The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday announced the expansion of a pilot program for single-family home-repair loans and grants in communities hit by disasters such as Hurricane Ian and Nicole last year.
The changes lower the minimum age of eligibility for homeowners from 62 to 18 and include refinancing debt and reimbursing repair costs incurred as a result of a natural disaster, according to a press release from the federal agency.
The program also will cover repairs caused by natural disasters over the next two years, and would help pay for costs to relocate mobile and manufactured homes.
Under the program, a home must be located within an eligible rural area in a presidentially declared disaster area after July 18, 2022, which for Florida included all 67 counties.
“We are working hard to find solutions that better accommodate people impacted by natural disasters in rural areas across this state, to help them get the resources they need to rebuild their homes and their lives,” USDA Rural Development State Director Hood Moise said in the release.