{"id":60579,"date":"2018-02-15T08:54:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T08:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=60579"},"modified":"2018-02-15T08:54:04","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T08:54:04","slug":"over-1000-homeowners-have-registered-for-assistance-through-emergency-home-repair-v-i-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=60579","title":{"rendered":"Over 1,000 Homeowners Have Registered For Assistance Through Emergency Home Repair V.I. Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darryl Griffith, the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s\u00a0(V.I.H.F.A.) executive director, announced at Governor Mapp’s Wednesday hurricane recovery press briefing that over 1,000 people had registered for assistance under the recently announced<\/span><\/a> Emergency Home Repair V.I. Project, which Mr. Mapp said would provide funding for repairs on up to 12,000 homes in the territory. The program, initiated<\/span><\/a> with a $766 million Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) grant, is being\u00a0spearheaded by the local government through V.I.H.F.A. For those that qualify, the program is expected average $25,000 in repairs per home in the territory, according to the governor.<\/p>\n

“The true emergency in this program is that in five months we’re going to be right back in hurricane season in the Virgin Islands, and we’d like to do everything possible to get all of our citizens in safe and habitable homes before that happens,” said Darryl Griffith, who also serves as V.I.H.F.A.’s chief financial officer.<\/p>\n

To qualify, you must:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Be the owner of the home<\/li>\n
  2. It must be your primary residence (you can apply even if you\u2019re living in the U.S., according to the governor)<\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0Be able to substantiate storm damage<\/li>\n
  4. Have a FEMA registration number (If you don\u2019t have a number, apply for one by calling 1-800-621-3362, or online\u00a0here<\/span><\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    According to Mr. Mapp, even if you applied for a Small Business Administration loan and was successful or unsuccessful, you can qualify for help under the new program. And even if you\u2019ve received insurance monies for damages on your home, you can still be approved, the governor said. If you were approved for all personal assistance that have been provided so far, and have received aid, you can still qualify for further assistance under the new program, he said.<\/p>\n

    Interested persons should call the V.I.H.F.A.\u2019s hotline at 844-813-9191, or visit the signup website\u00a0here<\/span><\/a>. You can also simply walk into one of V.I.H.F.A.\u2019s offices located at Frenchtown in St. Thomas, or Lagoon Street in Frederiksted, St. Croix. If you\u2019ve signed up online, there\u2019s no need to visit the physical locations, the governor stressed.<\/p>\n

    There will be three job fairs held across the territory to help residents with registration: February 20 at the Cardiac Center on St. Croix, February 22 at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas, and on St. John the job fair will be held on February 23, at a location yet to be determined.<\/p>\n

    During last week’s press briefing, the governor said his administration was expecting the local workforce to supply 2,500 \u2013 3,000 employees, while the program will require an estimated 10,000 workers. Because of this, workers will be brought into the territory and will be housed in two small vessels.<\/div>\n
    \n

    The governor said there are 15 items that make homeowners eligible to receive funding for repairs under the program. Some of the conditions\u00a0include:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Work to provide essential power supply (damaged weatherhead, for example)<\/li>\n
    2. Work necessary to provide propane gas supply<\/li>\n
    3. Work to provide potable waterline supply (damaged plumbing)<\/li>\n
    4. Repairs to cistern (including cleaning of cistern for contamination)<\/li>\n
    5. Work necessary to repair and replace damaged windows or wall-mounted air conditioning units, ceiling fans or doors<\/li>\n
    6. Weatherproofing to include roof, walls and windows<\/li>\n
    7. Securing or replacing broken windows, and the repairing and replacement of non-functioning exterior and interior doors<\/li>\n
    8. Removal of disaster-related debris to safely enter, inspect and to perform eligible emergency work, and safety shelter in place<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u201cAnything related to the disaster that affects your home, you can apply for this program,\u201d Mr. Mapp said. He said\u00a0Aecom<\/span><\/a>, one of the firms that won the bid for the project, along with V.I.H.F.A., started contacting around 1,000 homeowners on Monday, who sustained roof damage but were deemed ineligible for the blue roof program. \u201cWe are going to reach out to you because we see you as the priority simply because you were not being adequately sheltered, and your home could not be adequately covered,\u201d Mr. Mapp said. Once contacted, these homeowners will visit a designated center to fill out documents. An inspector will then be assigned to determine what the level of repairs are \u2014 which the governor said will average about $25,000 \u2014 before providing the funding.<\/p>\n

      About 9 contractors have already been retained as subcontractors under the main contract of the project, the governor made known, adding that more licensed contractors and tradespeople will be hired. \u201cWe will be doing that across the media and letting folks know what they need to do and where they need to show up,\u201d Mr. Mapp said.<\/p>\n

      The governor also reached out to landlords living in, say, a duplex that was damaged during the storms, asking that they register, \u201cand we will figure out if we can bring you into the program, and if we can persuade FEMA that that\u2019s essential to sheltering,\u201d he said. The governor stressed that registration does not mean that the program has been approved for landlords or renters, \u201cbut we\u2019re working that through.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Darryl Griffith, the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority’s\u00a0(V.I.H.F.A.) executive director, announced at Governor Mapp’s Wednesday hurricane recovery press briefing that over 1,000 people had registered for assistance under the recently announced Emergency Home Repair V.I. Project, which Mr. Mapp said would provide funding for repairs on up to 12,000 homes in the territory. The program, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,191,147],"tags":[7872,121,68],"yoast_head":"\nOver 1,000 Homeowners Have Registered For Assistance Through Emergency Home Repair V.I. Project - V.I. 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