Pinellas County is seeking public input on how to allocate an $813 million federal grant, aimed at long-term recovery efforts from recent hurricanes. This funding, awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will assist communities impacted by Hurricane Idalia, in 2023, and Hurricanes Helene and Milton, in 2024.
The county will use these Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds primarily to aid low-to-moderate-income households with housing repairs, rental assistance, small business recovery, infrastructure repairs and disaster mitigation projects.
A series of public meetings is scheduled for April and May to gather community input. The meetings will inform the creation of an Action Plan required by HUD. A draft version of this plan will be published by the end of April, followed by a 30-day public comment period.
The funds will benefit residents countywide, except for those in St. Petersburg, which has received a separate federal allocation.
Public meeting details, surveys and further information are available on the county’s storm recovery website at recover.pinellas.gov.
For updates via text, residents can send the word “RECOVER” to 888777.