To start, we listened to people’s stories.

The Life Experience research team spoke with people nationwide about this moment in their lives and where the government process could have been simpler and more helpful. The listening sessions captured honest conversations about peoples' experiences, candid feedback on what could have worked better, and what really made a difference for them. Their stories have been combined and are represented here through illustrations. The quotes are real, but names have been changed.

Cristina

Nursing Assistant

Hurricane survivor

Mobile home owner

Jordan

Nonprofit administrator

Tornado survivor

Renter

Linda

Childcare Center Owner

Wildfire survivor

Home owner

Cristina’s story

Cristina

Nursing Assistant

Hurricane survivor

Mobile home owner

Surviving a disaster:

Cristina, her husband Carlos, and their two-year-old daughter, Sofia, are forced to evacuate their mobile home when they learn about a hurricane approaching the area. Once the storm passes, they return to find devastating damage and have no idea what to do next.

Navigating the assistance process: Cristina begins applying for government assistance to repair her home so that it is safe to live in. She is confused and overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork required by multiple government agencies and feels pained by having to repeatedly describe the storm’s damage and her family’s loss.

Rebuilding and coping with ongoing trauma: Cristina eventually receives some money to fix her home but it’s not enough. To make the necessary repairs, she and Carlos take out a loan that they don’t know how they will ever repay. The stress of their new debt and worry about future storms is exhausting.

“I just sort of remember sitting down and filling out a bunch of forms. [It was] confusing because we weren’t sure what the point of it was, we didn’t know what we were getting, but they told us to sign up for this stuff, so we did.”

Pain Point

Burdensome application process

Survivors apply for help and request services from multiple agencies and aid organizations—a repetitive, tiresome, and often re-traumatizing process that takes time and attention away from other recovery tasks.

Jordan’s story

Jordan

Nonprofit administrator

Tornado survivor

Renter

Surviving a disaster:

Jordan and his fiancé Mark survive their apartment building getting destroyed by a tornado but lose most of their possessions. It's confusing to tease out what his renter's insurance will and will not cover. Jordan is fearful for his future.

Searching for assistance: Jordan struggles to understand what assistance he is eligible for. He waits in a long line at a Disaster Recovery Center and is told to apply for certain assistance but later finds out he is ineligible because he is a renter, not a homeowner. By digging through lots of information online, he eventually figures out what makes sense for him to apply for.

Rebuilding and coping with ongoing trauma: Jordan and Mark eventually receive some assistance, but it doesn't cover their costs. This situation is especially tough because the only apartment they can find is more expensive than the one that was destroyed. With everything that has happened, they must put their plans for a wedding and dream of buying a home on hold.

“I [a renter] was told I had to apply for an SBA loan if we wanted to be reimbursed for lost property. FEMA told us we had to be denied by SBA first. When I called for help, I was told ‘We’re just customer service, we don’t really know.’”

Pain Point

Inconsistent information

Many survivors find government websites, printed materials, and interactions with agency field staff inconsistent or uncoordinated. The quality of recovery information varies depending on the staff person or communication channel that a survivor encounters.

Linda’s story

Linda

Childcare Center Owner

Wildfire survivor

Home owner

Surviving a disaster:

Linda is forced to evacuate her home because a wildfire is sweeping her area. She grabs just a few necessities from her house before escaping. The fire destroys her neighborhood, including her home and business.

Navigating the assistance process: Linda is torn between trying to sort out her personal loss and rebuilding her business. She applies for FEMA assistance for her home and an SBA loan for her business even though she worries about going into debt for a business that will struggle in this area now.

Rebuilding and coping with ongoing trauma: Linda eventually receives assistance for her home but is denied an SBA loan because of her low credit score. She makes the difficult decision to close the childcare center and lay off her employees.

“One of the hard parts of being a business owner is that everyone is struggling from a personal perspective, especially your employees. They had no power, they had to go find food. It was a survival thing.”

Pain Point

Lack of business-specific support

Some survivors find there is a lack of guidance and support focused solely on small business owners. Many loan-focused options have inconsistent eligibility requirements, or are hard to understand.

The team conducted interviews in-person, virtually, in English, and in Spanish. Participants included people from twelve states and territories who have experienced hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires and represented various backgrounds—including low-income renters and home owners, parents, the elderly, new immigrants, veterans, and people with disabilities.

The team spoke with:

• 43 survivors
• 22 frontline staff
• 16 government / nonprofit staff