Hudson County has lost more than $2 million out of $4 million in Superstorm Sandy renter and home owner relief because agencies assigned to the task of finding people in need failed to reach out into the community, county officials said at the Board of Freeholder caucus last Tuesday.
The one exception noted by Freeholder Bill O’Dea was the Bayonne Equal Opportunity Foundation (BEOF), a not-for-profit that runs a number of programs, including Head Start, senior meals programs, weatherization, and homeless prevention.
The Sandy/Homeowner/Renter Assistance Program (SHRAP) is time-limited to six months of assistance per household. In order to be eligible for the program, an individual or family unit must have financial distress directly related to housing as a result of Superstorm Sandy.
Assistance is also available to help individuals/families with expenses for current or past due utility payments and for the replacement of essential items such as furniture and appliances. Housing payments can be issued to meet a need for current or past due rent or mortgage.
“They put all the others to shame, around the county, and I hope we have a resolution on the next meeting commending them.” – Bill O’Dea
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“They are a model for how this should have been done,” O’Dea said.
Non-government group did a better job
Instituted by the State Department of Human Services shortly after Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012, the program was available in 14 of 21 counties in the state. Many low-lying areas in Hoboken, Jersey City and Bayonne had serious flooding issues, and power outages after the storm also created problems for people.
The state originally gave Hudson County $4 million to help residents in the most heavily affected areas of the county. Despite being heavily hit by the storm, the county wound up with only about $1.9 million of the original $4 million allocated. The program is winding down and is scheduled to terminate at the end of September, and the county is currently processing cases already filed.
The freeholders contracted with a number of charity organizations to reach out and help people who were impacted by the storm.
The BEOF, officials said, became the most effective not-for-profit identifying and reaching out to potential victims of the numerous agencies, including the county’s own Welfare Department.
According to county officials, county welfare was only able to distribute about $122,000 in aid, where as the BEOF distributed nearly $1 million to needy families and individuals. Other agencies were far less effective, officials said.
“They put all the others to shame, around the county, and I hope we have a resolution on the next meeting commending them,” O’Dea said. “Many people around the county were impacted and the BEOF stepped up and put a program in place. They did better outreach than anyone to find who was eligible.”
Bayonne Freeholder Kenneth Kopacz credited BEOF Executive Director Ana Quintella with the effectiveness of the effort.
“I’ve been on the BEOF board for about four years,” he said.
In order to keep tabs on the progress of the program, the freeholder board had initially approved the program for two month intervals. County Administrator Abe Antun asked the board to approve the program until the end of the year since the program is only clearing up existing cases, and no longer involved in outreach, and the board agreed.
The new approval means the freeholders would distribute money to finish the current cases. BEOF would get a total from the grant of about $1.2 million; Hope House of Catholic Charities would get about $427,000; county welfare, $237,000 and Hudson County Administration about $60,000.
“At this point, nobody is going to catch up with what the BEOF managed to do,” Maldonado said.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.