CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — On July 1, Florida’s My Safe Florida Home program was replenished with $200 million qualifying residents can use to make storm mitigation improvements to their homes.
Approved applicants can receive $2 back for every $1 spent on storm mitigation improvements, but only up to $10,000. Additionally, the improvements can help lower the cost of insurance on the home.
This year’s program comes with additional rules and qualifying requirements compared to past years, including an income based application period.
Fox 4 spoke with experts at Forcefield Hurricane in Port Charlotte about the program and its new requirements.
“To qualify for the program the owner has to have a site-built single family residence or a townhome,” said Kerry Stoppiello, COO at Forcefield Hurricane. “They have to be homesteaded, they also have to be insured under $700,000 and built before January of 2008 to qualify for the program.”
Stoppiello said there are two distinct parts of the program qualified applicants must go through before receiving their funds.
“Once they've applied, a home inspector that is authorized by the state will call them, schedule an appointment, and then come do an assessment of their home to see how the roofs are, how the openings are, and give them a guideline for what openings or remediation will be acceptable accepted through the grant program,” said Stoppiello. “The second part is actually the grant program itself, they cover roof repairs, roof modifications, and also wind protection, which can be windows, exterior doors, and also the impact shutters that are offered by us.”
This year, the program does not require applicants to choose from a list of pre-approved contractors to do the improvements, unlike past years.
“It used to be that you had to pick a My Safe Florida Home registered contractor, and they vetted the contractors,” said Stoppiello. “Now they can choose any contractor so it's really important that they choose a licensed, insured and reliable source for their contractor.”
In 2022, the program ran out of money before everyone who applied was able to receive the cash, which is why Stoppiello said getting your application in on time is crucial.
“Because of the popularity of the program, it is very possible that we'll run out of funds again,” Stoppiello told Fox 4. “The state has been funding it as quickly as they can. A lot of people have been able to take advantage of it since Ian came through. We've seen the benefits of the program and been able to help a lot of customers. I wouldn't wait to submit your application. I would submit it as quickly as you can, especially because of these income based restrictions that are there now, which I think is a great feature that they've added so that the people who really need these funds can get them.”
To see if you qualify, and to apply for My Safe Florida Home, CLICK HERE.
