Harvey Resource Guide

The Texas Woman’s Houston community has been in our thoughts and prayers throughout the past week. We hope that you and your family are safe and that your home has not sustained significant damage. We’ve put together this resource guide for our students, faculty and staff that addresses such issues as disaster recovery, student resources, faculty support, staff support and student and employee assistance program funds. We also have put together a Houston Human Resources Information page to address possible HR and benefits questions you may have. On these pages, you will find the contact information for those who can respond to any individual concerns you may have at this time. Please reach out to these contacts, and they will work to respond to you as quickly as possible.

If you would like to help our Houston family affected by Hurricane Harvey, you may contribute to the student emergency fund or the employee emergency fund. 

We have been in touch with a retired FEMA representative, who spent 21 years helping disaster victims access relief funds. Her advice is that if you haven't already, file your assistance application with FEMA immediately.

If you want to apply for disaster relief by phone you can call the FEMA helpline at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), but be prepared for a wait of 30 minutes or more due to the volume of calls.

You may go online to file for disaster relief at www.disasterassistance.gov and according to our resource, the application process will take at least 20-25 minutes and you will need the following information:

• Social security number
• Insurance Information – you will be asked to identify the type(s) of insurance coverage you have.
• Financial Information – you will be asked to enter your family’s gross total household income at the time of the disaster.
• Contact Information – Along with the address and phone number of your address where the damages occurred, you will need to have information available on how FEMA can contact you. It will be very important that you have current information for FEMA on how they can get in touch with you.
• Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Direct Deposit Information (optional) – If it is determined that you are eligible for assistance and you would like the funds to be transferred into your account, you will need to have your banking information, which includes; your institution name, type of account, routing and account number.

Helpful tips for filling out your application

Before beginning the process be sure to have all information available, especially if applying online. (The system will time out if you take too long.) This includes names of all household members and total gross household income.

"I cannot stress the importance of registering sooner rather than later. Those who apply may be eligible for housing, personal property, disaster unemployment assistance, and other needs." —Our retired FEMA Representative

Representative Available to Answer Questions

Our retired FEMA representative, who is a friend to TWU,  is available to answer your questions by appointment at no cost to TWU community members. Email advinfo@twu.edu  to request an appointment. Please include your contact information and we will get back to you as quickly as possible. You may also call us at (940) 898-3863 to request an appointment.

Note About FEMA Assistance

FEMA Housing Assistance is limited to the Head of Household. More than one member of a household may apply for assistance, but multiple persons registering for the same household will cause a duplication. This may cause a delay until a manual review occurs to determine possible eligibility for each applicant.

Applicants will be asked to prove occupancy. This may be done with a current Utility bill, a current Lease, or for owners with a Mortgage showing the damaged dwelling address.

All Housing Assistance will be in the form of a grant. Other Assistance may be through a grant, a loan, or a combination. Other Assistance is available for Personal Property, Transportation, Medical, Dental, Funeral, and Moving & Storage.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) oversees the “Disaster Loan Program” and works with FEMA to prevent a duplication of benefits. If a person is referred to the SBA they should complete a loan packet. If they are denied they will be referred to another grant program. If they are approved they are not obligated to take out the loan.