Common Ground

-DAN STEFANIDES
I spent the week working at Common Ground, along with Jack, Eli, and Tom. I spent my time working on a number of different tasks including writing a demand letter in a landlord/tenant dispute, gathering signatures for a pettition that would limit the amount that landlords could raise the cost of rental units from pre-Katrina levels, and writing a brochure about the risk of foreclosure

I also spent a lot of time working through the red tape that is FEMA to attempt to help people recieve some of the benefits that they are entitled to. The main project that I worked on in this area was working with the Corporate Lodging Corporations (CLC) Dissaster Assistance Program (DAP). The CLC is a private company that recieved a contract from FEMA to implement the DAP. DAP is a housing assistance program that instead of giving money to the disaster victims it pays the money directly to the landlord. Many residents want to sign up for this program because it makes it much easier for them to recieve the aid. However, to be eligible for this program the tenant needs to have the landlord sign up and many landlords are relunctant to do so for whatever reason. My job was to write a memo to give to landlords that explains the process in plain language so it is easier for the landlords to sign up for the program and the for the tenants to recieve the aid that they are entitled to.