Survivors of Hurricane Ian currently using the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s temporary housing program will be charged rent after March 29.
This fee comes after FEMA announced a six-month extension of the program until September 29.
The county’s Long Term Recovery Group, overseen by United Way, has announced a waiver that helps those who can’t afford to pay.
Chris Johnson is the United Way of South Sarasota County’s Vice President of Community Impact.
He said that the waivers are open to anyone in the program and that FEMA will decide whether or not one is awarded.
“We make sure they have this form’s information in their hands so that they can get this to the families, help them complete it, and get it submitted to FEMA before the deadline,” Johnson said.
The deadline for the form is on April 29.
Since Hurricane Ian hit on September 28, 2022, FEMA has provided temporary housing to over 1,300 displaced families in the state.
As of early March, FEMA said there are still 56 families in Sarasota County occupying the homes.
Johnson said he expects around 80% of the families to apply.
“We're here to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to have that assistance, because a lot of people just don't know how to access some of those services,” Johnson said. “There are still our neighbors that are not home, that are still in the midst of a disaster themselves, that are still in the middle of the trauma.”
He added that some people can become hopeless when it comes to home repairs or finding permanent housing after the storm.
“They're frustrated, they're tired, they're worn out,” Johnson said. “You think about what it's like, living in a home that's halfway destroyed. If you have a kitchen that's halfway done, how do you feed your kids?”
He said that some of their clients have been waiting since November for their homes to be re-built.
“Families face all sorts of different struggles,” Johnson said. “There's everything from the funding that FEMA had given them that didn't cover the entire cost of the repairs, or their insurance company fought them to be paid or paid them out.”
Johnson urges Sarasota residents to reach out to his group if they are still dealing with housing damage from Hurricane Ian.
“The biggest thing is just making sure we continue to get that word out there,” Johnson said. “Our goal in the Long Term Recovery Group is to make sure everyone's returned to a safe, sanitary, secure, and functional home.”
The FEMA waiver form can be obtained either through Volunteer Florida or by contacting the United Way.
