Is the Red Cross giving $2,000 to hurricane victims?

[TNDemo]

Or is it just FEMA?

[pitohui]

1. yes, no, either, neither, it depends

some ppl can get a few hundred from red cross for emergency funds

also you may be able to get the red cross to pay for your motel room if you have no relatives to stay w. in your new area & have not yet been able to find housing, getting housing is v. v. difficult at the moment

fema is giving $2K *if* you can prove it doesn't duplicate insurance coverage you already have

most ppl i know have not been able to get anything because of the difficulty in getting an insurance adjuster to sign off on our losses & explain what is & what is not covered to fema even if we have uninsured losses


if you happen to be completely uninsured & have access to internet, you can sign up w. fema online & they will deposit the $2K in your bank acct by direct deposit, from what i'm told, for the completely un-insured they are working pretty fast & ppl are actually getting those funds quickly

this makes sense, as the un-insured are more likely to have no fall-back savings or credit cards to tide them over so they would need the help first

if you have relocated, be sure to tell yr new bank that you want to be able to accept direct deposits & also that you an evacuee from katrina, the bank will likely waive any fees for you to open yr new acct

[Coastie for Truth]

2. Red Cross also

As pithoui explained - very temporary "tide you over" funds.

[SouthernDem2004]

3. The 2,000 Red Cross is giving out is from FEMA. They are doing

the 2 grand give out for FEMA. The money comes from FEMA.

[Coastie for Truth]

4. There are a number of different accounts - and debit

cards are preloaded to different amounts based on the "source account" (FEMA, Red Cross) and the end use (housing; food & clothing; unlimited).

The pre-loads I have done have been three days of temporary housing until a social worker preload kicks in, plus one set of clothing per person plus three days of groceries until more permanent arrangements kick in.

I have done debit card loading, audits, and money tracking for "local disasters" (under say 100 families, short term where 100% of the money is Red Cross), and I have Beta tested the software at the caseworker and chapter level -- but I have just started training where there is BOTH FEMA money and Red Cross money.

I operate with the attitude that IRC 501(c)(3) (tax exempt charity) money contributed voluntarily and charitably by my fellow Americans is a fiduciary trust; and there is only a limited amount of money - and it has to be marshaled and leveraged.

And, I am always supplementing the "Comfort Kits" with extra toiletries, and some junk food and instant coffee/tea/sweetner, etc.

[Be Brave]

5. Yes, I heard that Red Cross is also giving out debit cards

This is different from the FEMA debit cards.