Community Corner
New Housing Assistance Sept. 1 For Victims Of Hurricane Michael
Close to two years after Hurricane Michael devastated N. Florida and left thousands homeless, the region still struggles with recovery.
By Laura Cassels
August 17, 2020
Close to two years after Hurricane Michael devastated north Florida and left thousands of Floridians homeless, the region still struggles to recover and continues to need state help with housing, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday in a press conference in Panama City.
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Standing with local elected leaders and business people, DeSantis announced a new round of housing assistance Monday to help people finance home purchases.
“When you have a category 5 storm like we had with Hurricane Michael, that takes years and years of support,” DeSantis said. “These are communities that we’ve got to remain committed to. … There’s going to be more that needs to be done.”
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DeSantis then announced that on Sept. 1, the state-run Florida Housing Finance Corp. will launch a second year of Hurricane Michael recovery loans, offering qualified residents up to $15,000 in no-interest loans for housing down payments and closing costs, forgivable by 20 percent each year. The loans would be written off for active-duty service members.
The Legislature invested $5 million in the first year of the loan program, helping 335 families buy homes, and has earmarked $10 million for the second one, to help 660 families, the governor said.
Applicants in the largely rural disaster area – Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Taylor, Wakulla and Washington counties – may qualify if they earn no more than 140 percent of the area’s mean income.
Alluding to protests elsewhere in the nation, DeSantis said families looking to put down new roots should consider north Florida because of its law-and-order culture.
“They value faith, family, and they value their kids’ futures. You look around the country and you see some of these communities just totally self-destructing, no rule of law, a lot of problems. You’re not going to have that there,” he said.
Hurricane Michael struck in October 2018, the strongest storm to hit Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It leveled a swath through north Florida, south Alabama and southwest Georgia, destroying or heavily damaging homes and businesses, beaches, crops, timblerland and military bases.
This story was originally published by the Florida Phoenix. For more stories from the Florida Phoenix, visit FloridaPhoenix.com.
