Photo by Cooper Pitts for The Lafayette
The grants were announced after Easton community members hosted a community block party supporting Hotel Hampton fire victims.
Federal and state funding is heading Easton’s way, following a February fire that ravaged multiple downtown buildings.
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced on March 6 that the state’s request for federal funding was approved. He also activated a state disaster recovery program that offers grants to residents and businesses who do not qualify for federal funding.
Jeff Jumper, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, said that the Disaster Recovery Assistance Program funding primarily serves as a stopgap for residents who “fall through the cracks” of disaster relief funding.
“This program isn’t really designed to make them whole,” Jumper said. “It’s designed to get them back on their feet.”
The funding announcement came days before roughly 15 still-displaced residents were transferred to Christ United Methodist Church in the city’s South Side. Residents had previously stayed at Northampton Community College and Paxinosa Elementary School in the wake of the blaze.
Debbie Jakala, a spokeswoman in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s disaster recovery office, which provided the federal funds, said that the agency’s temporary outreach center at Easton City Hall would increase access to applying for aid.
“What we really pitch is the ability of coming in and meeting one-on-one, face-to-face,” Jakala said. “Our presence definitely generates attention.”
Jakala wrote in an email that the agency is only called upon when states and local partners determine “our agency’s response can possibly be a support option” to affected residents. A March 2025 fire at Hotel Lafayette also displaced around 40 residents, but did not receive federal funding.
Shapiro previously activated funds following extensive flooding in Somerset County last May and a July 2024 fire in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency distributed around $153,000 to 20 families in Somerset County; the 2025-26 state budget earmarked around $5 million to the recovery assistance program and $40 million to the emergency management agency.
Businesses that meet Small Business Administration funding thresholds can qualify for up to $2 million in low-interest loans, while residents are eligible for as much as $500,000. Homeowners who are rejected for federal loans can receive up to $20,000 through state grants, which do not need to be repaid.
Jumper stressed that the disaster recovery program primarily works to meet short-term funding needs, adding that local organizations and governmental agencies fill other responsibilities.
“This is only one piece of the equation,” Jumper said.