Urban League Sets Up A One-Stop Center For Ice Storm Assistance

One-stop center to streamline help

by: GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
12/29/2007  12:00 AM

People who need financial help to recover from this month’s ice storm can apply with several agencies at once at a one-stop center.

The Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League is managing the center with support from the Tulsa Human Response Coalition.

Programs offered are geared toward low- to moderate-income families and households with no insur ance, said Jim Lyall, director of the 211 Helpline and member of the coalition.

“This center is designed for those who lack resources to do their own repairs,” Lyall said. “This is helping supplement what we look to our government to provide.

“This is how our local community has responded to those with the greatest challenges recovering from the storm for economic reasons,” he said. Each agency and program will require different types of documentation, ranging from estimates of damage to proof of income. “This is not a one-income, one-situation-fits-all type of thing,” Lyall said.

“We want to minimize the number of times people have to fill out information. If a person can benefit from more than one program, the applicant can walk over to that table rather than having to drive across town.

“It is meant to help people transfer from one agency to another,” he said.

“It is meant as a convenience to the applicant and (to) streamline the dissemination of funds.”

The resources for people in need will be determined by the available funding to the agencies.

Some larger agencies, such as The Salvation Army or American Red Cross, have funding to respond to this disaster. Others might apply to places such as the Ice Storm Relief Fund by the Tulsa Community Foundation and Tulsa Area United Way, Lyall said.

“This is not to say that everyone will get all they need,” he said. “There may not be enough resources, or we may find gaps in services, and we will have to go out and raise money for those things.”

The center can process about 150 households a day on a first-come, first-served basis.

On the center’s first day Thursday, about 250 people were processed, said Kim McCurry, a program coordinator for the Urban League.

“The majority need food to replace what was lost,” she said. “About 75 of those needed services other than food.”

About 20 agencies are represented at the center. If an agency cannot be present, the intake information will be given to the appropriate agency later.

“We are seeing quite a few senior citizens and disabled people who need help with home repairs,” McCurry said.

“We are working with an agency to provide that, but the agency cannot be there during operating hours. So we will get the application and make sure the agency has all the information they need.”

The Tulsa Human Response Coalition is made up of nonprofit and government agencies that come together during disasters in a cohesive response.

It has been activated previously during the Oklahoma City bombing, the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the May 1999 Oklahoma tornadoes and 2003 Tulsa-area flooding.

One-stop disaster recovery center

When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays; closed Tuesday, New Year’s Day.

Where: Salvation Army North Mabee Center, 3001 N. Cincinnati Ave.

Required to bring: Photo identification and proof of address (utility or phone bill)

Suggested to bring: Social Security cards for household members, proof of homeownership or rental lease agreement, proof of income, proof of disability status, proof of ice-storm related damages (photos, inspection reports), and estimates of home repairs and debris removal

Source: Tulsa World