ORLANDO, Fla. — Nearly 180 new laws are going into effect in Florida on Monday, ranging in topics from helping new moms to hurricane-hardening programs.
One of those programs is a hurricane-hardening program called the My Safe Florida Home program, providing grants to eligible homeowners in an effort to make their homes stronger and safer against storms.
My Safe Home offers free wind-mitigation inspections and funds of up to $10,000 for owners of single-family homes and some townhomes identified in those inspections to improve the security of their homes with products like impact-resistant doors and windows. There is a limited number of free inspections.
This program is not new and has been helping more than 30,000 Florida applicants since 2022. After a major backlog of applicants still waiting on approval and funding earlier this year, the portal to apply closed while waiting for additional funds to become available.
A bill proposing additional funding also requested that low-income senior citizens be prioritized in the next round of funding, and the structure of the program is doing just that. The portal to apply for funding reopens Monday, July 1, and this time Gov. Ron DeSantis has allocated $200 million in additional funds.
Officials are hoping to keep insurance costs down in the long run by helping homeowners with mitigating efforts now, strengthening their homes from the potential impacts of storms and hurricanes.
The portal for applications will remain open at least through August. The order in which people can apply is as follows:
- Low-income homeowners 60 years old and up
- Low-income homeowners of any age
- Low income is defined as 80% or less of the median household income of your county.
- Moderate-income homeowners 60 and up
- Moderate-income homeowners of any age
- Moderate income is defined as 120% or less of the median household income of your county.
- All other eligible Florida homeowners