BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Beginning on July 22, 2024, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is opening offices with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to offer low-cost loans.
The loans are to help businesses and residents to recover from the damaging storms on June 25, 2024.
You may be eligible if you live in the following counties: Brown, Clay, Greene, Jackson, Lawrence, Monroe, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo.
The Disaster Loan Outreach Centers (DLOCs) will help residents file claims and answer questions about the assistance that's available to help them recover.
The Monroe County Loan Outreach Center will be open until Aug. 5 at Frank Southern Ice Area. That's 2100 S. Henderson Street in Bloomington. It will be open from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. during the week, and from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Vigo County Loan Outreach Center is located on the Ivy Tech Campus at 8000 Education Drive in Terre Haute. It will also be open until Aug. 5. The hours are 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Friday; and from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
Even if you do not qualify for an SBA loan, you may qualify for help from the Indiana Disaster Relief Fund. The workers at the DLOCs will be able to help you apply for that aid too.
The deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Sept. 16, 2024. Those seeking Economic Injury Loans have until April 17, 2025 to apply.
(NOTE: The video at the top of this story is about neighborhood cleanup after the storms.)
Indiana's new disaster relief law
Under a new law, people will be able to apply for more money from the state — up to $25,000. Before, the limit was $10,000.
Communities will also be able to get money for the fund to take proactive measures to help should disaster strike.
"Safety measures, making sure a community has a plan of what to do whenever disaster strikes, be it tornado or really bad storm," said State Sen. Cyndi Carrasco (R-District 36). "Another is to access dollars to be able to rebuild some of their structures in a way that is going to be stronger and withstand storms maybe later on."
Money in the state's disaster relief fund comes from taxes from the sale of fireworks.