BATON ROUGE, La. – A Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) will open Monday, Nov. 3 in New Iberia and remain open through Friday, Nov. 15 to assist residents who had damage or losses from hurricanes Gustav and Ike, according to Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials.
DisasterRecoveryCenter location and hours of operation:
Iberia Parish
Iberia Parish Fire Protection District 1
2309 Avery Island Road
New Iberia, La
Open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.
AdditionalDisasterRecoveryCenter locations will be announced in the coming days.
DisasterRecoveryCenter staff can answer questions about registration for disaster assistance and hazard mitigation, help with disaster loan applications and provide information and contacts for other programs.
Homeowners, renters and business owners affected by hurricanes Gustav and Ike are encouraged to register for assistance by calling the toll-free registration line at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) (TTY 1-800-462-7585) which is open 24 hours a day seven days a week. Applicants also may register on-line at www.fema.gov.
Residents are encouraged to register prior to visiting a DisasterRecoveryCenter.
Officials remind affected residents who have already filled out damage report forms with the state, parish emergency managers or voluntary agencies that they must register with FEMA at the above numbers or Web site to be considered for federal assistance.
All residents also are encouraged to get involved with the recovery process by helping spread the word about available assistance and the registration numbers.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) representatives at the Disaster Recovery Centers will meet individually with each applicant to provide assistance in completing his or her disaster loan application and to accept completed disaster loan applications. Returning the applications is an essential part of the disaster recovery process even for individuals who do not want a loan.
The SBA offers low-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations for losses not fully covered by insurance. The SBA may loan up to $200,000 to repair or replace homes and up to $40,000 to repair or replace personal property. Up to $2 million is available for uncompensated business disaster losses.
Residents and business owners can receive information about SBA disaster loans and help with the application process by calling the SBA at 1-800-659-2955 or visiting the SBA Web site at www.sba.gov.
Also, Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC) will be open Monday, Nov. 3- Friday, Nov. 7 in Opelousas and Chauvin to assist residents who had damage or losses from hurricanes Gustav and Ike, according to Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials.
DisasterRecoveryCenter location and hours of operation:
St. Landry Parish Terrebonne Parish
Old Courvelle Toyota Ward 7 Citizens Club 706 N. Main St. 5006 Hwy. 56
Opelousas, LA70570Chauvin, LA70344
Monday, Nov. 3- Friday, Nov. 7 from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.
AdditionalDisasterRecoveryCenter locations will be announced in the coming days.
DisasterRecoveryCenter staff can answer questions about registration for disaster assistance and hazard mitigation, help with disaster loan applications and provide information and contacts for other programs.
Homeowners, renters and business owners affected by hurricanes Gustav and Ike are encouraged to register for assistance by calling the toll-free registration line at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) (TTY 1-800-462-7585) which is open 24 hours a day seven days a week. Applicants also may register on-line at www.fema.gov.
Residents are encouraged to register prior to visiting a DisasterRecoveryCenter.
Officials remind affected residents who have already filled out damage report forms with the state, parish emergency managers or voluntary agencies that they must register with FEMA at the above numbers or Web site to be considered for federal assistance.
All residents also are encouraged to get involved with the recovery process by helping spread the word about available assistance and the registration numbers.
U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) representatives at the Disaster Recovery Centers will meet individually with each applicant to provide assistance in completing his or her disaster loan application and to accept completed disaster loan applications. Returning the applications is an essential part of the disaster recovery process even for individuals who do not want a loan.
The SBA offers low-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations for losses not fully covered by insurance. The SBA may loan up to $200,000 to repair or replace homes and up to $40,000 to repair or replace personal property. Up to $2 million is available for uncompensated business disaster losses.
Residents and business owners can receive information about SBA disaster loans and help with the application process by calling the SBA at 1-800-659-2955 or visiting the SBA Web site at www.sba.gov.
FEMA coordinates the federal government’s role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
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Individuals do not need to apply for an SBA loan before they can receive FEMA’s temporary housing assistance, which includes rental assistance, home repair and replacement funds, as well as grants for public transportation expenses, medical and dental expenses, and funeral and burial expenses. However, an applicant must complete an SBA loan application to be eligible for FEMA assistance that covers personal property, vehicle repair or replacement, and moving and storage expenses.
MetLife
MetLife, Inc. announced today that Carlos Suarez, managing partner, New England Financial (NEF) Miami, a MetLife company, was named a 2008 National Hispanic Corporate Achiever.
For more than 25 years, The National Hispanic Corporate Achievers has provided an opportunity for major corporations to gather and honor the accomplishments of their top employees of Hispanic descent. By recognizing the achievements of Hispanics from the business world, National Hispanic Corporate Achievers is illustrating that Hispanics are important to the growth of the nation and the companies for which they work.
Suarez was selected as this year’s Corporate Achiever for his dynamic leadership in the financial services industry. As managing partner of NEF Miami, Suarez oversees all operations, sales, compliance, marketing and business development activities. Since joining NEF Miami in 2004, Suarez has expanded the agency from nine financial services representatives to 38. He is particularly focused on hiring representatives who share the agency’s commitment to educating Hispanic families about how they can achieve their goals and plan for the their children’s future.
Suarez has been a financial planner for 14 years, and hold several professional designations. He received a BA in business administration from EckerdCollege in St. Petersburg, Florida, and an MBA from TulaneUniversity in New Orleans, Louisiana. Suarez is a member of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, Doral Business Council, National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and the Financial Planning Association.
ArtsRecoverySchool
The RecoverySchool District is pleased to announce that it will partner with The Batiste Family, one of our city's most prolific musical families, to infuse Live Oak Elementary School with arts-focused programming with an international flavor.
The BatisteFamilyInternationalSchool of Fine & Performing Arts at Live Oak Elementary School, 3128 Constance Street in New Orleans will be the RSD's flagship school for performing arts programming. The new program, expected to be introduced in spring 2009, will not displace current students at Live Oak, which will continue to have open enrollment.
"The partnership between the RSD and The Batiste Family will allow us to tap into the deep cultural well in New Orleans to bring fine arts and performing arts programming to a school in a way that I don't think has been done before," RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas said. "We're thrilled also to be able to draw on the talents, goodwill and resources of one of the city's premiere musical families."
Damon J. Batiste, President & Cultural Ambassador of the New Orleans South Africa Connection (NOSACONN), envisions bringing in guest artists from New Orleans, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and Japan to work with! student s. In his work with NOSACONN over the last decade, Batiste has developed a solid International cultural music exchange between New Orleans, the cradle of jazz, and South Africa. Among the artists who have come to New Orleans are Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masakela, Jonathan Butler, Youssou N'Dour, and Ladysmith Black Mabazo, the multi Grammy winning artist.
Batiste said planners will work to establish university partnerships to assist the project where needed, such as the creation of music business entrepreneurship programs.
NOSACONN will work to secure grant assistance to underwrite programming and to develop an outreach program to established local musicians and other keepers of local cultural traditions.
Planners envision creative arts programming to include music, dance, visual arts, theater, and creative writing.
"Our commitment is to instill love and goodwill in all students attending The Batiste Family International School of Fine and Performing Arts by teaching and fostering the importance of family and friends through the use of music and all other forms of art," Batiste said.
Given the city's musical heritage and The Batiste Family's tuneful pedigree, music will likely be a big part of the new programming.
"We'd like to help bring the city back from the devastation of the storm by empowering the student population through the arts, and I think we can facilitate that in our great city," said Paul Batiste, who founded the Batiste Brothers band in 1976. The band is well known in New Orleans and has toured extensively in the U.S. and beyond, including three tours in Japan.
"We're trying to help the city out as best we can. Since we are a city of music and hope, I think a facility of this nature would speak to that cause. Our motto will be, 'You don't have to be a musical genius to enter. Our school will give you tools to become one,'" Damon J. Batiste said.
"We teach, the children learn, and the community grows."
Jazz
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc., welcomes Prospect.1 New Orleans -- the largest biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States -- with multiple exhibits in the Foundation's public spaces.
Events begin Saturday afternoon with a jazz funeral for Narvin Kimball, the late banjo player with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band who passed away following Hurricane Katrina and was never properly memorialized. Kimball is the subject of works by the Thai artist Navin Rawanchaikul and his Canadian collaborator, Tyler Russell, which will be shown as part of Prospect.1 in the Jazz & HeritageCenter (1225 N. Rampart St.).
The funeral procession will leave from the Jazz & HeritageCenter at 2:30 p.m. before winding through the French Quarter, ending with a reception at Preservation Hall.
The music continues on Saturday evening, with a performance by John Boutte, Leroy Jones and Paul Sanchez from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Jazz & HeritageCenter. The show celebrates the opening of a Prospect.1 showing of works by Chicago-based painter and quilt artist Tony Fitzpatrick, New York documentarian John Pilson and the Rawanchaikul/Russell project on Narvin Kimball.
The Jazz & Heritage Gallery, located in the Foundation offices at 1205 N. Rampart Street, will host an exhibit of paintings by the late New Orleans artist Roy Ferdinand, Jr.
The Jazz & Heritage Gallery opened in January as the Foundation's first public space for visual art. Exhibits have included a collection of memorabilia and art works from the first two years of Jazz Fest, a retrospective showcasing the Neighborhood Gallery, a photographic documentary of the 2008 Mardi Gras, a quilting workshop and more.
The Prospect.1 opening marks the public debut of the Jazz & HeritageCenter. The Jazz & Heritage Foundation purchased the building, formerly the Tharp-Sontheimer-Laudumiey Funeral Home, earlier this year with the goal of turning it into an educational and performance center.
Prospect.1 opens on Saturday, Nov. 1, and runs through Jan. 18, 2009.
All Prospect.1 exhibits are free and open to the public. Regular opening hours are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc., is the nonprofit organization that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. The Foundation uses the proceeds from that event for year-round activities in the areas of education, economic development and cultural programming. For more information, please visit www.jazzandheritage.org.
