Hurricane season is coming in less than a month and it’s time to get ready. But Florida homeowners will soon have another chance for help from the state now that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill adding $200 million in funding for the extremely popular My Florida Safe Home program.
The My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) program, which matches up to $10,000 of the costs Florida homeowners pay for home improvements designed to harden their homes against tropical storms and hurricanes, has run through funding nearly as quickly as legislators could provide it. This year the Florida Legislature unanimously passed SB 7028 and bumped the original provisional funding from $100 to $200 million.
“We do realize that there’s a waiting list,” DeSantis said. “And I think it’s good they re-upped the program. If there was nobody signing up for it then they (the Legislature) probably wouldn’t have appropriated more money for grants. So there’s more help on the way.”
The bill also made several changes to the program, including streamlining the process and weighting new applications toward residents aged 60 and older, and residents who qualify as low- or moderate-income.
Here’s what changed, and when you can apply.
The My Safe Florida Home Program was originally started in 2006 but the Republican-controlled Legislature stopped funding it about three years later. It was brought back during a 2022 legislative special session on the state’s property insurance crisis amid complaints…
