DRP in Dayton helps keep community intact

When a series of tornadoes ripped through central Ohio over Memorial Day weekend, Dayton was caught in the crossfire.

Eighteen tornadoes in total touched down that weekend and devastated nearly thirty miles of Dayton and its surrounding communities. Homes were torn apart, roofs were blown off of buildings and many members of the community were left with devastation in their own backyard.

Banding together

Financial institutions and nonprofit organizations in the Dayton area were eager to help and FHLB Cincinnati's Disaster Reconstruction Program (DRP) was the perfect avenue to assist.

Through the DRP, the FHLB offers households assistance in purchasing, constructing or repairing their primary residence. Grants of up to $20,000 are available to homeowners who meet income limitations in declared disaster areas and renters who meet income limitations can quality for $5,000 toward the purchase of a home.

FHLB Cincinnati, CareSource, Huntington Bank, KeyBank, County Corp, Rebuilding Together Dayton, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton and the Miami Valley Community Action Partnership banded together and formed a coalition to better serve the community during this time of crisis and ensure that Dayton and the surrounding areas were able to rebuild.

"In many cases, we see when this happens that communities might fall apart, residents leave, they don’t rebuild, they don’t come back,” Andy Howell, president and CEO of FHLB Cincinnati, said. “And we want to help maintain the integrity of the community and help it thrive and survive moving forward."

#DaytonStrong

The coalition and FHLB Cincinnati worked together to iron out details that would make the process of accessing DRP funds nearly seamless.

While FHLB worked to connect member institutions with sponsors that could assist in the renovations, the coalition worked to set up a phone line to handle triage of calls and cases and help to connect locals with the correct organization to help them.

When her FEMA funds weren't enough to cover the damage, Jessica Brady, a widow and single mother, became the recipient of one of the first DRP grants in Dayton. Learn more about her story.

As the repairs continue in Dayton, FHLB and DRP will remain an important resource for those looking to rebuild and keep the community #DaytonStrong.