A forum will be held tonight, Wednesday October 19, 2011, at 6PM by the Mobile Home Residents for Equality and Fairness (MHREF). MHREF is a new resident organization of Vermonters displaced by Irene, who have witnessed first-hand the acute affordable housing crisis, and unique challenges in removing their destroyed homes in order to rebuild, relocate, and recover before impending winter.
The meeting will be held at Old Labor Hall, 46 Granite Street, Barre, Vermont.
Tropical Storm Irene damaged or destroyed public records, changed the course of rivers and streams and sprouted an unexpected thicket of legal issues that will have to be solved by the Legislature.
In an effort to identify some of those issues and propose solutions, Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell announced Tuesday that he has appointed the executive director of the Vermont Bar Association, Bob Paolini, to lead a task force that will have proposals ready for lawmakers when they return to Montpelier in January, the Associated Press reported yesterday.
Storm recovery assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is not just for businesses. Vermont homeowners and renters recovering from damage from Tropical Storm Irene may also be eligible for significant SBA assistance in the form of grants and flexible low-interest loans.
Interested residents need to contact FEMA first and then SBA. Applicants in need of assistance filling out SBA application forms should specifically ask SBA for customer assistance.
Vermont’s legislative and housing program leaders toured the Irene-devastated neighborhoods of Waterbury yesterday and met with FEMA and SBA officials to examine progress and exchange information about the experiences of agencies trying to help.
Read more at VTDigger.org.