Resilient SRQ releases first funds of $55 million for Hurricane Ian Housing Recovery Program
The Brief
Sarasota's Resilient Housing Recovery Program (SRQ) is providing replacement homes for nearly three years after Hurricane Ian.
The program received $55 million from HUD in 2023 to help people recover from the storm and has released the first of those funds.
A North Port resident describes being overcome with joy when he learned he was getting a replacement house.
NORTH PORT, Fla. - Hours after Hurricane Ian passed through North Port in September 2022, Warren Dodge stood outside his home of 12 years at La Casa Mobile Home Park.
"The whole roof was hanging down, the installation was soaked from two feet of rain. All the floors were warpy. I actually fell through when I walked into the living room," Dodge told FOX 13.
The backstory
As his family helped save what they could, he described having one thought.
"I said 'I don't really know what to do,'" Dodge said.
READ: Florida's legislative session begins this week. Here are some of the key bills filed in Tallahassee
FEMA funds helped him out a bit, but Dodge was forced to live with his son for several weeks.
"I was able to make it livable for a while," said Dodge.
But, the damage remained.
"Heavy rainstorms, I would have to put bowls and pans out. Every rainstorm it was like a different place, too. I was getting too old and lame to get up on the roof anymore and patch it," Dodge said.
Dig deeper
More than two years after Hurricane Ian, Dodge learned about Resilient SRQ and applied for the Housing Recovery Program.
"I was actually quite surprised myself to see, almost two and a half years later the devastation that is still there. To see the circumstances and the environment they have to live in is just heartbreaking," said Tammy Owens, the housing recovery project manager with Resilient SRQ.
READ: New storm recovery program is helping Florida residents raise homes, build back stronger after hurricanes
Fifty-five million dollars has been allocated to the program and funded by the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, in 2023.
"I love helping the community and the response we are getting with the applicants we met with last week," said Owens. "It makes it worth what I do every day, and I'm so thrilled to be a part of it. We are here to help the community, and now we are really doing it."
What's next
Dodge learned last week that he would receive a replacement home.
"I was dumbfounded. I could hardly speak," Dodge said.
READ: Gulfport's Nikita Johnson accelerates on his hometown track at Firestone Grand Prix
Dodge can breathe a sigh of relief for the first time in two and a half years.
"The quality of my life is changing for the better, like that with one phone call. Now, I will be safe and comfortable, hopefully for the rest of my life. Months before that, I didn't think that would happen," Dodge said.
Resilient SRQ is now in the active process of working on a plan for the distribution of the latest round of funding for the 2024 hurricane season.
For more information, click here.
The Source
FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon collected the information in this story.
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