A Lift for Disaster Victims

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday established a partnership with Operation Hope Inc., a Los Angeles nonprofit organization, to provide economic counseling and loans for victims of natural disasters and national emergencies.

Under the partnership, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will refer cases from as many as 12 natural disasters annually to the nonprofit’s Hope Coalition, which provides free economic counseling to catastrophe victims. In a national emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will refer requests from individuals.

Operation Hope provides economic information to individuals who have problems with credit, loan and mortgage payments after layoffs, injuries or the loss of a breadwinner, said its chairman and chief executive, John Bryant.

“There’s nothing more devastating than being the victim of a natural disaster,” said Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. “If you escape with your life, there is still an emotional burden to carry. The economic consequences can be far-reaching and long-lasting.”

Although the Red Cross and FEMA furnish immediate health and shelter needs after disasters, families are left to cope with the economic repercussions, said Andrew Sousa, Operation Hope vice president. The organization provides financial counseling, restructures loans for victims and gives referrals to private or governmental lending agencies.

“FEMA does a great job but we’ve learned time and time again they can’t do it all; the federal government can’t do it all,” said Ridge. The Hope Coalition would step in two to five days after the president declared a state of emergency in a disaster area. Staff and volunteers would convene at a disaster site to provide counseling and coordinate financial assistance to victims.

The coalition’s caseload will be 10 times greater because of its partnership with Homeland Security Department, Bryant said.

Dawn Sitahal, 52, of Inglewood, needed the Hope Coalition after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Because of the decline in air travel, she was laid off by United Airlines and spent months looking for work. Four months behind on her rent, Sitahal received a check from Operation Hope and “found great stress relief when I put that check in my landlord’s hands,” she wrote in a letter thanking the organization.

The Hope Coalition has more than 400 Sept. 11-related cases and continues to accept requests from individuals affected by those attacks. More recently, it has provided aid to victims of the October wildfires in Southern California.

Founded with $61,000 by business executives, lawyers and banks to help Los Angeles rebuild after the spring 1992 riots, Operation Hope has become a multimillion-dollar self-help organization. Although it now operates nationwide, 40% of its cases are from California.