New Mexico Legal Aid is offering its services to help wildfire victims fill out applications for relief and other legal needs.
The assistance is much needed as residents impacted by the fire struggle to figure out how to recover from the devastation. Many of them were forced from their homes, lost property, and lost businesses. Acquiring the basic needs for everyday life has been a challenge.
“What we’re expecting is that people are going to have difficulty with FEMA applications because there’s a tremendous amount of information that has to go into each one, especially in regards to ownership of property,” Lewis Creekmore, executive director of New Mexico Legal Aid, told KOB.
Creekmore said Legal Aid can help with FEMA applications, accelerate any appeals and address any denied disaster unemployment benefits. “It’s going to continue until the great majority of the legal needs are met, the fires are still burning, there are going to continue to be victims,” Creekmore told KOB.
New Mexico Legal Aid is one of several nonprofits helping serve victims in Colfax, Lincoln, Mora, San Miguel and Valencia counties. “Disasters have ripple effects, it’s not just the rain, it’s not just the fire, it’s not just the building that disappeared, but it’s the lingering effects on the people,” Creekmore said.
Those in need of assistance should keep in mind FEMA applications are due July 5.