December 22, 2017 update
The Disaster Assistance Services Center in Philadelphia is closed.
Assistance that was provided at the center is available online on our Virtual Disaster Assistance Services Center website.
For more information on aid provided at the disaster services center, read our press release.
November 3, 2017 update
Hurricane Maria Disaster Assistance Services Center to Move to New Location.
PHILADELPHIA- On Monday, November 6th, the Office of Emergency Management’s Disaster Assistance Services Center (DASC) will operate out of a new location at Philadelphia Parks and Recreation’s Rivera Recreation Center, located at 3201 N 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19140 (5th Street and Allegheny Avenue). The Rivera Center is located on the southwest corner of the building that is shared with the Mann Older Adult Center. The assistance center’s hours will remain 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The assistance center at Rivera Recreation Center, located five blocks west of the current site at the Hispanic Association of Contractors (HACE) building, will continue to provide services to residents of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands who were displaced by Hurricane Maria. To date, 739 people across 361 families have come to the DASC for recovery help since the center opened October 11th.
Those services include:
- Registering for FEMA Individual Assistance.
- Connecting to case management to identify additional needs such as housing.
- Establishing local mailing address for FEMA correspondence and other support that requires a physical address.
- Replacement of personal identification and records.
- Receiving medical referrals such as medication replacement and appointments.
- Applying for SNAP and Medicaid.
- Connecting to career services.
- Providing food and clothing vouchers.
Agencies providing services in the DASC include; the Office Of Emergency Management (OEM), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), Philadelphia Department of Public Health and Medical Reserve Corps, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS), and the Salvation Army.
Rivera Recreation Center allows OEM and partner agencies at the DASC to provide assistance at a location that is central to support services such as medical, mental health, and material needs as well as cultural for those travelling to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico.
OEM is exceedingly grateful for the assistance and space provided by HACE. “Given extremely short notice, management and staff at HACE responded to help residents of Puerto Rico who were showing up in Philadelphia, looking for help after Hurricane Maria forced them to leave their homes”, said Dan Bradley, Director of the Office of Emergency Management. Bradley added, “HACE not only supplied us room to set up a location where all services were available to citizens, but did so with compassion and a desire to help where they could.”