UUSC Responds to Unprecedented Flooding in Louisiana

August 29, 2016

UUSC is currently working with local partner organizations in Louisiana to provide assistance to affected low-income populations who have lost their homes, jobs, and livelihoods as a result of the devastating flood that ravaged the state earlier this month.

Our work will be consistent with the support we provided to survivors of the flash floods that struck West Virginia in June of this year. There, we worked with Legal Aid of West Virginia to assist marginalized populations (low-income families, individuals, homeless populations, children, and people living with disabilities) to understand their rights to access FEMA and other government assistance; offer consumer protection education; provide counseling services to help homeowners process insurance claims and avoid price-gouging and other contractor scams; and to assist renters in advocating for their rights with landlords. A second grant was made to the UUC Clean Water Fund program to provide immediate humanitarian aid to local groups serving the most marginalized communities.

Support planned for marginalized residents in Louisiana will also be based on UUSC’s emerging US-South Climate Justice Initiative, which addresses the racial and ethnic disparities of environmental injustices and climate change.