1. Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program
Presented to
National Grants Partnership
June 6, 2006 by
Mississippi Development Authority
Reznick Group
STR, L.L.C.

2. Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program
Made land fall in Mississippi on August 29, 2005
Worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States
Over $125 Billion in damage
65,380 homes damaged or destroyed in South Mississippi alone
Critical need to get grant money to homeowners so they can repair or rebuild

3. Mississippi Development Authority
The Mississippi Development Authority is the State of Mississippiﾕs lead economic and community development agency. More than 250 employees are engaged in providing services to businesses, communities and workers in the state.
The agency is organized into three groups, Economic Development, Asset Development, and Administrative and Financial Services.
The Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program is designed to provide financial assistance to those homeowners outside the flood plain whose homeowner's insurance did not cover structural flood damage. Single-family homes, owner-occupied duplexes and manufactured housing including mobile homes are eligible for grants under this program.

4. Reznick Group
Prime Contractor on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Homeowner Grant Program
Largest CPA firm headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, and the 18th largest public accounting firm in the United States
Three decades of experience working with housing and nonprofit organizations
Solid reputation of providing government agencies with cost effective, practical solutions that address the root causes of problems

5. Federal Financial Assistance
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Community Development Block Grant
Disaster relief
Long-term recovery and restoration of infrastructure
$11.5 Billion made available to MS, LA, AL, FL, and TX
Majority of funds going to MS and LA
Approximately $5 Billion to MS

6. Homeowner Grant Assistance Program
Requirements:
Homeowner’s primary residence on 8/29/05
Homeowner owned and occupied home on 8/29/05
Located in 1 of 4 designated counties
Must have had homeowners insurance
Home located outside the FEMA designated 100-year flood zone
Maximum grant $150,000
Expected between 35,000 and 50,000 applications, reduced to 15,000 after FEMA reviewed its estimates.

7. Grants Software Needed: STR’s eGrantsPlus was chosen
A proven solution that could be implemented within weeks (not years)
A solution capable of interfacing with many other systems
A solution that could be easily modified
A solution that could also serve other MDA grant programs in the future
Available over the internet
STR’s eGrantsPlus was chosen
COTS solution
Currently implemented at Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI)

8. Software Architecture
Web enabled application accessible from all popular browsers on either PC or MAC.
Database and application servers hosted by Rackspace in San Antonio, Texas
Firewalls, separation of processors from database, and use of complex passwords protect the application and data.
Internet
User
Firewall
Application Server Layer
Oracle Application Server
Tomcat Servlet Engine
Database Server Layer
Oracle
Database
Server
Web Servers

9. Homeowner Assistance Program
Mississippi and HUD determined program requirements
Application had to capture extensive information
Homeowner and occupants information
Land/Public records information
Estimated damages
Lien holders (Mortgage) information
FEMA funds request and status
SBA funds request and status
Homeowners insurance information
Within 3 weeks, Reznick established and staffed:
4 major service centers and 3 additional satellite centers to accept applications
Call in center to answer questions and schedule appointments

10. Application Process
Applicants could create application from any computer with access to the internet ( or go to service center
Account creation -- user name and password
Wizard-like screens that move applicant through the process of entering data
Applicant must come to a service center to complete application
Prove identify
Have documents scanned and attached to application
Agree to terms and conditions of grant program
“We limited appointments this week to make sure that we could iron-out any rough spots in the application process, but everything has gone very smoothly.”
Terri Hudson, MDA CFO

11. Unprecedented Verification
Fraud/Identity verification
Every homeowner had to show up at one of the designated service centers with proof of identity, proof of ownership, and proof of insurance
Duplication of benefits
Homeowners insurance proceeds
FEMA grants received
SBA loans received
Interfaces are being developed to verify ALL application data. These include interfaces with FEMA, SBA, insurance companies, mortgage holders, and public records

12. Project Milestones/Status
Software was installed and applications started being accepted 3 weeks after requirements were finalized
Applications were received over a 6 week period starting on April 17, 2006 and ending May 31, 2006.
1500 applications were received the first week through a controlled rollout
13,000 applications were received the first month
15,800 applications were received in total
The verification process has begun
First 6,000 checks scheduled by end of June

13. Questions???
Contact Information
Frank Banda (Reznick Group)
(301)
Scott Meyer (STR, L.L.C.)
(703)