ELK, Wash. — Spokane County families impacted by the Gray and Oregon Road fires now have potential access to low-interest disaster loans.
Disaster Recovery Centers opened Thursday in Medical Lake and Elk to help those families with the process of registering for that assistance.
The Disaster Recovery Center in Elk is set up at the Country Church of the Open Bible. These centers can help you register for assistance. But, it's also an opportunity for face-to-face conversations with agencies who can answer questions about your case.
"We're here and we're here to help and I think that that is a is an assistance in and of itself," FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Duke Davis said.
Davis encourages families to take advantage of these centers. He says wildfire victims may leave here with solutions to getting their assistance.
"Some folks may hear that their particular case doesn't have enough information, and we're not ready to do a payout at this point," Davis said. "Please come in and register, talk to us about your file, and let's help you try and get to yes."
He says FEMA can help start the recovery process. But, the Small Business Administration also has programs to help families get closer to normalcy.
"If you really want to get back to whole and have that discussion of getting back to whole, that's where the small business administration comes in with their ability to give an interest rate as low as 2.5% for up to $500,000 in some cases," Davis said.
Three things you should bring to the centers are insurance documents, titling documents and any receipts of major items lost in the fire.
The centers set up in Elk and in Medical Lake will be around as long as they are needed. So, anyone with questions can access these resources for help. However, the Medical Lake Center will close at 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 1 for maintenance.
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