News : Caseworker assigned to help those displaced by tornado; residents urged to apply

Residents of Imperial Apartments continue dealing with storm damage and looking for housing.

The Benton County Disaster Recovery Coalition has hired a case manager to work with the residents affected by last weeks’ tornado. We encourage those residents that still need any assistance, especially those that still do not have a long term housing solution, to call our case manager Sherry at 319-241-5121. She can schedule an appointment to meet with you or she may be able to provide what you need over the phone. Our Coalition has funding to help with rent assistance, so if you have found a place to rent but it’s not affordable, please contact us immediately. We may be able to assist you with the increased costs. Also please check in with our case manager periodically as we are receiving new leads for housing opportunities.

For those of you that need other assistance, if you have filled out an Iowa Individual Assistance application those are currently being processed by John with HACAP at 319-531-6639. He is processing the applications as quickly as he can so you should be receiving a call from him in the near future. Once the Iowa Individual Assistance program has provided you resources but you still have unmet needs, you should then call the BCDRC case manager for opportunities for further assistance. Please don’t be afraid to reach out to us for assistance, we are working hard to find non-traditional solutions to the issues that you are facing.

Benton County’s Disaster Recovery Coalition is a 501c3 organization that was formed after the floods of 2008 to assist families in the county who have unmet needs after all other sources of funds have been exhausted. The Coalition is Benton County’s long term disaster recovery organization. They work directly with Benton County Emergency Management. Its mission is “To strengthen area-wide disaster coordination in Benton County by sharing information, simplifying resident access, and jointly resolving cases with unmet needs”.

The Coalition is made up of local agency representatives and volunteers who “activate” when a multi-dwelling disaster occurs. They will continue to meet until all disaster impacted families with unmet needs are back on their feet.