State Disaster  Housing Task Force Working Group

To register with FEMA for Individual Assistance, click here.

The forms of assistance include:

• Rental payments for temporary housing.Initial assistance may be provided for up to three months for homeowners and at least one month for renters. Assistance may be extended after the initial period based on a review of individual applicant requirements.
• Grants for home repairs and replacement of essential household items not covered by insurance to make damaged dwellings safe, sanitary, and functional.
• Grants to replace personal property and help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation, and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other federal, municipality, and charitable aid programs.
• Unemployment payments for up to 26 weeks for workers who temporarily lost jobs because of the disaster and who do not qualify for state benefits, such as self-employed individuals.
• Low-interest loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to cover residential losses not fully compensated by insurance.Loans are available of up to $200,000 for primary residence, and of up to $40,000 for personal property, including renter losses. Loans are available up to $2 million for business property losses not fully compensated by insurance.
• Loans from SBA of up to $2 million for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, and most nonprofit organizations of all sizes that have suffered disaster-related cash flow problems and need funds for working capital to recover from the disaster’s adverse economic impact.This loan in combination with a property loss loan cannot exceed $2 million.
• Loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency of up to $500,000 for farmers, ranchers, and aquaculture operators to cover production and property losses, excluding primary residence.
• Other relief programs, including: crisis counseling for those traumatized by the disaster; income tax assistance for filing casualty losses; and advisory assistance for legal, veterans’ benefits, and social security matters.

FEMA may provide Transitional Shelter Assistance (TSA) to applicants who are unable to return to their pre-disaster primary residence because their home is either uninhabitable or inaccessible due to a Presidentially-declared disaster. Click here for the FEMA TSA Fact Sheet.

The Florida Bar Foundation provides resources and volunteer opportunities for legal aid and pro bono attorneys, as well as information to help Floridians seeking civil legal aid.  View the Florida Bar Foundation website. The Foundation has also created the Florida Hurricane Legal Aid Fund for donations to go directly to civil legal assistance for Floridians affected by Hurricane Irma and any subsequent hurricanes making landfall in Florida. The Florida Bar Foundation provides civil legal aid to the most vulnerable disaster survivors. Help includes:

• securing FEMA and other benefits
• making life, medical and property insurance claims
• dealing with home repair contractors
• replacing wills and other important legal documents destroyed in the hurricane
• helping with consumer protection matters, remedies and procedures
• counseling on mortgage-foreclosure problems or landlord/tenant issues

For more information visit https://thefloridabarfoundation.org/storm-aid

Volunteer Florida, the lead agency for volunteerism and national service in Florida, administers $31.7 million in federal, state, and local funding for national service and volunteer programs across the state.

Volunteer Florida is guided by a bipartisan board of Commissioners, who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate.

Volunteer Florida administers national service programs like AmeriCorps, which offer Floridians the opportunity to engage in intensive service to their community while increasing capacity for nonprofits and other service organizations. Volunteer Florida’s grantees include schools, educational foundations, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and other community organizations.

Volunteer Florida provides required fiscal and programmatic oversight of these grants so that we maximize funds and ensure grantees are accountable for results.

For more information, click here.

Florida VOAD is a coalition of nonprofit organizations that respond to disasters as part of their overall mission. Florida VOAD a statewide body that facilitates cooperation, communication, coordination and collaboration of member organizations in all phases of disaster and to maximize member impact.

Membership is open to any non-profit organization that has disaster preparation, response and/or recovery as part of its core mission in the state of Florida. FL VOAD also welcomes local COADs (Community Organizations Active in Disaster), VOADS and long-term recovery groups as associate members. Other organizations and governmental agencies with an interest in disaster work are welcomed as partners. All are encouraged to participate and help improve the collective, collaborative and coordinated work of FL VOAD.

For more information, click here.

HUD and the Veterans Administration provide resources and toolkits for ensuring that persons who are homeless pre-disaster receive appropriate shelter and post disaster housing and services.

Download the HUD Disaster Recovery Homelessness Toolkit. This toolkit provides an overview of challenges that may occur during disaster-caused disruptions and the impact these challenges pose for individuals experiencing homelessness. It provides guidance for identifying and collaborating with partners to address disaster response and recovery needs, and it outlines strategies to prepare and minimize service disruption.

View Enterprise Community Partners step-by-step guide for do-it-yourselfers and contractors seeking to prevent mold-related health problems and save storm-damaged homes.  Download the guide, Creating a Healthy Home: A Field guide for Clean-up of Flooded Homes.

For technical tools and resources, visit Enterprise Community Partners Solutions and Innovations for Disaster Recovery and Rebuilding.

NLIHC has created a disaster webpage and several initiatives to support members and housing providers to respond to disasters.  NLIHC formed the Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition that has over 700 members.  Weekly teleconferences provide updates on the recovery efforts for disasters including wildfires and hurricanes.  The NLIHC has prepared policy and advocacy recommendations for Congress.  To view updates, policy recommendations and priority statements, visit the NLIHC disaster recovery page.

Click here for State Hurricane Housing Recovery Program  (HHRP) for Hurricane Michael Impacted Counties Proposed County 2019-2020 Allocations Chart.

The DEO Disaster Recovery page provides the CDBG-DR Action Plan for 2018 and 2017 storms. (Note that the Action Plans may be amended from time to time.)