FEMA announces lost wages grant for North Carolina

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WWAY) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved the North Carolina Division of Employment Security’s plan to give an additional $300 per week to those unemployed due to COVID-19, according to announcements from FEMA and the state DES.

FEMA announced the grant as part of the Los Wages Assistance program on Friday, August 21, 2020.

The state DES said the current grant will provide them with enough to pay eligible residents for the first three weeks of August. The state agency added that FEMA said it will assess the availability of funds for additional weeks of benefits, and the letter from FEMA said the benefit will extend through December 2020.

On August 8, 2020, President Donald Trump made available up to $44 billion from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to Americans who have lost wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his order, the president called for states to provide $400 to unemployed individuals weekly, but mandated that 25 percent of that cash come from state and not federal funds.