Santa Rosa County homeowners now have the chance to apply for help from Rebuild Northwest Florida to retrofit their homes to mitigate wind damage.

Rebuild, born after Hurricane Ivan as a community group working on storm-related repairs, has in recent years focused on hardening homes against future damage. Rebuild crews now make improvements to homes to harden the outside envelope of a structure to make it more resistant in future storms.

The work could earn you discounts on your homeowners insurance and improve your home's chances of weathering a storm.

Rebuild has received additional federal funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Florida Department of Community Affairs to support the Hurricane Mitigation Grant Program in Santa Rosa.

Garrett Walton, executive director of Rebuild, said that early on the agency had money for home sin both Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

“We used all of the money allocated for Santa Rosa about 18 months or two years ago," while funding for Escambia County residents remained, Walton said. "We had a good long waiting list of people who signed up from Santa Rosa, and we just kept pestering the powers that be.

The perseverance paid off. The new infusion of money is actually old money leftover from other projects in Florida in which all of the funds weren’t spent in the allotted time frame.

And that’s why, Walton says, Santa Rosans should not wait to call.

“It’s not something to say, I’ll call six months from now,’” he says. “It might not be here then.”

More than 9,500 local homeowners have used Rebuild. Applying is easy, and there are no income or home value limitations to participate. Homes are evaluated and REBUILD-approved contractors outline potential improvements.

FEMA funds pay for 75 percent of the work; the homeowner must pay the other 25 percent.

The scope of improvements may include:

• Roof deck attachment
• Bracing gable ends
• Reinforcing roof to wall connections
• Opening protection
• Exterior doors, including garage doors (on attached garages only)

The basic criteria:

• Applicant/co-applicant must occupy a single family, site built home as his/her principal residence and be able to provide proof of homestead exemption.
• The property cannot be a mobile/manufactured home, an apartment, duplex, or town home.
• Home must be built before the adoption of 2002 Florida Building Code Standards.

To see if you qualify and set up an appointment call 497-7024, or to start the application process through email click here.

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