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For Immediate Release on Behalf of the Office of Community Development

The Road Home Benefits Do Not Have a Direct Impact on Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid Eligibility Status

BATON ROUGE, La., July 10, 2007 – The Road Home program benefits will not affect eligibility status for Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare benefits, program officials confirmed today.

Agencies and non-profit organizations providing services to individuals and families who are Medicaid, Medicare or SSI recipients and also own homes that were damaged in Hurricane Katrina or Rita are urged to inform recipients that the award from The Road Home program will not impact their benefits.

“Many homeowners who may be eligible for The Road Home have not applied for fear of losing some or all of their benefits, and that clearly is not the case,” said Michael Taylor, director of the Disaster Recovery Unit, Office of Community Development. “They may be losing out on an opportunity to possibly be compensated for damages to their home suffered as a result of Hurricane Katrina or Rita,” he said.

Those who are eligible for the program must apply by July 31, 2007.

To start your application to The Road Home program, visit www.road2LA.org or call 1.888.ROAD.2.LA (1.888.762.3252). TTY callers use 711 relay or 1.800.846.5277.

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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