MEDIA ADVISORY: Recent press release issued by the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund contains a number of errors and misleads survivors of the 2005 hurricanes.

WASHINGTON, Wednesday, July 25, 2007 — The American Red Cross believes that the press release “Red Cross Hides Katrina Assistance Funds,” issued by the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund, contains a number of errors and misleads survivors of the 2005 hurricanes.

Of the money so generously donated to the Red Cross to provide for basic human needs immediately after the storms, only 7 percent remains for ongoing recovery programs.  These funds were reserved for long-term recovery and are being rapidly used in specific programs aimed at moving families down the road to recovery. We anticipate that the funds will be exhausted by March 2008. With all that hurricane survivors have endured, we believe they deserve to have the accurate information and this is what the chart below represents. Before survivors spend time filling out an application, we ask that they contact the Red Cross at 1-866-GET-INFO.

ASSERTION	THE FACTS
“It [Means to Recovery] is supposed to allocate a maximum of $20,000 per family to cover occupational costs, housing, furnishing, personal living needs and health costs. This could cover anything from eyeglasses to a used vehicle to education costs.”	The Red Cross has never distributed direct cash assistance to survivors through Means to Recovery for any amount of money. Before any assistance is issued, clients work one-on-one with a case manager to determine their needs. Vendors who provide goods or services to meet that need are paid directly by the Red Cross. No funds are ever given directly to the client. For example, if a client needs repairs to a damaged home, the Red Cross will pay a home improvement store directly for supplies to make the repairs. The $20,000 figure cited here is the maximum benefit available, not a pre-determined allocation. The average figure is much less than that and is used only for the specific items identified and agreed upon in the recovery plan. To provide the approximately 1.4 million families affected by Katrina with a $20K level of assistance would cost $28 billion—14 times more than was donated to the Red Cross—and far more than is available from all nonprofit resources combined.
“Red Cross is trying its best to keep the program a secret and to discourage those survivors who do find out about it.”	Information about the Red Cross's Hurricane Recovery Program, including mental health assistance and Means to Recovery, has been available on the national organization's Website and on the sites of many chapters in the affected area for many months. In New Orleans, Red Cross workers have even gone house to house in affected neighborhoods, passing out information to those who are still there. Across the Gulf Coast, the Red Cross has created more than 1,000 new partnerships, with local organizations, including long term recovery committees. Each of these organizations knows what services the Red Cross provides and how people can access that help. The Red Cross has done numerous media interviews about its Hurricane Recovery Program. Across the nation we have also attended community meetings, met with elected officials, and publicized the initiative through media interviews.
“In Baton Rouge last month several Katrina-Rita families were burned out an apartment complex when lightning struck. Red Cross offered them a hotel stay for two nights and then booted them out, saying that there was no other assistance available.”	The local volunteers who responded to the fire specifically asked the families if they were Katrina survivors. Once the volunteers realized they were Katrina survivors, they told them that additional help was available and told them how to get that help. American Red Cross chapters across the U.S. helped families affected by more than 74,000 local disasters, 93 percent of them home fires, last year. The Louisiana Capital Area Chapter alone responded to more than 400.
“Seems like ARC has several levels of issues that limit its value to people who are not White or wealthy.”	The Red Cross has provided more than $12 million dollars in assistance through its Means to Recovery initiative and provided nearly $25 million in grants to other organization who help hurricane survivors. That assistance has helped people of all races, religions and ethnic backgrounds. 75% of those who have already received funds from MTR are people of color. More than 10,000 people from all walks of life have enrolled in a Red Cross program that provides mental health assistance. Red Cross assistance is specifically aimed at getting help to those who have no other resources, such as homeowners insurance. The American Red Cross readily acknowledges that we need a more diverse force of volunteers. We are working with many organizations, including the NAACP, to address this issue. In fact, we have trained more than 1,200 NAACP members to help with sheltering and feeding. Forty-six percent of people who receive help from their Red Cross chapter in a local disaster are African American, Hispanic or Asian.

The American Red Cross helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Last year, almost a million volunteers and 35,000 employees helped victims of almost 75,000 disasters; taught lifesaving skills to millions; and helped U.S. service members separated from their families stay connected. Almost 4 million people gave blood through the Red Cross, the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The American Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.