BATON ROUGE - Hurricane Laura's devastating impact on Louisiana has inspired a number of individuals and organizations to find ways to help displaced evacuees.

One such organization is the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Its Catholic schools are opening their doors to displaced students from dioceses affected by Hurricane Laura.

Students enrolled in one of the 17 Catholic elementary and high schools located in the Dioceses of Alexandria and Lake Charles may apply by contacting the Baton Rouge Catholic school directly. General information about Catholic schools in the diocese can be found at www.csobr.org, and a list of Catholic schools can be found through the School Finder Page at https://www.csobr.org/schoolfinder. 

Displaced families will receive a reduced cost to attend Catholic schools in the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Instead of a registration fee, a small application processing fee may be required. No other usual fees will be charged to displaced families. Likewise, the cost of annual tuition will not be charged, and the monthly tuition cost will be set by each school.     

In addition to this, government tuition funding may be available for displaced families through two avenues which include the State of Louisiana Scholarship Program, which may be able to temporarily transfer their scholarship status with state approval. A second source of assistance may come from FEMA funding.

To apply for this, please complete an application at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or call 1-800-621-3362 from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm seven days a week. The number for assistance with hearing and speech impaired applications is 1-800-462-7585 (TTY).

Displaced families can also apply for tuition assistance directly from the school if the family is not able to pay tuition. 

Those who would like to donate money to families in need can do so by visiting the diocesan website at www.diobr.org and selecting the "Click Here to Give Now" or "Give Online" tab.