NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward County was hit hard with two major rain events this year.
“I need my roof to get replaced,” said North Lauderdale homeowner Andy Beepat. “The roof is 21 years old and I am having an issue with the flat part of my roof. The deck, it is starting to show signs of leaking. Inside the house, I see one or two drops when the rain falls heavily and that is one of the reasons why my insurance company said I need to reseal it.”
Just north of some of the county’s most impacted areas is the city of North Lauderdale.
While city leaders were relieved the majority of their residents didn’t suffer serious damage, they did witness the importance of helping homeowners fortify their homes from the impact of storms.
That is when they got an idea.
The city still had pandemic-area American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal funds and learned the money could be used in the form of grants to help harden homes.
City Manager Michael Sargis said if each homeowner received the full $30,000, the city expects they could assist 200 homeowners. But he added with some homeowners who perhaps needed less than $30,000, depending on the size of the project, they are hoping the program can help more than 200 homeowners.
A U.S. Treasury official told Local 10 News Thursday that recipients of American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds may use the funds to provide “emergency relief from natural disasters or the negative economic effects of natural disasters, including but not limited to, mitigation activities to lessen or avert the threat of a natural disaster and its potential physical or negative economic impacts.”
“It would be great for us,” said Beepat. “I really appreciate the city would offer the residents this type of program for those who cannot afford this major work on their house. They have an opportunity once they reach the requirements that they are asking, to get the work done. It is a great program.”
Added Sargis: “It is a great opportunity for the residents. North Lauderdale is a working-class community, so this is an opportunity that a lot of our folks may not have otherwise, and when a storm comes, we do everything we can to make sure they are kept safe, but these new roofs and these new windows will just guarantee that they will be able to survive a storm. We are on the lower side of average household income in the county, we are pretty much a working-class, middle to lower-middle, working-class community. We have a lot of youth in the city, so we are a very young community, a lot of starter homes that are single families, so being able to offer these type of programs is really something a lot of the residents wouldn’t be able to do without this help.”
FIRST OF ITS KIND
“We are very proud of saying this is a first of its kind, probably not only in Broward County, but in the State of Florida,” said Sargis. “Our mayor and commission are not afraid to try different things that benefit our residents and this is a true example of that.”
ADVICE FOR OTHER MUNICIPALITIES
“Don’t be afraid to think outside the box,” said Sargis. “North Lauderdale is a very unique community. We are mostly a residential community and have hard-working folks who live here, and being able to do this program for them is a benefit for them and for the city. It is less homes that we need to worry about and less homes we need to worry about bringing FEMA into help, so my best advice is, don’t be afraid to think outside the box.”
REQUIREMENTS TO APPLY
“We are ready to roll,” said Sargis. “The home has to be owner-occupied, your 2022 taxes have to be current, you have no code violations, and if you have a mortgage, you have to have insurance, and those are the requirements.”
HOW TO APPLY
“You can apply online,” said Sargis. “Or you can come to City Hall, starting Dec. 4 at 10 a.m., and there will be staff here to help you register, and then once you are registered, you will get a return email back that your application has been received and reviewed.”
To apply, click here.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER APPLYING?
“After that process, there will be an evaluator who will go out and evaluate the home to make sure what you are asking for you truly need,” Sargis said. “And once that is done, the next step will be to have contractors go out, look at the home, submit quotes to the city. The city then contracts with those folks and the city pays that bill. So all you basically need to do is be home and open the door, so the contractor can come in and do the work they need to do.”