By MOAA Staff

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene brought a surge of applicants seeking help from The MOAA Foundation’s Crisis Relief Program, with many more servicemembers, veterans, family members, caregivers, and survivors expected to reach out for assistance in the wake of Hurricane Milton.

The program can send up to $1,000 to approved applicants in as little as three days, allowing them to cover emergency expenses in the face of often-unrelenting and unforeseeable challenges:

    A Navy veteran in Greeneville, Tenn., “lost my home, pets, money, everything” to Helene when rising water washed away his riverside residence. “I have nothing but the clothes on my back. I’m staying with my granddaughter until I can get back onto my feet.”
     
    An Air Force veteran saw their North Carolina hometown “devastated” and could be waiting nearly a month for restored power. “We’re having to wait in long lines to get hot food to eat. Our family can’t bathe or wash any dishes or wash our dirty clothes. … We have lost our entire freezer and refrigerator of food. … I could normally pay for most things, but we have never been hit this hard.”

    A former Navy officer in Florida said Helene brought a “devastating impact on our life. … Trying to balance our existing jobs in the midst of this traumatic event is challenging, not to mention the expenses that will be required to get our homes back into a livable condition.”