Only 10 percent of those eligible have signed up to receive money and healthcare from the Zadroga Health and Compensation Act, which benefits 9/11 survivors.

For Catherine Heron, a retired teacher at The High School of Economics and Finance, the forms were just too complicated.

"It was tedious and tiresome and you have to re-enact a whole lot of stuff at that point, which is so emotionally draining, that I just I stopped," she said.

She had been in her office on 9/11 when the planes hit the World Trade Center. She grabbed a few children and escaped — but six years later, she couldn't stop coughing. She had lung cancer.

Help from the Zadroga Act is significant — those with respiratory illnessness like Heron could receive up to $90,000 in compensation. But Heron isn't alone in being stymied by the pages and pages of questions asked.

Michael Barasch, a lawyer who represents 9/11 victims seeking compensation, said out of an estimated 400,000 eligible people, only 40,000 have actually signed up. Barasch said that's partly because many people think the money is just for first-responders.

Barasch has teamed up with the United Federation of Teachers in this latest enrollment drive. He says that of an estimated 400,000 eligible people, only 40,000 have actually signed up. And, Barasch says, that's partly because many people think the money is just for first-responders.

"What's surprising to me is how the local residents and office workers are so shocked when they hear that they too are entitled to he same healthcare and compensation as the firefighters and the police officers," he said.

Catherine Heron got the message. She finally finished signing up earlier this year.

The deadline to enroll is December 2020.