SARASOTA, Fla. — Residents of Sarasota County have about four more days to have their voices included in the drafting of the Resilient SRQ program.
The program was recently set up by county leaders looking to crowd-source ideas directly from the community on effectively and efficiently utilizing federal funds for Hurricane Ian's damage. Part of the money would be earmarked to help with outstanding home repairs and even buyouts.
"Running a nonprofit, and I still see families every day that don't have the funds or the means to be able to rebuild," Justin Willis of North Port said.
Willis, a long-time resident of North Port, is amongst the many survivors of Hurricane Ian's devastation. He lost his home, cars and four of his French Bulldogs but despite that, he is lucky to have been able to rebuild in eight months.
"I feel terrible because we have so many friends [affected]. A friend of ours is still living in a camper. The camper she was originally living in ended up getting taken halfway through," he said.
Nearly a year later, North Port, which took the brunt of the damage from the hurricane, still has several roofs covered in blue tarp.
Willis says a lot of families feel completely ignored as they struggle to recover.
"Insurance has been canceled of some people, people are not getting paid from insurance, homes haven't been fixed and a lot of these people don't want to leave their homes. They want to stay where they're at but they just want to be able to rebuild," he said.
The county got $201.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery.
The money would go towards various housing programs for low-to-moderate income households, voluntary housing buyouts and damaged property acquisition programs. It would also help relocate families from areas that are prone to flooding.
"The families of the south part of the county have been so devastated that we need to focus to be here," Willis said.
North Port leaders agree that's why residents need to participate in the early stages of the Resilient SRQ plan draft.
"I am cautiously optimistic that the process will result in us getting our fair share of the funding, but I do believe that there are others that were impacted as well and they deserve their fair share also," Jeremy Fletcher, city of North Port manager, said.
"The community is encouraged to review either the full Action Plan, one of the summary documents, or watch the recording of our public meeting, all of which are available on our webpage, www.scgov.net/ResilientSRQ. The community can provide feedback on any aspect of the draft action plan, including the proposed use or funding or any part of the plan they would like to see changed or adjusted. All comments received during this time are helpful to staff as the action plan is modified and a final version is prepared," read a statement from the county media relations team.
With Ian well behind him, Willis, too, cautiously looks ahead.
"It can very easily happen again next month, they can happen next week, so we have to be prepared as a community not only for ourselves but within our response," Willis said.
The comment period for Resilient SRQ ends Friday, Aug. 25. Staff will review all comments submitted and a draft action plan that is scheduled to be presented to the Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 12, 2023.
If the draft plan is approved by county commissioners, the draft action plan will be submitted to HUD for their review and approval. According to county staff, the HUD will then have 60 days from the time the document is submitted to respond.
County staff would start implementing the projects and programs proposed in the action plan if it is approved by HUD.