WASHINGTON -- Since Hurricane Helene made landfall, FEMA has been working with governmental and voluntary disability support organizations to ensure survivors with disabilities have the tools they need to recover from the storm. Building relationships with these organizations pre-disaster has been crucial to getting support to survivors as quickly as possible. FEMA’s Disability Integration Advisors continue their work advocating for people with disabilities and connecting them with available resources to help speed their recovery.
Sherman Gillums, Jr., FEMA’s Director of the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination personally traveled to hurricane-impacted areas to support these advisors, survey recovery efforts and meet with state officials and local disability organizations.
“It was important to me to talk to organizations and officials in person to show our unwavering commitment to people with disabilities,” said Director Gillums. “The relationships we’ve built with these organizations prior to the disaster allowed us to pinpoint the areas where people with disabilities needed help. My visit with Able South Carolina and independent living centers in Ashville highlighted ways we could assist with their recovery efforts. I deeply appreciated their insight and openness about their experiences which allowed us to work together on solutions to challenges.”
The percentage of people applying for FEMA disaster assistance and identifying as having a disability is consistent with the demographic information we have for the hurricane affected areas. “This is really important,” said Director Gillums. “It is a good indication that we are reaching people with disabilities and getting them the tools they need to apply for assistance more quickly year after year. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t more work needed to get people with disabilities on the road to recovery, but it is an encouraging first step.
As disability advisors, Director Gillums and his staff work to integrate accessibility into all stages of recovery. This includes everything from helping survivors access medical necessities to getting them access to assistive devices like screen readers so they can apply for assistance. Most importantly though, the advisors support emergency management specialists throughout the recovery process, by helping them integrate accessibility and disability inclusiveness into their work.
"This storm caused massive disruption to infrastructure that many of us take for granted,” Director Gillums commented after his travel in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina. “As a disability advisor, and a member of the disability community myself, I see how these challenges are compounded for people with disabilities. Getting access to electricity can be a matter of independence and even survival. During my deployment, I witnessed firsthand how communities were eager to be a part of the effort to ensure people with disabilities get what they need to sustain some semblance of independence. FEMA is working with these partners to make sure all survivors, including those with disabilities, are able to access the essential resources they need to be safe, informed and in charge of their lives.”
FEMA encourages Helene and Milton survivors to apply online as this remains the best way to apply for disaster assistance. Here are the ways to apply for federal assistance:
- Applying online at disasterassistance.gov
- Using the FEMA App
- Calling 800-621-3362, Staffed daily from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. local time
- Visiting a Disaster Recovery Center to talk with FEMA and state agency officials and apply for assistance
