0:00 – Intro
3:20 – Learn about your community’s risk and response plan
5:30 – Create a household emergency plan that includes communication, evacuation and shelter strategies
6:15 – NC Know Your Zone (https://www.ncdps.gov/our-organization/emergency-management/emergency-preparedness/know-your-zone)
7:35 – NC 211 services may be able to help connect you to your local shelter and help you prepare ahead of time to know where the shelters are located
9:18 – Assemble an emergency preparedness kit and gather supplies
10:50 – Connect to national warning and alert systems
12:04 – Protect your property
14:00 – Review and update critical documents
14:55 – Help your neighbors and loved ones
16:35 – Learn safety skills
17:15 – Stay up to date on news and guidance
18:00 – Review emergency plan and make changes if necessary
Elizabeth Savage, an attorney with our Disaster Relief Project, discusses “estate planning”–deciding who gets your property and possessions following your death–and why you should consider it before a natural disaster strikes or as part of the disaster recovery process.
0:00 – Introduction – If you have a specific legal question and would like to learn about eligibility for our services, call the Legal Aid helpline at 866-219-5262 or apply online at legalaidnc.org/apply
0:55 – Overview of Legal Aid NC
1:35 – Overview of Legal Aid’s Disaster Relief Project
2:15 – About estate planning and why should you consider it during disaster recovery?
3:05 – What is a will? How does it relate to disaster recovery?
6:45 – Power of attorney and healthcare power of attorney
10:50 – Recovery can be a journey
The 2020 hurricane season began on June 1, but many North Carolinians are still seeking relief from damages sustained during Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. After a hurricane makes landfall, storm clouds will dissipate but the recovery process for homeowners can take years. On July 8-10, Legal Aid of North Carolina will offer remote information sessions to help educate North Carolina homeowners on the assistance available for survivors of Florence and Matthew.
“These information sessions are a great opportunity for North Carolinians to learn more about the resources available to them when they become victims of natural disasters,” said Nicole Mueller, a Legal Aid disaster relief staff attorney. “It is not too late to seek remedies for disaster-related damages just because a storm took place years ago.”
The information sessions will take place via conference call and will cover how Legal Aid can assist North Carolinians with disaster recovery. Topics include how to apply for ReBuild NC’s Homeowner Recovery Program, how Legal Aid can assist during the application process, and how Legal Aid can help if a homeowner needs to file an appeal. Legal Aid lawyers will answer general questions during the information sessions.
“We want people to know that they have options if they are denied assistance or if they disagree with the amount that they have been awarded,” Mueller said. “Legal Aid may be able to help with an appeal or assist with other legal needs that can help secure assistance.”
ReBuild NC is a program operated by the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resilience to distribute grant money to homeowners, contractors, and local and tribal governments for the purpose of disaster recovery. The program opened a new application period June 15 for victims of Florence and Matthew, potentially opening the door for many North Carolinians who have thus far been unable to receive funding from the government or charitable entities. Legal Aid has helped clients with ReBuild applications and appeals in the past and stands ready to do so during this new application cycle.
The three information sessions will all cover the same information. Those that are interested can choose a day and time that is convenient for them:
July 8 at 12 p.m.
Call-in number: (312) 626-6799
Meeting ID: 871 2700 6960 #
Participant ID: “#”
July 9 at 6:30 p.m.
Call-in number: (312) 626-6799
Meeting ID: 886 9003 1584 #
Participant ID: “#”
July 10 at 8 a.m.
Call-in number: (312) 626-6799
Meeting ID: 815 9832 1751 #
Participant ID: “#”
About
Legal Aid NC is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. Our Disaster Relief Project provides legal assistance and education to survivors of natural disasters in North Carolina, seeking to provide relief to clients in the days, weeks, months and years that it takes to recover. Legal Aid NC also supports community economic development and long-term recovery in disaster-impacted communities. Call the Legal Aid NC helpline at 866-219-5262 or visit legalaidnc.org/apply to learn about eligibility for our services and to get Legal Aid’s assistance.
1:20 – What is a non-profit?
5:23 – Things to think about when forming a non-profit
9:02 – NCGS 55A – Governing Law
12:15 – 501(c)(3) – IRS non-profit status
14:10 – Corporate documents
18:43 – How do I get these documents? Do I need them?
21:19 – Additional information
0:00 – Information about presentation and Legal Aid of NC
1:44 – what is recoupment?
4:12 – What is a notice of debt letter?
6:05 – Appealing the decision
11:40 – What is a debt waiver?
14:20 – What to do if you have additional questions
1:16 – Why do we need insurance
3:27 – Types of property insurance
7:57 – What is covered
10:14 – What is NOT covered
12:20 – We weathered the storm. What now?
16:39 – What happens next?
17:28 – Why was I denied
21:20 – I was approved but the money will not cover the repairs. Why?
22:50 – What do I do now?
WILSON · July 18, 2019—Thanks to Katashia Cooper, an attorney in Wilson with our Disaster Relief Project, scores of Hurricane Florence survivors will receive valuable relocation assistance packages to help them find new homes.
What ended up as a big win benefiting scores of tenants started as a small case involving one renter with a humble request: Can you help me get my security deposit back?
This tenant—Katashia’s client—is an elderly woman who, before Florence hit, was living in Cypress Village apartments, a public housing complex in Columbus County. Her daughter, who doubles as an in-home aide, lives with her.
Cypress Village was no match for Florence. “The entire complex was destroyed,” said Katashia. “Several units were completely flooded—mold, water damage—just unlivable conditions. They couldn’t return to their apartment.”
Immediately after the storm, FEMA put the tenants up in hotels as part of the agency’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program. The program is supposed to provide short-term lodging assistance for survivors, but the Cypress Village tenants were stuck in their hotels for months.
The problem was that the owner of Cypress Village decided not to rebuild the complex. Since Florence left little other habitable low-income housing in the area, the former tenants had nowhere to go.
In March, nearly half a year after the storm hit, the former Cypress Village tenants were still in their hotels, but their FEMA assistance was running out. What to do?
Our client worked the phones, trying to get an explanation from the complex owner and property manager, but no one returned her calls. With nowhere else to turn, she came to us for help.
All she wanted was her security deposit back. She figured she was on her own when it came to finding new housing, and she just wanted as much money as possible to find a decent place.
“I coached her through writing a demand letter and sending it by certified mail to her property manager,” Katashia said. Thanks to Katashia’s guidance, the letter worked, and our client got her security deposit back.
Katashia wasn’t finished. “This was public housing. How can the owner just not rebuild?” Katashia said. Cypress Village was privately owned, but the owner participated in the Section 8 voucher program run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The program provides real benefits to landlords—guaranteed monthly rent payments courtesy of the federal government—but there are strings attached.
“I didn’t think that a Section 8 landlord could just choose not to rebuild,” said Katashia, so she contacted HUD. After some administrative back-and-forth, Katashia got the good news: HUD was putting together a relocation assistance team to help the tenants find new homes.
On May 29, the HUD team met with about 20 tenants at the office of the Columbus County Housing Authority and unveiled the details of the tenants’ relocations packages: housing vouchers the tenants could use for reduced rent payments in any rental property on the private market, money to cover the security deposit payment at their new home, moving expenses ($1,050 for a one-bedroom), a $100 transportation allowance, $100 to cover application fees for their new homes, and a $100 allowance for miscellaneous expenses.
Katashia’s client, who relocated to South Carolina in May, is thrilled at the outcome, but Katashia—ever persistent—is not quite done advocating for her client. “My client has been paying for storage since September, and she has some other expenses. She has kept meticulous receipts. I’m still in touch with the HUD team.”
RALEIGH, Oct. 11, 2016 – All members of our staff are safe, and none of our field offices sustained serious storm damage, but our offices in Fayetteville, Greenville and Pembroke remain closed today due to the continuing fallout from Hurricane Matthew.
Our Central Intake Unit, which screens all new client applications via our statewide Helpline and online intake application, is operating from a remote location in Raleigh. The storm knocked out power to the unit’s main offices.
Based on our past experiences responding to the legal needs of victims of natural disasters, we know that people’s immediate concerns are practical — shelter, utilities, property damage, etc. — and that legal issues often do not become a priority until much later.
To help people with their immediate concerns, we have collected links to local, state and national recovery resources for victims.
When those affected by the storm do begin to confront legal issues relating to their property, insurance, public benefits and more, they should call our statewide toll-free Helpline at 1-866-219-LANC (5262) or apply online using our guided intake interview.
