ENGLEWOOD, Fla. — Sharon Lee Bixler, like others who live in the 55-plus Deer Creek mobile home park in Englewood, is still working on repairs caused by Hurricane Ian in September 2022.
But because, like many other retirees, she spends only half the year in her Florida home, she said, FEMA denied her any assistance.
"So, I’ve put at least $35 to $40,000 in here,” Bixler said.
More than 15 months after Hurricane Ian made landfall along Florida’s west coast, causing $113 billion in damages, recovery is still ongoing. Ian is considered the third most costly hurricane nationwide.
Beginning early to mid 2024, residents, municipalities, and non-profits can start applying for this Resilient SRQ block grant program. Just last month, HUD approved Sarasota County's plan on how they will distribute this.
Widowed in 2020, Bixler could use the financial help as she continues to make repairs on her own, hiring people when she can or relying on help from her children.
"I'm alone now. It would fill some of that bumper for when stuff goes wrong,” Bixler said.
Bixler, a retired hospital pharmacy technician, bought the mobile home in 2011 when her husband, Gary. Her husband was a green beret in the US Army Special Forces during Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange.
The sea air made it easier for him to breathe.
But despite her husband’s sacrifice, Bixler was denied FEMA assistance. She was told it was because she voted using her New York-based address.
For many Florida retirees like the Bixlers, mobile home parks are the only affordable housing option.
"A lot of folks down here aren't living on a huge nest egg of retirement savings,” AARP Florida State Director Jeff Johnson said. “They are living on a fixed income of a pension and social security."
Seventy percent of these new HUD grants must go to low-to-moderate-income residents.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Alan Kruthas told ABC Action News that he moved to his mobile home in Englewood in 2017 after retiring from an Illinois public works department.
"We're lucky to find this place. A lot of people aren't so lucky,” Kruthas said.
