Dear Community Members of NY-14,
This week, President Biden approved an expedited Major Disaster Declaration, which allows FEMA to approve up to $34k per person for those that suffered damages from Hurricane Ida. You can apply online here, via phone at 1-800-621-3362 (TTY 1-800-462-7585), or using the FEMA Mobile App. The fastest way to apply is online. People applying for assistance by phone are experiencing long hold times and busy signals.
We’ve also compiled a list of other recovery resources on our website that you might find helpful. The City is providing free meal services, there are unemployment benefits available if you lost your job due to Ida, and more.
Additionally, we’ll be discussing hurricane recovery and relief during our town hall next week Tuesday, September 14th at 5:30 pm. You can register here. We’ll be sharing information about the FEMA disaster relief grants for families and individuals, and we’ll have a representative from the Small Business Administration on to discuss resources available to small businesses. CART open captions will be available, in addition to translation in Spanish, Nepali, Mandarin, and Bangla.
If you missed our August town hall on Afghanistan, Emergency Rental Assistance, and the Reconciliation and infrastructure packages, you can watch it in English here, or in Spanish, Nepali, and Mandarin.
In other news, New Yorkers who couldn’t previously access the New York State Excluded Workers Fund (EWF) because they didn’t have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), can now apply. We’ve included more information below. EWF provides income replacement checks to workers who were excluded from COVID-19 pandemic unemployment benefits most often because they are or were undocumented. Eligible New Yorkers could receive payments of up to $15,600 from the fund.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have any questions or if we can be of any other assistance. You can reach our office by sending a message HERE or by calling 718-662-5970. Our office is also now scheduling select in-person appointments if virtual assistance doesn’t work for you. Thank you, as always, for the opportunity to serve you.
In service,
The Office of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez