My Safe Florida Home has already launched and I’m tracking my personal journey through the process. If you missed part 1 of my series where I provided an overview of the My Safe Florida Homes program, click here to catch-up on it now.

The My Safe Florida Home is a grant from the State of Florida that subsidizes homeowners’ projects to harden their homes against future hurricanes and wind damage. The State of Florida has allocated about $150 million to help homeowners with upgrades of their roofs, windows, doors, and home-entry points.

My Safe Florida Homes Grant Options

First things first: the grant is just that – a grant. The State has earmarked these funds in the budget to fund this program. Homeowners have no obligation to repay the funds they or their contractors receive.

Originally, the program was promoted as a $10,000 maximum per property grant with the State of Florida matching $2 for every $1 a homeowner spends on upgrades. This meant a homeowner could potentially have a $15,000 project completed and it would only cost them $5,000 for it. Not too shabby, right?

Since the age of roofs was a big reason insurers were not renewing policies in 2021 and 2022, let’s consider a new roof priced at $15,000. If the homeowner puts in $5,000 of their own money toward the upgrade, the State of Florida would provide the additional $10,000 for the project. Now didn’t that just make a new roof more attainable for many homeowners? Absolutely!

It turns out, when the program officially launched, My Safe Florida Home program launched two different options. There was the original $10,000, $2-to-$1 option and a new moderate/low-income option. The moderate/low-income option is available to homeowners below a certain household income level. It’s a little different because it doesn’t require any spending commitment by the homeowner. $0 out of pocket. Period. The only “catch:” the grant is for half the amount: only $5,000 would be available and anything done beyond that would be 100% on the homeowner. But this option opened an opportunity for those homeowners who don’t have the money for a matching-based grant.

The Process

No matter what option you qualify for, the process is the same for every applicant up to the contracting phase.

1. Apply for free home inspection.
2. Receive approval for free home inspection.
3. Home inspection performed and submitted.
4. Apply for the funding grant (application will be available in your portal).
5. Get approved for the funds.
6. Select your contractor. You must use an approved contractor from the state’s list.

   ** This is where I am as of the writing of this post (Feb. 21, 2023). **

7. Completion of work by your contractor. 
8. Final inspection by My Safe Florida Home.
9. Payments issued to homeowner/contractor depending on your program.

Next in the series, I’ll go through some more detail of what you can expect in the steps I’ve gone through so far. Hope this helps!