Lee County Commissioners approve HUD Action Plan and launch LeeCares individual housing assistance

04/02/2025

Lee County Government today took two steps toward continued recovery from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton: The LeeCares individual housing assistance portal opened for pre-applications, and the Board of County Commissioners submitted its Action Plan to the federal government for review and approval.

LeeCares Program Launch

The pre-application portal for the LeeCares Hurricane Housing Recovery Program opened April 1.

The LeeCares program may assist income-eligible homeowner to repair, replace or reconstruct property that suffered damage from Hurricane Helene and/or Hurricane Milton. To access the pre-application portal and review program guidelines visit www.leeflcares.com. Individuals may also call 239-382-5453 or visit the LeeCares Intake Center, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9400 Gladiolus Drive, Suite 270 Fort Myers, FL 33908.

Funding for the LeeCares housing program comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery allocation to Lee County to address the disaster recovery needs of residents affected by the 2024 hurricanes.

Following the initial screening, a full application will be required to proceed with the HUD grant process.

Submission of CDBG-DR Action Plan to HUD

Earlier this year, Lee County was allocated more than $100.6 million in Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding from HUD. This funding is to provide critical resources to address unmet recovery needs from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, supporting essential recovery efforts with a focus on housing repair and public infrastructure restoration.

The funds will be managed and allocated in accordance with HUD’s established guidelines, which require the development of a comprehensive Action Plan.

The Lee Board of County Commissioners today approved the Action Plan, which now will be submitted to HUD. The Action Plan is available at https://cdbgdr.leegov.com/

Additional hurricane relief efforts

In other related business, county commissioners approved allocations from CDBG-DR funds related to Hurricane Ian, including:

  • Award funds to Goodwill and LARC
    • Goodwill will use $19 million of CDBG-DR funds to construct a new community resource center that will provide education programs and supportive services to persons with intellectual and development disabilities.
    • LARC will use $5.7 million of CDBG-DR funds to reconstruct a group home and expand its existing facility, which provides programs and supportive services to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
  • Execute documents for Bloom Fort Myers Affordable Multifamily Housing Project
    • Executed agreement for $20 million of CDBG-DR funds to construct 172 affordable housing units at 2010 Hanson St., Fort Myers. (The project was previously approved in prior board action; today’s vote executed documents required for financial closing.)
  • Execute documents for St. Peter Claver Affordable Housing
    • Executed agreements for $17.2 million of CDBG-DR funds to construct 72 affordable housing at 1426 Sister Bowman Lane, Fort Myers. (The project was previously approved in prior board action; today’s vote executed documents required for financial closing.)

Learn more

Many hurricane recovery projects funded by CDBG-DR dollars are well underway, and Lee County recently launched a tool to help you see those dollars at work.

Scroll through the tool to explore the various projects across housing, infrastructure, planning and public service. Each project has its own landing page with more information and a tracker to show what phase it’s in. Visit https://cdbgdr.leegov.com/

Residents also can learn more by watching a video about the tool. Click here for the video.