Applications opened to developers last week in Sarasota County for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Grant (CDBG-DR) funds designed to bring new affordable housing online after last year’s hurricanes. The window for submissions will remain open until Oct. 24.
There’s $30 million in reimbursement grant funding available to public and private developers through the county’s Resilient SRQ Multifamily Affordable Housing Program.
"We're excited to be putting this money to good use, and we're hoping to spend it as fast as we can and get it out into the community and build and expand affordable housing for our area,” said Resilient SRQ communications and outreach coordinator Emily Blaine.
The money must be used to repair or construct affordable housing that low- to moderate-income families can afford. In the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota metro area, that’s rental housing deemed affordable for a family of four earning less than $86,100 a year.
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In January, it was announced that Sarasota County would receive $210 million in community grant funding for long-term recovery efforts after Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.
It’s part of $12 billion package distributed nationwide last year in disaster-impacted regions, with more than $2.7 billion awarded to communities across the greater Tampa Bay region. The money is coming from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Before funds are spent, local governments must complete an extensive process of gathering community input and drafting a HUD-approved action plan.
“So we engaged in a very big outreach campaign. We did four public input meetings, we did two public hearings, we did several county commission meetings, several community presentations to develop our action plan,” Blaine said.
A community survey conducted by Sarasota County revealed residents’ biggest concerns amid long-term hurricane recovery: infrastructure, housing assistance, affordable housing, public services and economic revitalization.
ALSO READ: Sarasota seeks ways to hand out $210 million in hurricane recovery cash
HUD approved the county’s draft action plan in June and officially allowed access to the funds in July, making Sarasota County the first grantee in Florida to begin spending the 2025 disaster recovery funds.
“So there's 12 of us, and we've been the first one to get everything up and running,” Blaine said.
There's several programs running simultaneously under Sarasota County Resilient SRQ to distribute the federal disaster dollars. In recent months, applications already opened and closed for $33.3 million in individual homeowner assistance through the Resilient SRQ Housing Recovery Program.
County officials say the program, which helps cover the cost of home-hurricane repairs, may reopen later this year if funds remain.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
