Future milestones include testing and rating alternative housing options, and developing a housing option “compendium” for matching specific disaster conditions to viable housing options. FEMA Housing Portal: This portal is intended to help individuals and families, who have been displaced by a disaster, find a place to live. The portal consolidates rental resources identified and provided by federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Veterans Administration (VA), private organizations, and the public, to help individuals and families find available rental units in their area. FEMA Housing Assessment Tool (HAT): The HAT is designed to collect information on housing products and help FEMA determine whether or not these options are suitable for disaster housing needs. It is the first step in a larger process of evaluating the viability of housing products for disaster and post-disaster environments.

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