Storefront for Long-Term Recovery Opens in La.’s Vermilion Parish

The Vermilion Parish Long-Term Community Recovery Team has opened a storefront at 102 N. Henry, Abbeville, Louisiana, 70510.

It will be a resource center for local citizens to participate in recovery efforts for Southwest Louisiana, in coordination with the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The storefront will be open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“The storefront presents the perfect opportunity for our citizens and businesses to collect information on how our community was affected by Hurricane Rita, what resources are available, and how to best use them in order to recover and rebuild the parish and the region in the long term,” said Vermilion Parish Police Jury President Hubert Faulk.

The Long-Term Recovery Team will solicit input from local citizens on area needs and future recovery suggestions through the storefront, along with a series of community meetings and surveys to help develop a long-term recovery plan. All local input will be rolled up into regional and statewide strategies to help direct state and federal recovery assistance. To encourage citizen participation, an awareness campaign features the theme: “Louisiana Speaks. Our Voice. Our Plan. Our Future.”

“This Vermilion storefront is one of the outreach offices we are establishing in severely-impacted parishes. It’s staffed by a group of highly qualified recovery specialists with expertise in areas such as engineering, architecture, planning, economic development and housing,” says Brad Gair, FEMA’s Long Term Community Recovery director. “We’ll work with the local leadership and residents, along with the LRA and other state and federal agencies over the next few months to develop a set of essential recovery tools to enable the community to define and plan their recovery.”