ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, November 22, 1996              TAG: 9611220045
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER

FEMA AID LEVEL FOR ANOTHER YEAR

Montgomery County will receive a $17,847 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to aid local emergency food and shelter programs, the agency has announced.

That amount is about the same as last year's grant from the annual program, yet still substantially less that the county has received from FEMA in past years.

"For the first time in three years we haven't lost money," said Kymn Davidson-Hamley, director of the United Way of Montgomery, Floyd & Radford.

The FEMA grant represents a substantial part of the money spent annually on emergency assistance in the county. The rest is raised privately.

Over the past five fiscal years, the FEMA grant has been reduced by about 61 percent. The most drastic cut occurred between 1994 and 1995, when the FEMA funds dropped from $43,000 to $23,000.

Homeless citizens and people who need short-term help with necessities such as food, clothing and shelter are hardest hit by the reductions, social workers say.

FEMA's emergency assistance grants come from a national appropriation authorized by Congress. The amount any locality receives is determined by a formula that takes unemployment and poverty rates and population into account.

A stronger local economy and lower unemployment will result in less FEMA money. So grant reductions are good news, unless you are homeless.

At least level funding from FEMA means local emergency assistance programs such as the Community Shelter and the Montgomery County Emergency Assistance program won't have to cut any deeper than they already have, Davidson-Hamley said.

A local board composed of representatives from the United Way, the local Red Cross chapter, New River Community Action and other civic and religious organizations will determine how the FEMA funds will be distributed.

Qualifying nonprofit organizations must apply by the Dec. 5 deadline. For more information or application forms, contact the United Way at 381-2066.

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