LOS ANGELES — The deadline to apply for financial assistance through FEMA is approaching.

Juan Carlos Perez, a resident of Altadena, walked around the place his family has called home for the last two years. His family, like thousands more, lost everything to the flames of the Eaton Fire on Jan. 7.

“When we first moved into this house, actually when we first saw it, it was one of the first places we both ever seen where we felt this is the place,” Perez said.

He said he knew he had to get an early start on finding help and applied for help through FEMA 48 hours after the fire started.

“I’m pretty proactive in general when it comes to gathering information. I was just staying on top of what was happening at that time. Jan. 7 was the fire, Jan. 8 I came up here for the first time and by the end of Jan. 8, by that night, I saw that there were some FEMA funds available,” Perez said.

So far, his family has received about $11,000 dollars in miscellaneous funds, but they are still waiting to be approved for the bigger lump sum to help with things like renting a new place.

FEMA representative La-Tanga Hopes said they are seeing about 300 people a day at the Disaster Relief Center in Altadena, many who still haven’t applied for financial assistance through FEMA.

“Your property, your personal belongings, if you’re self-employed, you should be applying with FEMA,” Hopes said.

She said your house didn’t need to be destroyed to be eligible. FEMA said if you have wind, water or even debris damage you can apply.

“When there’s a disaster, there are people who are evacuated, they need food, they need water, they may need a hotel, they may need to negotiate with somebody to be able to live at their home. They may need to buy diapers and other personal items,” Hopes said.

Hopes said assistance from the agency can help with rental assistance, temporary housing, home repairs and personal property losses. The financial assistance can also be used to cover disaster-related needs that are not covered by insurance, like childcare, medical needs, transportation and funeral costs. 

Perez said they’re in limbo like so many others, waiting for a response and approval for funds.

“I understand the delay, it’s just a difficult time to have this delay. And to know that this whole process could probably extend to at least a year or so,” Perez said.

There are many factors that play a role in how much you are eligible for. To check your eligibility go to disasterassistance.gov.

The deadline to apply is March 31.