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Individual Assistance Programs Individual Assistance refers to the umbrella of programs that provide direct assistance to people -- individuals, families, small business owners, farmers, ranchers -- via grants and low-interest loans. The two other major program areas -- Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation -- help people indirectly by assisting local governments to repair infrastructure and to devise and undertake hazard mitigation measures. The types of assistance available to individual disaster victims after a Presidential declaration include funds for temporary housing, grants to meet serious needs and necessary disaster-related expenses, and low-interest loans to repair or replace real and personal property. Most federal assistance is in the form of low-interest loans to meet expenses not covered by local and state programs or by private insurance. In most cases, qualified applicants receive checks in three weeks or less. The Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Secretary of Agriculture may also independently declare disasters in order to provide loan and grant assistance under their statutory authorities. SBA economic injury loans and the assistance available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also extend to individuals in contiguous counties. The other forms of assistance described in this section are only available to the counties declared for Individual Assistance, For the 1997 disaster, FEMA Individual Assistance is available in only Larimer, Morgan and Logan Counties. FEMA's National Teleregistration Center (NTC) helps to optimize the timeliness and convenience of disaster assistance by taking a single application by phone for all Individual Assistance programs. The national toll-free telephone bank and computer center is staffed with trained service representatives, who attempt to match callers with the types and nearest sources of disaster aid specific to the needs of each disaster victim. The computer system electronically transmits application information to the various assistance providers within minutes of each call. Homeowners, renters, business owners, and farm and ranch operators may be eligible for assistance from a variety volunteer, local, state and federal agencies, Sometimes referred to as the ladder of assistance, the needs of individual victims are first addressed by the American Red Cross with succeeding levels of assistanc available to address unmet needs, from private insurance to loans, housing assistance and grants. At the bottom of the ladder is a safety net, which includes the Cora Brown Fund, private donations, and assistance available from other volunteer agencies, church groups and charitable organizations. Depending on the nature of disaster impacts, the following programs may be triggered by a disaster declaratio~ to help meet the needs of individuals and families. I 26 COlORAdo OffiCE of EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT