ACL Awards Three Grants to Help with Disaster Recovery Efforts in Guam, Hawaii, and Mississippi

ACL has awarded three grants totaling over $1.3 million to assist with recovery efforts in Hawaii, Guam, and Mississippi due to disasters that included wildfires, a typhoon, and tornadoes.



The Hawaii Department of Health Executive Office on Aging received over $1.1 million. The Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services Division of Senior Citizens received $200,000. The Mississippi Department of Human Services Division of Aging and Adult Services received $10,000. All three awards are one-year grants.



This funding is provided under the Older Americans Act (OAA), which authorizes limited funding to state units on aging (SUAs) and OAA Title VI grantees. The funding helps offset the costs of meeting critical needs of older adults in recovery efforts when a major disaster is declared by the president of the United States. As funding is available, eligible organizations work with their ACL regional administrator to submit an application to ACL through grants.gov.



In Hawaii, the Hawaii Executive Office on Aging will coordinate closely with the Maui County Office on Aging (area agency on aging) and the Alu Like, Inc (OAA Title VI grantee) to address the needs of Hawaii’s kupuna (Hawaiian word for elder) and their caregivers in communities impacted by the catastrophic wildfires in Maui in August. This includes ensuring that the services and nutrition (including meals) administered through this grant will be executed with cultural humility and in a manner determined by the Native Hawaiian kupuna and their service providers to best meet their needs. A senior center that served as both a congregate meal site and an adult day center in Lahaina was completely destroyed, so funds will be used to meet the increased cost of providing services in temporary, alternative locations, such as hotels where survivors are being housed. These services include supportive services, such as case management, transportation, and meals, as well as help with the increased cost of ensuring continuity of services.



In Guam, funding will be used for the ongoing recovery from Category 4 Typhoon Mawar in May. Typhoon Mawar made landfall with sustained winds up to 140 mph, gusts up to 170 mph, and rainfall of up to two feet, resulting in substantial damages throughout Guam. This funding will be utilized to restore the operations of 12 senior centers to continue to provide OAA services and programs to older adults and their caregivers who were impacted by Typhoon Mawar. Older adults that are priority are those identified by case management as at-risk, including those who live alone, require escort assistance, are oxygen-dependent, and/or require refrigeration of medication such as insulin. The funding will go towards hygiene kits, drinking water, shelf-stable food items, generators for five senior centers to maintain operations during recovery, staff overtime, and equipment. 



In Mississippi, funding will be used to reimburse area agencies on aging for their recovery efforts from the slow-moving storm system that included three tornados over a four-day period in March. The impacts included widespread loss of power and flooding, as well as damaged and destroyed buildings and homes. The funds will be used to reimburse the area agencies on aging in the impacted areas for emergency/shelf-stable meals and material aid, including personal hygiene items and cleaning assistance for older adults’ homes to make their homes habitable post tornadoes.



For questions about the grant award, contact kathleen.votava@acl.hhs.gov.