The diversity in our experience is one of our greatest strengths. We are happy to provide our expertise to all levels of government and non-profit entities, and we have proudly served in states as diverse as Texas, New York, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and New Mexico. H2O has worked closely with four FEMA Regions, FEMA Headquarters, and many state divisions of emergency management, housing authorities, and environmental quality agencies, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the New York State Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the Texas General Land Office. >> HOW CAN WE HELP?
H2O has worked with over 65,000 grants and subgrants worth more than $12 billion in four different recovery programs:
FEMA Public Assistance
H2O team specializes in developing and managing post-disaster Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation programs at the local, state, and federal level. H2O has served on several state-level close-out programs, Federal PA TAC teams, and we are expert at providing audit, appeal, alternate project, and insurance reviews.
FEMA Hazard Mitigation
H2O has developed 404 and 406 Hazard Mitigation grant applications and plans ever since FEMA implemented these programs. We have assisted clients with all phases of obtaining HMGP funding from application development through approval, including answering all Requests for Information from FEMA.
HUD CDBG-DR
H2O leverages our extensive disaster experience in the performance of program management and project oversight for HUD Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery. From large-scale infrastructure projects, to individual buy-outs, H2O is adept at providing in-depth policy guidance, technical assistance, process and workflow improvements, and training.
FEMA Individual Assistance
H2O understands — and have many staff who have experienced — the great stress that people endure when their homes are hit by a disaster. With empathetic, experienced, and multi-lingual staff, H2O can communicate with homeowners, renters, local officials, and other stakeholders in a straightforward and compassionate manner.
With diverse professional backgrounds — including floodplain management, engineering, and commercial and institutional building experience — we're able to offer an unparalleled experience to our partners.
H2O believes that response and recovery from natural disasters requires a tailored, flexible, and cost-efficient approach, designed not only to meet a community's recovery needs but also to help make that community stronger and safer for the next disaster.
Cost-Efficient and Well-Organized
H2O runs cost-efficient, well-organized teams. Our recovery team stays up to date on administrative cost procedures, including FEMA's Direct Administrative Costs (DAC) and HUD's Program Administrative Costs, and we’re committed to helping eligible communities recover as much of their costs as possible.
Expert-Level Consulting
H2O provides all of the recovery expertise communities need under one roof. Our teams consider all funding sources and grant opportunities for a given project, and provide expert-level consulting to help governments make the most of the dollars available. We know that maximizing reimbursements is critical to a successful recovery.
Creative and Dynamic Solutions
Our team of recovery and mitigation experts bring innovative, dynamic, and tailored solutions to every community. We think creatively, research new and unusual ideas, and find solutions to even the most frustrating recovery problem.
What some of our customers had to say:
H2O @ Work: Understanding Global Match
Perhaps the best illustration of H2O’s extensive and diverse experience is our work with the New York Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR), established in June 2013 to help the state to recover from Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, and Hurricane Sandy. Having received roughly $17 billion in total disaster recovery funds, the State of New York was looking for innovative solutions to some growing problems — redundant or conflicting administrative requirements across federal grants, overlapping mandates by different federal agencies, limited to no funding at the local level — all of which created roadblocks to recovery and ultimately left disaster money on the table.
In an effort to leverage the maximum amount of funding possible, GOSR implemented a Global Match program designed to leverage the state’s $4.4 billion in CDBG dollars as a non-federal match for FEMA’s grant programs. H2O was a proud partner in this effort, helping the state review roughly $500 million in HUD acquisition projects for FEMA eligibility, creating matching FEMA HMGP buyout applications, completing reviews for $7 billion in FEMA PA projects for CDBG eligibility and authoring roughly $1.21 billion worth of infrastructure project applications for HUD CDBG-DR and FEMA programs.
The use of this match strategy allowed New York State to best leverage the available federal funding, without stressing local community budgets. This allowed the state to lower the barrier to entry for communities that would have otherwise not been able to benefit from the program due to the match obligation. H2O’s GOSR work required an extensive understanding of CDBG-DR, FEMA HMGP and FEMA PA requirements, as well as a comprehensive set of project management and administrative skills. It is an excellent demonstration of our diverse expertise and showcases our ability to work in complex environments to achieve outstanding results for our clients. >> LEARN MORE ABOUT H2O'S GLOBAL MATCH EXPERIENCE