FEMA to begin charging rent on trailers in Florida
Survivors of Hurricane Ian who are about to be charged rent on the FEMA trailers they still occupy can apply for an exemption if they’re in financial straits, the United Way of South Sarasota County has announced.
Last month, FEMA declared that it was extending its Direct Temporary Housing program by six months – from March 29 through Sept. 29 – for eligible families displaced by Ian in seven Florida counties.
However, after March 29, those remaining in FEMA trailers or other temporary housing units will have to start paying rent on them. The amounts will depend on the units’ sizes and locations but won’t go above what the U.S. HUD calculates as an area’s Fair Market Rate.
But agencies that work closely with Ian survivors say the new rent charges could weigh heavily on families who are continuing to pull themselves out of crisis a year and a half after the hurricane’s landfall.
“The question is, when you have people still paying a mortgage on a home they can’t live in – how are they going to pay the rent?” said Chris Johnson, vice president of community impact for United Way of South Sarasota County.
Area case managers and volunteers with the county’s Long Term Recovery Group – which is overseen by United Way of South Sarasota County – have been spreading the word to distressed clients about a waiver form that will allow them to request exemptions from the rents if they can’t afford to pay them.
The FEMA waiver forms can be obtained either through Volunteer Florida or by contacting the United Way.
As of early March, 56 families in Sarasota County were in the FEMA temporary housing program, Johnson said. Case workers and volunteers are scrambling to help them remain housed through the extension.
SAMANTHA NEELY/FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS
“We know their time is short in temporary housing,” Johnson said. “We want to make sure by the time that runs out that those families will have a permanent place to stay.”
One major way that the Long Term Recovery Group has been doing that is through its massive coordinated initiative to rebuild damaged homes for families denied help by FEMA or insurance companies or whose damages went beyond what those entities covered.
The recovery collective works with teams of volunteers from area nonprofits as well as crews provided by World Renew Disaster Recovery Group. Other partners like Convoy of Hope help with construction materials for home repairs and additional volunteer labor.
To date, the teams have rebuilt or repaired 21 homes – while an additional six houses are under rehabilitation right now, Johnson said.
Johnson added that those numbers are likely to grow as case managers make more site visits to storm survivors who have applied for assistance.
“Every week we get new referrals from families who were damaged by Hurricane Ian who have not recovered yet,” he said.
Residents often learn of the recovery group through neighbors as their homes are being repaired, Johnson added.