Only three days are left for flood victims to apply for federal disaster assistance from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Mayor Karl Dean is asking Nashvillians to remind friends, family members and neighbors that they must apply for all available federal assistance before the deadline on Aug. 5.
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In addition to assistance from FEMA, Nashville homeowners and renters have already received over $62 million in loans from the SBA. However, many Nashville residents still haven’t taken advantage of the low-interest loans available to to help replace or repair property and personal items damaged in the May flood. Even if someone cannot afford to repay an SBA loan, being turned down may open doors to more assistance at both the federal and local level.

For more information or to apply for federal disaster assistance, call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, or register online anytime at www.disasterassistance.gov.

‘We Are Home’ Rebuilding Assistance Program Provides Additional Financial Assistance for Nashville Flood Victims

The Mayor’s Office has partnered with The Housing Fund to develop a local rebuilding assistance program for Nashville flood victims. We Are Home can provide additional funding to help Nashville residents repair their flooded homes when FEMA and SBA are not enough.

Assistance options include grants, low-cost loans and no-interest loans. Reconstruction projects that require additional resources will be referred to volunteer rebuilding agencies for assistance with materials and labor, including Hands On Nashville, Habitat for Humanity and various faith-based partners.

We Are Home is being administered by The Housing Fund, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization projects, with support from the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency and the Mayor’s Flood Recovery Team. Interested homeowners can call The Housing Fund at (615) 862-6523 to setup an appointment. More information is available online at nashvillerecovery.com.

Mayor Announces Plan to Develop Center for Victims of Family Violence

Mayor Karl Dean announced that his office will lead the development of a center to provide coordinated services for victims of family violence from multiple government and nonprofit agencies in Nashville. The goal of the Nashville Family Connections Center (NFCC) will be to reduce the number of children and youth exposed to family violence. According to the Kids County Data Center, physical child abuse in Davidson County is 2.5 times the national average, and child sexual abuse is almost four times higher than the national average.

The creation of NFCC is one of many strategies in the Children and Youth Master Plan, which was recently unveiled by a 52-member taskforce appointed by Dean in January. The master plan outlines a framework for coordinating community efforts to ensure the well being of every young person in Nashville from birth to adulthood.

The Children and Youth Master Plan calls for NFCC to be modeled after the Family Justice Center approach, which is defined in federal law. The concept is similar to the Metro Student Attendance Center, which Dean helped establish as a partnership between Juvenile Court, Metro Police and Metro Nashville Public Schools in 2008 to address the issue of truancy. During the Attendance Center’s second year of operation, truancy at Metro high schools dropped 17.2 percent over the previous year and 13.8 percent at middle schools.

The Mayor’s Office of Children and Youth will oversee the implementation of the master plan with support from a small advisory council of community leaders. A full copy of the Children and Youth Master Plan is available online.