PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Several Florida homeowners are sharing their frustrations over changes to the state's My Safe Florida Home Program, which re-opened on July 1st.
The My Safe Florida Home Program is touted as a solution to the state's insurance crisis. It offers Florida homeowners grants of up to $10,000 to harden their homes, with the goal of lowering insurance rates.
The program quickly ran out of money in 2023, leaving many in limbo, like Steve Freed. He and his daughter applied for the grant last August to get hurricane-impact windows ahead of hurricane season.
"They decided, 'Well, we ran out of money, but we're going to keep you in the loop. Basically, you are still in, not in the queue, but you are in a holding pattern,'" Freed said. "So, we waited."
Freed became hopeful when he saw state lawmakers vote to replenish the My Safe Florida Home Program by $200 million dollars in the 2024 legislative session. However, that was until he learned of new program changes.
"Wait a minute," Freed said. "She jumped through all the hoops that they required, put in a limbo situation, then all of a sudden you change midstream?"
Freed was one of several emails sent to ABC Action News frustrated over the new phased approach and income requirements.
Here's how the state is now rolling out the My Safe Florida Home Program:
July 1-15
Grant Group 1 - Low-income homeowners age 60+
July 16-30
Grant Group 2 - Low-income homeowners
July 31-August 14
Grant Group 3 - Moderate-income homeowners age 60+
August 15-30
Grant Group 4 - Moderate-income homeowners
August 31st
Grant Group 5 - All other eligible
The state defines low income as 80% or less of the median household income of your county.
Moderate income is defined as 120% or less of the median household income of your county.
According to the state-provided income level chart, the median income for the Tampa Bay area is $92,000. The low-income limit for a family of four is $76,400, and the moderate-income limit is $114,600.
Freed's daughter is now not eligible to be approved for the program until August 31st, and she is afraid again that the money will be gone by then.
"I'm hoping that you get to talk to Mr. Patronis and ask him why these people that submitted way back last year, why they are now put at the end of the train, so to speak. It's not fair," Freed said.
A spokesperson with CFO Jimmy Patronis' office told ABC Action News if a person had already completed both the inspection process and received final approval for the grant money, then those funds were earmarked as part of the $200 million dollars with no one outstanding. Everyone else before that point in the process is at the mercy of state statute, prioritizing those low-and-moderate income homeowners.
However, in Freed's case, they had only completed the first inspection process, effectively shutting them out until his daughter could apply on August 31st.
"Why are they put at the end of the train, so to speak? It's not fair to them because they did their due diligence," Freed said.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
