BATON ROUGE, La. — Much needed trailers and other emergency housing options could be coming to the state’s hardest hit areas as soon as this week, according to an announcement from Governor John Bel Edwards’ office.
The program, which is funded by FEMA, will work along with, and not in place of FEMA’s programs for housing, but Edwards is trying to quickly move to provide safe, non-congregant housing for people whose homes have been completely destroyed or are considered to be unlivable.
“There is no doubt that there are people currently living in unsafe or unsanitary housing because of Hurricane Ida, which is not acceptable. Housing is the biggest challenge facing those affected by this devastating storm, and our state-run sheltering program is a safe, creative, temporary solution to get more people closer to their homes as they rebuild,” Gov. Edwards said.
To sign up for the program, affected residents should visit https://idashelteringla.com/en-US/ or call (844) 268-0301.
The goal of the program, in addition to allowing people to live closer to their homes as they work on repairs, is to provide space between residents during the COVID pandemic.
The program offers non-congregate sheltering, which is different from traditional sheltering options to provide a living space that offers some level of privacy. Sheltering options may include hotels, base camps, crew barges or recreational vehicles (RVs), including travel trailers that typically hitch to an existing vehicle. While this program is funded through FEMA, it is run entirely by the state.
Residents can check the availability of shelters in their areas by texting LAShelter to 898211 or dial 211 to locate a shelter or by visiting www.getagameplan.org.
Many residents in the hard hit coastal areas have been living in tents or makeshift "tarp tents" in their yards while their homes are wholly or partially unlivable.