Home » News » Press Releases » 2005 » Plano Begins Moving Evacuees into Housing 09/20/05

For Immediate Release: September 20, 2005, 3:30 p.m. Contact: Susan Beckley, PhD Director of Public Information Phone: (972) 941-5716 Plano Begins Moving Evacuees into Housing Over the weekend, the City of Plano closed all of its faith-based shelters that were housing Katrina evacuees. The evacuees were moved into longer-term housing in the form of apartments in the Plano area. Later today the City of Plano’s efforts to coordinate evacuee housing will get another boost. More than 90 families are expected to be moved from hotels and private residences into short-term lease apartments. City officials have secured approximately 600 housing units with the assistance of the Plano Housing Authority. As contracts are finalized, families are matched with faith-based organizations that have volunteered to move the families and to provide them with basic household items and furniture. The faith-based organizations will get their first glimpse of the families they will help assimilate to life in Plano later today during the first round of matching. Last Friday, the City of Plano suspended its registration of evacuees with more than 2,500 processed. Those who did not get registered in Plano are being referred to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), (800) 621-3362 or www.fema.gov, and the American Red Cross, (800) 975-7585.