A $1,672,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Housing-Related Hazards Fund Program grant was recently awarded to the Housing Authority of Fort Myers to mitigate interior hurricane damage in the city's public housing units.
The Fort Myers authority was one of only two such housing agencies in Florida to receive this grant.
Most of the Housing Authority properties impacted by Hurricane Ian received flood damage, windblown rain damage, roof damage and more. The Housing Authority plans to use these HUD funds to remediate microbial growth in a total of 364 housing units in its Renaissance Preserve, Horizons Apartments and Royal Palm Towers communities.
“Even a year after Hurricane Ian, our communities –- like so many others in our area –- are still working hard to navigate repairs and recover from the destruction,” said Marcia Davis, executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers. “Our goal has always been to provide safe, stable and sustainable housing to our residents and because of the grant from HUD, we can repair these units and continue to give our residents a reliable place to live.”
These funds will also help public housing agencies get ready to comply with the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate, a measure that improves HUD oversight by aligning and consolidating inspection regulations used to evaluate HUD housing across multiple programs.
The improvements are expected to be completed over the next two years.
About the Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers
The Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers serves as a catalyst for increasing access to safe, stable and sustainable housing and to help develop, preserve and revitalize communities through affordable rental housing. For more information, visit www.HACFM.org or call 239-344-3220.
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