On Sept 1st, 2021, the remnants of Hurricane Ida arrived in the tri-state area as a tropical storm. Record breaking rainfall covered major parts of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. As was many others, New York City was hit with an intense force of rain that caused severe flash flooding across the five boroughs. Some lost their lives, trapped in their flooded basement apartments while others managed to make it through the storm but found their lives upended by the damage caused by the storm.

In response, KCS’ Special Projects division conducted a recovery effort for community members to overcome the difficulties created by barriers to language and access to resources for victims.

The main timeline for KCS recovery efforts lasted from September 1, 2021 to January 4th, 2022 to match with the FEMA and SBA deadlines.

The primary assistances KCS provided were assistance in applying for FEMA IHP, appeal processes, and SBA disaster loan applications. Additional case management and other services were provided as needed by the client.

As part of the recovery efforts, KCS first held a “Bottari” (a traditional Korean wrapping cloth used to carry food, store items, moving, and when giving gifts) (Kim, 2021) event to distribute culturally appropriate canned foods and other essentials such as PPE, sanitizers, and relevant services that clients may need to seek out. KCS continuously partnered with government agencies and local community based organizations (CBOs) to tackle these tasks. Additionally, KCS made use of SNS, radio ads, TV ads, and local ethnic newspapers to conduct outreach regarding FEMA eligibility and assistance information.

KCS, through funding from NYC Mayor’s Office’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU), began staff training on FEMA applications and referrals to NYC 311 for city services. The first major event was a FEMA Application Workshop hosted over two separate days to assist the victims in applying for assistance in a group setting with one-on-one assistance.