The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Visits Fifteen Additional Communities Impacted by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole
Tallahassee, Fla. – In May, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) met with fifteen additional communities impacted by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole to discuss long-term recovery efforts. DEO visited and facilitated listening sessions in Brevard, Collier, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Okeechobee and Osceola counties from May 10-12, 2023. Additionally, DEO visited and facilitated listening sessions in Flagler, Lake, Orange, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns and Volusia counties on May 17-18, 2023. To date, DEO has visited 23 of the 24 impacted counties impacted by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. In the coming weeks, DEO and its partners will meet with Monroe County to round out the 24-county tour of listening sessions.
These listening sessions are helping inform Florida’s plan to use the more than $910 million allocated to the state by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for long-term recovery efforts. DEO staff continue to assist all impacted communities with navigating the application process for Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds.
“Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, DEO is proud to partner with the Florida Department of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Transportation to host disaster recovery listening sessions, taking a collaborative and thoughtful approach to Florida’s recovery from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole,” said DEO Acting Secretary Meredith Ivey. “Long-term recovery efforts over the coming months and years will be crucial in order to get impacted communities and Floridians back on their feet. The feedback DEO has received thus far is invaluable — every impacted community has unique needs, and these sessions bring us one step closer to helping meet those needs.”
On Friday, May 12, 2023, DEO Acting Secretary Meredith Ivey and DEO Director of the Office of Long-Term Resiliency, Justin Domer, met with leaders in Collier, Hardee and Hendry counties.
DEO and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) representatives met with Kristi Sonntag, Collier County’s Director of the Community & Human Services Division, who shared valuable insights on local communities’ remaining unmet needs, including infrastructure and stormwater drainage — particularly in Immokalee and Bayshore.
DEO is the governor-designated state authority responsible for administering all U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds awarded to the state.
Created in 2019, DEO’s Office of Long-Term Resiliency (OLTR) was federally allocated funding to support communities following disasters by addressing long-term recovery needs for housing, infrastructure, economic development, workforce training, and mitigation activities. Since 2017, the State of Florida has been allocated nearly $2.5 billion in federal funding to support long-term recovery for Florida communities and individuals impacted by Hurricanes Hermine, Matthew, Irma, Michael, and Sally, as well CDBG-Mitigation funding related to storms that impacted Florida in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. For more information, visit RebuildFlorida.gov.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity combines the state’s economic, workforce, and community development efforts, expediting economic development projects to fuel job creation in competitive communities and promote economic resiliency. For more information, including valuable resources for employers and job seekers, please visit www.FloridaJobs.org.