A deadline for business owners, nonprofits and workers affected by last month’s wildfires in Los Angeles have less than a week to apply for local financial relief.
The deadline to apply for the LA Region Small Business Relief Fund and LA Region Worker Relief Fund is 5 p.m. Sunday, March 2.
The grants were made available after the January fires in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu area and the Eaton fire in Altadena. Those fires — which destroyed more than 16,000 structures — killed 29 people and burned a combined 37,000 acres in Los Angeles County.
See also: California rules will require more fire resistant homes in Palisades, Altadena
The worker relief fund offers $2,000 cash grants to workers who lost income or their jobs as a direct result of the disasters.
The small business relief fund provides cash grants ranging from $2,000 to $25,000 for businesses and nonprofits that suffered structural damage, equipment or inventory loss, or significant revenue loss due to the wildfires. Priority is being given to businesses that were completely destroyed, the county said.
These free grants are a form of financial assistance for a specific purpose, and do not need to be repaid.
To qualify for either program, applicants must be at least 18 years old and live in Los Angeles County. Workers must have been employed or self-employed in the county at the time of the fires.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said the grants were created to provide immediate support as the region works toward long-term recovery.
“I want every bit of relief that’s available to wildfire survivors to be accessed,” Barger said. “If you need assistance, help is available — don’t wait to apply.”
A spokeswoman with the Los Angeles County’s Department of Economic Opportunity could not immediately say how many businesses and workers have applied for relief funds, or how much money is left.
“No funds have been distributed yet,” she said. “The first round of disbursements is scheduled to begin in mid-March.”
The funds were made available on Jan. 24 and the application process began on Feb. 6, she said. The department committed $1 million to kickstart the grant funds, with ongoing fundraising efforts to expand the available resources.
Since the fires swept Los Angeles County communities last month, nine major insurers with customers in the burn areas have reported nearly $12.3 billion in property losses. Last week, Allstate became the first insurer to raise its estimates of property losses, projecting $2.47 billion in losses. The new estimate is nearly $500 million higher than the $2 billion the Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer projected earlier this month.
For anyone seeking more information on eligibility requirements of both business-related relief funds, application instructions, and other resources, see laregionalfund.lacounty.gov before the deadline.
Other funding avenues are available through the state to help with mortgage relief.
On Feb. 20, the California Housing Finance Agency approved a $125 million mortgage relief program to benefit victims of recent wildfires and other natural disasters by June 1.
The program, which taps funds from a legal settlement created after lenders were accused of misconduct during the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, has $100 million to pay mortgages of low- to moderate-income homeowners who face foreclosure due to natural disasters dating to 2023.
An additional $25 million would be used to extend an existing program that provides mortgage guidance on disaster assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The funding would also would help with shelter lodging, pet assistance, prescription medication assistance and food.