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For Immediate Release

Easter Seals Louisiana to Team with The Road Home Program to Focus on Elderly and People with Disabilities

BATON ROUGE, La., July 26, 2007 – Easter Seals Louisiana has entered into an agreement with The Road Home program to provide outreach efforts to homeowners affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita who are elderly or have disabilities, program officials announced today.

"With its unique understanding and history of service to the elderly and individuals with disabilities throughout the state, Easter Seals will be able to perfectly fill the role of assisting these individuals as they move through The Road Home process," said Michael Taylor, director of the Disaster Recovery Unit, Office of Community Development.

Selected through a competitive process, Easter Seals will assist the elderly and individuals with disabilities through The Road Home process as follows:

• Assist in locating and assembling required documentation to help facilitate The Road Home application process;
• Coordinate transportation through common carriers or contracted transportation providers to and from Housing Assistance Centers;
• Provide in-home assistance to the client to follow up on the status of an application or trouble shoot with the client;
• Accompany the client to the Housing Assistance Center, if needed;
• Answer Road Home related questions and provide appropriate community based referrals, in addition to housing needs. i.e., mental health, VA, SSA, etc;

Any Louisiana homeowner who has yet to apply to the program can start the application process by visiting www.road2LA.org or by calling 1.888.ROAD.2.LA (1.888.762.3252 or TTY: 1.800.566.4224). Those homeowners must apply before the July 31, 2007 deadline.

Homeowners who need assistance or have already started the application process may contact Easter Seals directly by calling 1.866.996.4243 (1.866.996.4AID) for assistance.

Easter Seals Louisiana is a nonprofit, community-based health agency whose mission is to help people with disabilities achieve independence. Easter Seals Louisiana has been providing programs and services helping children and adults of all ages with disabilities throughout Louisiana since 1951.

It is estimated that nearly 500,000 people with varying degrees of disabilities reside in Louisiana. In many cases, an individual may have a combination of two or more disabilities, creating unique circumstances and needs for each individual. With offices in New Orleans, Metairie, Covington, Thibodaux, Alexandria, Shreveport, and Monroe, Easter Seals has earned a reputation as one of the State's most trusted and respected non-profit organizations.

The Road Home program is designed to provide compensation to Louisiana homeowners affected by hurricane Katrina or Rita for the damage to their homes. This groundbreaking program represents the largest single housing recovery program in U.S. history. Working together, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Office of Community Development created The Road Home program with the approval of the Louisiana Legislature. The program affords eligible homeowners up to $150,000 in compensation for their losses to get back into their homes.

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