PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — When most people think about hurricanes and storm recovery, Christmas isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

What You Need To Know

Christian Piccion was the first Pinellas County recipient of the People First funds for hurricane recovery

So far, more than 3,700 have applied, and there is plenty to go around, with more than $813 million available for people who suffered financial hardship or damage to their homes from recent hurricanes

All Pinellas County residents can apply except for city of St. Pete residents, because the city launched its own disaster assistance program

But this year just a couple days before Christmas, a Seminole man got a delivery that was part of an $813 million pot of money from Pinellas County.

And it’s all because of what his family had to endure during those back-to-back storms last year.

A knock at the front door isn’t exactly how Christian Piccion told his kids a stranger would deliver a massive Christmas present. In this case it wasn’t Santa — it was Pinellas County Commission Chair Brian Scott.

“You are the very first recipient of the people’s first recovery program, which is part of the $813 million Pinellas County was awarded after last year’s storms,” Scott said.

Poccion said the unexpected gift came as a check, paid for by the sacrifices his family made last year.

“It was very stressful. I’m surprised my wife didn’t go into labor early because of the stress,” he said.

Four days after Hurricane Helene, Piccion said their family had the ability to move from their previous home to a rental home — only to be hit by Hurricane Milton.

“We were sitting here. The lights had just gone out, and at 10:30 I went to step down and there was six inches of water in here with us inside,” he said.

Piccion never thought they would flood in Seminole. But he said the storm drain system in their backyard was inundated with water and caused the flooding.

All of their belongings were still in boxes, so Piccon, his wife, who was nine months pregnant, and their toddler had to find somewhere to live. That was tough since their close family was also hit by the storms.

“Living out of suitcases and bags for 30 days, it’s an experience I’ll never forget for sure,” he said.

They were eventually able to move back into their Seminole home, and this October he was first in line to apply for one of several hurricane recovery programs being offered by the county. This week, he was the first to get a check.

“Now it’s kind of like a breathing room kind of thing. We can put it back in our savings, and we can have back our emergency fund again,” Poccion said. “I’m hoping we will not have to do this ever again and not have to do this for a very long time.”

So far, more than 3,700 have applied to what’s called the People First program. And there is plenty to go around, with more than $813 million available for people who suffered financial hardship or damage to their homes from recent hurricanes.

The grants in the People First program are available to people who lived in Pinellas during hurricanes Idalia, Helene or Milton who still need help rebuilding homes to meet codes, reimbursement for code-compliant repairs and support for lost income or storm related expenses.

And there are even more ways to qualify. Down payment and mortgage assistance for homebuyers and a program for local landlords to repair units for affordable housing are also available.

If you want to apply for the programs but don’t want to do it online, help is available in-person Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at these locations:

2600 McCormick Drive, Suite 100, Clearwater
5000 Park Street, Suite 4, St. Petersburg

All Pinellas County residents can apply except for city of St. Pete residents, because the city launched its own disaster assistance program.

You can also call 727-606-3307 to speak with a caseworker during the same hours. 

A majority of the county’s federal grant is committed to the People First programs, but additional help for small businesses and nonprofits, as well as investments in local infrastructure, will be announced at a future date.