The Federal Emergency Relief Act passed by Congress in May, 1933, was the first step in the program of relief at the beginning of the New Deal. It created the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) which was allocated an initial fund of $500,000,000 to help those in need. Harry Hopkins was appointed director of FERA. Over the next two years a total of $3,000,000,000 was distributed. Most of this money went to Home Relief Bureaus and Departments of Welfare for Poor Relief. The work of FERA was taken over by the Social Security Board in 1935.