H1N1 Flu Preparations and Precautions

On August 26, LANO participated in a White House sponsored briefing regarding the H1N1 virus, or “swine flu,” and its potential to disrupt schools, businesses and social services in the weeks and months ahead.

As community leaders, nonprofits should be aware of this possible threat to public health and organizational capacity, and take steps to minimize its effects.

According to Health and Human Services Director Kathleen Sebelius and Dr. Beth Bell of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, communities are likely to be surprised by the severity of the flu and the speed with which it spreads.

Parents with school age children should expect students to be sent home if showing signs of flu and may be required to remain away from school for 3-5 days after fever subsides.

Businesses and other organizations should anticipate multiple employee absences due to personal or family illness; management should review sick leave policies in case of widespread disease, allowing affected personnel maximum leave flexibility in order to limit additional infections.

A H1N1 vaccine is not expected to be widely available until mid-October. Until then, best precautions against person-to-person infection include:

• Covering mouth and nose while coughing or sneezing


• Regular, thorough hand washing with soap and warm water and the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers


• Avoiding close contact with sick people

LANO provides its member organizations proven guidance on emergency preparedness, including how best to minimize the effects of epidemic disease or other public health concern. For more information, see www.lano.org/disasterpreparedness.

For more on the H1N1 virus and pandemic, see:

• www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu


• http://www.flu.gov/

100 Nonprofit Leaders and Funders to Meet, Seek Partnership

LANO and a consortium of Baton Rouge area funding agencies will host an exclusive one-day seminar on ways to encourage greater collaboration among nonprofit charities and other non-governmental organizations.

The conference, titled “The Collaborative Spirit: Making the Most of Working Together,” will be held Monday, August 24, 2009, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Lyceum Dean Ballroom, 124 Third Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Sandy Jacobson of the Fieldstone Alliance, a nationally recognized nonprofit support agency based in Minnesota, will facilitate the discussion among Louisiana nonprofit executive directors, board members and funding community representatives with a focus on proven collaborative strategies. The Alliance program includes training, research and demonstration projects developed over 26 years to help nonprofits, their funders and networks achieve greater impact through cooperation.

LANO and Capital One Bank recently partnered to publish a survey of fiscal health among Louisiana nonprofits. This report indicates Louisiana’s nonprofit sector faces shrinking pools of funding, a drop in charitable giving, state budget cuts, and rising costs amid growing demand for services. Funding agencies and foundations increasingly encourage clients to share resources to maximize services and efficiency during the nationwide recession.

LANO President and CEO Ann Silverberg Williamson says collaboration has always been beneficial to the nonprofit sector, which traditionally operates on tight budgets even in good economic times. “We thank the Greater Baton Rouge Funders Circle and the Fieldstone Alliance for helping bring these proven strategies for cooperation to Louisiana,” Williamson said. “We look forward to sharing these techniques with all our LANO members and partners in the coming weeks.”

The Greater Baton Rouge Funders Circle includes the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Louisiana Foundation, Capital Area United Way, Capital One Bank, Chase Bank, Cox Communications of Louisiana, Huey and Angela Wilson Foundation, Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation, Junior League of Baton Rouge, and Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation.

Contact:
Kellie Chavez Greene, Vice President of Programs
Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO)
(225) 929-LANO (929-5266) ext 212
kelliegreene@lano.org

Obama Administration Announces Disaster Housing Extension

According to the Times Picayune, the Obama Administration will be extending the Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) until the end of October. DHAP was supposed to end August 31st. The extension is aimed for those families impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita who have applied for housing vouchers but have not made it completely through the application process.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that about 5,000 households throughout the Gulf Coast can continue to receive emergency housing assistance payments through the end of October, or another 60 days.

To qualify for the extension, a family must have applied for a Housing Choice Voucher and been determined eligible for the housing choice voucher program. The Housing Choice Voucher program allows families to rent housing from private landlords and generally pay no more than 30% of their annual adjusted incomes.

The extension is not for everyone on DHAP. Here is the criteria:

1) Family must have received a housing assistance payment from DHAP in month of August 2009

2) Family must have submitted an application for a housing choice voucher before August 31, 2009 and been found eligible in order to get a September 2009 DHAP rent payment. Tenant share of rent will be what it was under DHAP in August 2009. Rent payments by DHAP program can be made retroactively for September 2009 if the family submitted their voucher application and was found eligible after September 2009 rent payments were already made.

3) To get an October 2009 DHAP rent payment, the family must have the voucher and have completed their housing search and submitted a Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) by 9-1-2009. The RFTA is basically a request for a unit to be inspected.

4) No new DHAP contracts will be signed during the limited 2 month extension. Purpose is only to allow voucher eligible families to get from one program to another smoothly.

5) There is no extension for voucher ineligible families currently on DHAP.

Stay tuned for more information and a formal announcement from the Obama Administration.

Nonprofit Office Space in Baton Rouge

Steven Winkler emailed LANO to help get the word out about office space he's got available for nonprofits to rent:

"I own a building on Summa CT. (5222 Summa CT) that currently houses two 'not for profits' and they pay only for their offices and they share the kitchen, front desk, facilities and conference room, so it saves them hopefully lots of dollars. I would like to offer this space to other 'not for profits', but don't know the best way to get to them..."

If your organization is looking to share office space with other nonprofits, you might give Steven a call or email: 225-767-7626 or stevenwinkler3@aol.com.

Disclaimer: LANO has not inspected the building, can't endorse it, and generally isn't in the real estate business. We're just passing along an opportunity that some organizations might need.

Reminder that the Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) Ends August 31, 2009

The state of Louisiana wants to remind everyone that the Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) will expire in less than a month on August 31, 2009.

Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, DHAP has provided long-term rental assistance for eligible families displaced by the storms. The Louisiana Recovery Authority is working to transition eligible families from DHAP to the Housing Choice Voucher program, rapid rehousing assistance, or other options before the deadline.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority created a case management program that has served more than 12,000 DHAP participants, and they will extend these critical case management services for three months past the DHAP deadline to ensure that families transition into permanent housing solutions. Families that need to have their assistance converted to a Housing Choice Voucher should call their local Public Housing Authority to inquire about the process.

To try and reach as many of the DHAP and FEMA trailer residents as possible, the state also is partnering with All Congregations Together (ACT) and other state and federal agencies to host housing outreach fairs in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles and New Orleans during the month on August where families can get information about available assistance options.

Families who cannot attend a resource fair can call 1-866-202-3487 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to have their questions answered.