On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that more than $58 million has been awarded to communities impacted by Hurricane Michael through the Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program.
The program, administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), supports the revitalization of downtown areas and commercial districts impacted by Hurricane Michael, facilitating the return and recovery of businesses, jobs and services to the area. In this round of funding, awards include projects that reconstruct streetscapes and install lighting in downtown areas, restore structures in commercial districts damaged by Hurricane Michael, and provide funding to businesses to help them make repairs they could not afford and keep their doors open after suffering revenue losses caused by the storm.
“Today, I was proud to award $58 million to communities across seven counties impacted by Hurricane Michael through the Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program,” said DeSantis. “For many of our rural and small communities, the downtown businesses are the core of the community – this funding is for them. Today’s announcement builds on the commitment we made early on to give our full support to this community until it is able to fully recover from Hurricane Michael.”
“Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, the Department remains dedicated to the recovery of Northwest Florida,” said Department of Economic Opportunity Sec. Dane Eagle. “The Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program will support the restoration of downtown and commercial districts, which will foster vital economic growth in Hurricane Michael-impacted communities.”
The Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program makes funds available to local governments, state agencies, Community Revitalization Agencies, Community Development Districts and community-based development organizations within federal and state Most Impacted and Distressed (MID) areas. Non-profits that are primarily engaged in community redevelopment activities were eligible to apply in partnership with a state agency or local government. The funds are allocated through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
DEO is awarding 18 communities across seven counties with funding through the Rebuild Florida Hometown Revitalization Program:
Apalachicola – $5.3 million
Bascom – $973,000
Bristol – $1.9 million
Calhoun County – $1.25 million
Callaway – $1.3 million
Campbellton – $499,000
Chattahoochee – $2 million
Chipley – $852,000
Cottondale – $1.7 million
Jackson County – $415,000
Lynn Haven – $5.4 million
Malone – $424,000
Marianna – $7.3 million
Panama City – $19 million
Panama City Beach – $1.4 million
Quincy – $3 million
Sneads – $951,000
Springfield – $5 million
DEO is the governor-designated state authority responsible for administering all HUD long-term recovery funds awarded to the state. Rebuild Florida uses federal funding for Florida’s long-term recovery efforts from the devastating impacts of natural disasters.
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