FEMA and the state of Vermont have found housing for everyone who was eligible for a planned manufactured housing community in Montpelier. As a result, that site is no longer needed.
FEMA and the state of Vermont are working together to find appropriate housing for those whose homes were most impacted by July’s floods. FEMA does this through two programs:
- The Individuals and Households program, which provides grants for home repair or replacement and rental assistance to cover temporary housing; and
- Direct Housing, in which FEMA provides temporary housing.
Three forms of Direct Housing have been approved for Vermont:
- Available rental units, which FEMA leases for survivors through a program called Direct Lease;
- Multifamily Lease and Repair, which allows FEMA to repair multifamily properties for lease to program participants; and
- Manufactured Housing Units, which FEMA places on private sites, existing commercial parks or a FEMA-built group site.
As of December 15, FEMA has approved $22.8 million for Vermonters through Housing Assistance, including $3.7 million in rental assistance for 1,595 households. At the same time, about 22 eligible families are interested in Direct Housing.
To fill this need, FEMA has brought several units into Direct Lease, and found private and commercial sites suitable to place mobile housing units. Survivors will be able to move into these types of housing much earlier, without having to wait for the infrastructure that constructing a group site would require.
As such, we will not be moving forward with the Montpelier group site. Instead, we will house survivors through the direct lease program, and by placing mobile housing units on commercial and private sites. We continue to be grateful for the partnership with the state of Vermont and communities like Montpelier that are willing to partner with FEMA to provide interim housing to those most impacted by July’s floods.
FEMA is committed to ensuring disaster assistance is accomplished equitably, without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. Any disaster survivor or member of the public may contact the FEMA Civil Rights Office if they feel that they are the victim of discrimination. FEMA’s Civil Rights Office can be contacted toll-free at 833-285-7448. Multilingual operators are available.