SACRAMENTO, Calif. – To date, $27 million in total federal assistance has made a large impact on helping survivors of the Butte and Valley wildfires repair and rebuild. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) know it takes a whole community effort to recover.

When personal resources, insurance, and government loans and grants are not sufficient to meet the needs of disaster survivors, local long-term recovery groups (LTRG) are formed to provide safety nets.

LTRGs are coordinated with support from Cal OES and FEMA to help individuals, families, and their communities recover. These groups, which are comprised of representatives from local, state, non-profit, and faith-based organizations, help identify the unmet needs of individuals and families.

“Calaveras Recovers” and “Team Lake County” have established themselves as the LTRGs in their respective counties. Each team consists of organizations that can bring experience, money, manpower, and material to assist with recovery needs. They have executive boards, mission statements, by-laws and subcommittees. Fiduciary sponsors participate to ensure monetary donations are properly managed.

The LTRGs organize community volunteers; provide technical assistance to help nonprofit organizations access whole community resources; and assist in determining the most effective and efficient recovery strategies.

“These LTRGs bring together a wealth of local knowledge, from what people are lacking, to who can provide the help. They truly are a safety net for disaster survivors,” said Tim Scranton, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer for the fires in Calaveras and Lake Counties.

“The services and information provided by LTRGs is another valuable resource to help wildfire survivors recover,” said Charles Rabamad, California’s deputy state coordinating officer for the wildfires.

Backing and guiding the LTRGs are the Voluntary Agency Liaisons (VAL). VALs, consisting of state and FEMA representatives, serve as a source of knowledge for LTRGs based on years of providing disaster recovery efforts and addressing unmet needs.

An LTRG team that is well integrated with local emergency management and is following best practices can have a dramatic positive impact on community recovery. It can become an ongoing resource to address unmet survivor needs, support community efforts to recover, and increase awareness of hazard mitigation measures.

Calaveras Recovers has established a website, www.calaverasrecovers.net, to maintain communication with the public. Site visitors can learn about meetings and see the list of LTRG member organizations.

Team Lake County has created a public Facebook page, www.facebook.com/teamlakecounty, which enables conversation and comments from viewers. Facebook membership is not required. A website is available at www.teamlakecounty.org.

For more information on California’s wildfire recovery, visit: caloes.ca.gov  or fema.gov/disaster/4240  and follow us on Twitter @femaregion9 and @Cal_OES and on Facebook at facebook.com/FEMA and facebook.com/CaliforniaOES.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). If you have a speech disability or hearing loss and use a TTY, call 800-462-7585 directly; if you use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 800-621-3362.

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Long-Term Recovery Groups Provide Safety Net for Calaveras and Lake County Wildfire Survivors

TRENTON, N.J. — In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency launched a coordinated effort to establish community-based recovery groups in affected counties of New Jersey.

Long Term Recovery Groups, also known as LTRGs, often become involved when personal resources, insurance and government grants or loans are not sufficient to meet the needs of disaster survivors. LTRGs identify long term recovery needs of individuals and families, utilize community volunteers and assist in determining the best recovery strategies.

There are currently 16 LTRGs established throughout New Jersey and are made up of representatives from different organizations that can provide resources for the long term disaster recovery process.

Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD) support the recovery process when LTRGs are not needed in a community. This group organizes and coordinates local community resources in response to the unmet needs of disaster survivors.

The Bergen County organization is one example of a successful LTRG in New Jersey. Recently, they have recently approved $100,000 in unmet needs assistance to be allocated to survivors in their county, granted temporary use of non-residential buildings to house volunteers, as well as continued the food stamp outreach program. This group has also provided 1,325 volunteers who have contributed 15,000 hours of service.

The Long Term Recovery Center in Bergen County provides disaster survivors with access to local resources as well as the opportunity to fill out requests for assistance from Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) member agencies. There are currently more than 55 faith-based, governmental and non-profit organizations contributing to the recovery effort in the county.

LTRGs throughout the state often are made up of friends, neighbors and community leaders who are able to incorporate the values and priorities of their local cultures in their disaster relief efforts. Based

on their involvement in these areas, voluntary agencies are frequently able to identify specific individuals, families or groups that have special needs after a disaster.

To locate additional assistance, Superstorm Sandy survivors in New Jersey can visit www.nj211.org or call 2-1-1 or 1-800-JERSEY7 to locate additional assistance they may need. For more information on the Bergen County LTRG, please visit www.bergenvoad.org.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

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Long Term Recovery Groups Help New Jersey Sandy Survivors