{"id":134392,"date":"2026-01-28T03:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T03:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/134392\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T03:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T03:18:08","slug":"county-hosts-workshops-for-hurricane-relief-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/134392\/","title":{"rendered":"County hosts workshops for hurricane relief program"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0In Orange County, many are still recovering from damages caused by hurricanes Milton and Ian. That\u2019s why Tuesday afternoon county leaders hosted the first of two workshops to help homeowners apply for federal funding available through the\u00a0Orange County Recovers<\/a>\u00a0program.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

Orange County Recovers<\/a>\u00a0is a program that helps citizens of Orange County and its municipalities repair, rebuild or replace eligible homes impacted by Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Ian
\n
The county has roughly $219 million available for Hurricane Ian repairs and $33 million for Hurricane Milton
\n
In order to qualify, individuals must have owned and occupied the property at the time of the hurricane and still own it. And show that the home still has documented and unrepaired damage
\n
Applicants can apply online by visiting the\u00a0Orange County Recovers<\/a>\u00a0website, or make an appointment to meet with someone in person to assist them by calling 321-382-3514<\/p>\n

About half a dozen residents took part in the workshop to find out more about funding available to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got damage to our bathroom, which is the main bathroom we’ve got damage to the backyard. We know there might be more damage to our roof,\u201d Beverly Burgess said. She was one of the residents who showed up to the workshop with documents in hand to submit an application.<\/p>\n

Her home was hit by Hurricane Milton, and since then she had been communicating with the county to apply for funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could not get our insurance company to help pay for the damages to our home or help us with our home. And my husband is a Marine veteran. So, it’s been it’s been going on now for two years,\u201d Burgess said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when she found out about the Orange County Recovers<\/a> program that helps citizens of Orange County and its municipalities repair, rebuild or replace eligible homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The county has roughly $219 million available for Hurricane Ian repairs and $33 million for Hurricane Milton. The funding is part of the Community Development Block Grant. The program helps low-to-moderate income individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone falling within the 80% AMI, local area median income would qualify. I highly suggest that people don’t automatically disqualify themselves. Call into our center so that we can determine which income counts towards the application process,\u201d Orange County Project Manager Sherry Julien said.<\/p>\n

In order to qualify, individuals must have owned and occupied the property at the time of the hurricane and still own it. And show that the home still has documented and unrepaired damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can do rehabilitation, if the house exceeds the rehab cap, then it would become a reconstruction or replacement. And so, it can be roof, it can be plumbing, carpentry, doors, windows. It just depends on what the damage is,\u201d Julien said.<\/p>\n

There is no deadline to apply for the program. Julien said they want to keep the portal open until all of the funds have been spent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s very important because with the housing problem we’re having in Orange County, no one can really afford to be on the street. I can’t, I\u2019m disabled. I cannot afford to be homeless. My husband’s becoming now a disabled veteran. He can’t afford to be homeless,\u201d Burgess said.<\/p>\n

Julien said the application can be done online or in person, making it easier for those affected to submit those applications right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, this is the time to get the assistance. If you still have unrepaired damage that were a result of Ian or Milton, if you live in Orange County, it doesn’t matter what district or municipality. Please contact our OrangeCountyRecovers.com assistance is available,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For residents who were not able to make it to Tuesday\u2019s workshop, there will be a second one on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

It will take place at the John Bridges Community Center located at 445 W. 13 St. in Apopka from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Applicants can also submit their documents online by visiting the Orange County Recovers<\/a> website, or make an appointment to meet with someone in person to assist them by calling 321-382-3514.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0In Orange County, many are still recovering from damages caused by hurricanes Milton and Ian. That\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1011,274,1190,766,115,772,139,141,140,278,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-134392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-app-human-interest","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-human-interest","11":"tag-massiel-leyva","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-on-air-ticker-article","14":"tag-orlando","15":"tag-orlando-headlines","16":"tag-orlando-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}