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Media are welcome to come to the Nebraska State Office
Building at 301 Centennial Mall, South in Lincoln, NE. Governor Heineman will meet with
the employees at 8 a.m. in Conference Room Lower Level F. Expected departure will be
around 9 a.m. from the north side of the Nebraska State Office Building.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2008
CONTACT
Jeanne Atkinson, Communications and Legislative Services, (402) 471-8287
Health and Human Service Workers Assist Relief Efforts in Louisiana
Lincoln – Thirteen employees of the Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS) will leave tomorrow for the Gulf Coast region to help process disaster food stamps
as a result of Hurricane Gustav.
"Louisiana is experiencing widespread power outages, and the disaster food stamp
program helps residents in critical need," said Gov. Heineman. "The fact that
Nebraska state employees are willing to share their time, speaks well to our commitment to
others in need. People in crisis from natural disasters shouldn’t have to worry about
whether they have food for their families."
The federal disaster food stamp program is intended to put food back on the table for
low-income people who experience losses from flooding and power outages.
The DHHS employees deploying are experienced in processing food stamp benefits and have
worked with the disaster food stamp program. They come from DHHS offices all across the
state, ranging from Rushville to Omaha. They will be assigned to the southern part of
Louisiana and will be gone for up to two weeks. The State of Louisiana will reimburse
Nebraska for expenses for lodging, meals and transportation.
"We learned how devastating power outages can be after several Nebraska
communities were hit by summer storms, leaving thousands of Nebraskans temporarily without
electricity," said Gov. Heineman. "I want to thank each state employee who will
be deploying to lend a hand to communities and people in need."
Todd Landry, director of the DHHS Division of Children and Family Services, said,
"We have a well-trained work force, and I’m not surprised that these employees
are willing to respond to another state’s need."
"Federal USDA staff who visited Omaha were impressed with how DHHS employees
responded to the need and adjusted when necessary to get the job done," Landry said.
"I'm proud of our staff and the many volunteers who helped."
As a result of several summer storms, DHHS approved one-month's worth of disaster
benefits for 23,557 households statewide, bringing over $11 million of federal funds into
Nebraska for food purchases.
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