The state's allocation will target Orleans, St. Bernard andJefferson parishes, but isn't limited to those areas. Once thefunds are on their way to Louisiana, they'll be used to cover thegap between the cost of rebuilding and Federal Emergency ManagementAssociation grants and insurance payouts.

The grant has several goals, including assurance that mortgagebanks receive payments that might have been interrupted becausehomeowners and others couldn't afford to pay and reconstruction."We want to see the money to go to rebuilding," says FrancisCreighton, director of government affairs for the Mortgage BankersAssociation of Washington, DC.

Even better news for those in Louisiana is the process can startalmost immediately because groundwork and legwork about the mannerof distribution has been completed. A $1-billion grant was issuedto Louisiana through the Department of Defense Appropriations Acton Dec. 30, 2005. With that money, Louisiana state and localofficials, along with the Louisiana Recovery Authority created "theRoad Home," a comprehensive plan outlining method for disbursingfunds to approved applicants.