Feds to pay unemployed Gatlinburg residents to clean up wildfire damage

PHOTO: K nox News
PHOTO: K nox News

Wildfires ravage Southeast

A federal grant will pay people who lost their jobs in Gatlinburg's wildfires to help clean up the fire damage.

Officials have already begun distributing the $5.8 million grant, which is provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, and which will be managed by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development and Walters State Community College.

The $5.8 million will be spent in chunks throughout the year. Right now, $2 million is available for dislocated workers around Sevier County.

"Our department's workforce services division recognized funding was available through the Dislocated Worker Grant program and knew the money could play a big role in helping recovery efforts in Sevier County." says Burns Phillips, the Tennessee's labor commissioner.

The applicants must fill certain requirements to receive employment through the grant:

  1. Individuals who lost their jobs directly due to the wildfires, regardless of the county in which they reside, or
  2. Sevier County residents who are dislocated workers, meaning they lost their jobs directly or indirectly because of the wildfires, or
  3. Sevier County residents who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

Dr. Tony Miksa, president of Walters State, said the grant will help the county move forward in the recovery process.

Those helped by the grant will work for one of five agencies: Sevier County, the city of Gatlinburg, Sevierville Solid Waste Inc., the Sevier County Humane Society or the National Park Service. The jobs all have to do with assisting in the clean-up of the Sevier County wildfire.

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