Disaster "Relief" in New Jersey

Find the article here! http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/30/fema-sandy-aid.html

Although Superstorm Sandy occurred a year and a half ago, the people of the states of New Jersey and New York are still suffering. As devastating as the actual event was to the people living in the area, the aftermath and lack of support is the real tragedy. FEMA has just discontinued support although Many people relied on FEMA money after the hurricane to pay their high rents while their houses were being rebuilt. New York and New Jersey promised better support at the time of the incident, but little has been done to help former home owners; many are still paying for expensive temporary housing with little sign of return or aid to rebuild their old homes. These expenses leave very little money to pay to remodel homes to fit state standards, especially for people who were low-income to begin with. The applications for state government aid have been notoriously slow to respond, unclear in their language, and not reaching underserved populations such as non-English speakers. There have been many cases and paperwork lost as well. Clearly something is wrong with the process currently in place.

The Fair Share Housing Center, a legal team based in New Jersey, piloted the "Sandy Bill of Rights," a lists of the rights that people recovering from the superstorm should be entitled to. The legal team is urging the governor to sign the bill of rights to show his true commitment to the people of New Jersey. The rights include:  

-The right to a plain language explanation of the application process for any recovery funds;
• The right to know why an application is rejected and to appeal that rejection with a specified timeframe;
• The right to know current status of an application and position on any wait list;
• The right to access information in English, Spanish, and any other language spoken by impacted communities;
• The right to a review of racial and ethnic disparities in funding and corrections of any problems;
• The right to have funds distributed by amount of damage and not based on political or other considerations;
• The right to transparent information online about how funds are being distributed.

The Bill of Rights acknowledges that government-aided recourses are distributed unfairly, leaving poorer and more disadvantaged people even more at risk and in debt. This Bill of Rights seeks to provide better services to lessen the inequality of the resources distribution and make the modes of doing so more fair.

What do you think? Is this another Katrina? Do disasters and lack of relief reveal government insufficiency? Can grassroots organizations, like the Fair Share Housing Center, make a change in government operations?