To better assist Hurricane Ian-impacted residents connect with state, federal and other partnering entities for housing needs, Lee County has launched a new landing page on its storm website. Check out the new page HERE.
People who are homeless or in damaged homes due to Hurricane Ian can still apply to FEMA for help. The deadline was recently extended to Jan. 12, 2023. Residents need to go to www.DisasterAssistance.gov and complete an application, call 800-621-3362 or visit a local Disaster Recovery Center (DRC). A complete list of DRC locations is at www.leegov.com/hurricane/storm/available-resources.
Once residents have completed a FEMA application, then they can apply for State of Florida housing assistance by visiting www.IanRecovery.fl.gov. This is the Unite Florida program page. It’s for people who need temporary sheltering and temporary or permanent repairs to their homes. It also offers help with unmet needs such as transportation, senior services and household supplies.
Additional federal, state and local resources are available. The newly launched housing-dedicated landing page explains the phased-in housing plan post-hurricane that FEMA and its partners use. There is also information about the U.S. Small Business Administration loans for homeowners and information on Lee Board of County Commissioners’ recovery resources for homeowners and renters. These include home-repair assistance, insurance-deductible assistance, utility assistance and the coordinated entry program for people at risk of homelessness or who are homeless.
The site provides direct links to county commissioners’ recent post-Hurricane Ian housing discussions at their board meetings. The site also features tools community members can use to help spread the word about the housing resources. The county encourages nonprofits, chambers of commerce, building associations and neighborhood groups to download these tools and share them on social media.
The housing-dedicated landing page is just one of an array of options for residents at www.leegov.com/storm. Additional landing pages are dedicated to recovery resources and debris, for example. There are also links to Hurricane Ian resources for cities and constitutional offices such as the Clerk of Courts, Property Appraiser and Tax Collector.