SCRANTON, Pa. — Scranton city officials are working with the Scranton Area Community Foundation to offer flood recovery grants to those affected by last month's flooding.
Mayor Paige Cognetti says the city was able to reallocate some of its American Rescue Plan funding to emergency relief for homeowners in Scranton.
"We're excited that this funding is coming out relatively quickly after this storm. It's $542,000, up to $5,000 per household here in Scranton," the mayor said.
In addition, the Scranton Area Community Foundation has money in its Lackawanna County Flood Relief Fund for community organizations and small businesses in the Lackawanna County area.
"We have the grant-making capacity to help them carry out these grants. So we're using our grants portal for people to apply for this relief funding," said Frank Caputo, the grants and communications coordinator for the Scranton Area Community Foundation.
Flooding on September 9 heavily damaged many homes in the city, including those along the path of Leggetts Creek in north Scranton.
A.J. McKenna and some of his neighbors on Mary Street were affected. They are thankful there will be additional funds.
"Being somebody that was in this and in the middle of it, I think it's great that they're doing something to actually help us out and take a stand for what happened," McKenna said.
"No amount of money is going to bring back the photographs, the wedding albums, the Christmas ornaments, or the motorcycles, the Mustang, but we're hoping that up to $5,000 for these households is going to help them get some of the money back in their bank account or help them meet their deductible to be able to do the repairs to their homes," Mayor Cognetti said.
In the same way that damage was documented for PEMA and FEMA, people will have to do the same for this program. Those affected can start applying on October 30. Officials say they hope to start handing out the money before Thanksgiving.
"We've designed this to expedite the process, and we have everything in place, so we can really turn this around quickly because we know people need the help," Caputo added.
The Scranton Area Community Foundation will facilitate the application process for these programs. You can apply HERE.