The Partnership’s Disability & Disaster Hotline provides information, referrals, guidance, technical assistance and resources to people with disabilities, families, allies, and organizations assisting disabled disaster survivors and others seeking assistance with immediate and urgent disaster-related needs.

The Disaster Hotline is always available for intake calls, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Our hotline team is led by experts on the many issues affecting people with disabilities in disasters and strategies for meeting those immediate needs. Our team will respond to your call as soon as possible, often immediately, and we intend to respond to all callers within 24 hours.

We can provide accessible and multilingual information to callers, including via videophone for Deaf callers, upon request.

Issues we provide information, guidance, and referrals for:

• Urgent disability-related disaster response referrals
• Prevention of institutionalization during and after disasters
• Applying for, understanding, and navigating FEMA and other federal, state, and local government emergency and disaster programs and services
• Disability rights before, during, and after disasters
• Accessible and actionable emergency information
• Building and neighborhood evacuation
• Accessible transportation
• Sheltering and temporary housing
• Disaster housing programs
• Alternatives to “special needs” and “medical” sheltering and “special needs” and “voluntary” registries
• Health maintenance
• Health care access
• Disability accommodations in disasters
• Repair, replacement, and loaned durable medical equipment, disability supplies, and assistive devices
• Returning home, school, work, and community after a disaster
• Navigating disaster recovery initiatives
• Disaster funding

The Disaster Hotline is available to:

• Disabled disaster survivors, their families, and allies
• Disability advocacy and services organizations
• Community organizations seeking to assist disabled disaster survivors
• Government and non-government representatives from emergency management, public health, medical, private sector, business, voluntary organizations active in disasters, faith-based, elected officials, and others seeking to assist disabled disaster survivors and disaster-impacted communities
• Media inquiries
• Donors and others who seek to support our work