Osceola County outlines plan to fund assistance for housing and business

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Osceola County will move forward with plans to fund two more rounds of mortgage foreclosure prevention and rental assistance using Community Development Block Grant dollars, while shifting funds to kick off a business assistance program launching this week.

 The shift of approximately $500,000 earmarked for business assistance means a total of approximately $1.7 million will have been made available for those needing help to keep a roof over their head because of the COVID-19 pandemic. About $940,000 will be available to applicants in the upcoming rounds, the first targeted for July 6.

 The county will accept applications over the course of three days for future rounds of funding. Those who meet qualifying criteria will enter a drawing with about 500 households eligible in each round. The applications will be given a lottery number through a random computer generated process.  Once given a “lottery” number the applications will be processed until that particular round of funding has been exhausted.

 Meanwhile, the county will uphold its commitment to the business community by using $500,000 already budgeted for economic development for the Emergency Economic Relief Grant Program, which will begin taking applications Wednesday, June 10, at www.weveopenedsafely.com.

 Eligible businesses in unincorporated Osceola County will receive up to $5,000 in emergency funding. Priority may be given to owners that have not received Federal and/or State dollars and to owners that are also Osceola County residents. The application deadline is June 26  with funds distributed after July 20. 

 Uses include the following:

Commercial rent or mortgage payments

Utilities

Payroll

•Investments in materials or equipment necessary for reopening or operating during social distancing mandates such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), barriers, etc.

“The county has many obligations but finding a way to help residents who need it most is important to the County Commission, so today’s report was an encouraging development and I’m glad staff was able to address our concerns,” said Chairwoman Viviana Janer. “We hope that the refinements to the funding process and the shift in available dollars will be a godsend to those trying to recover from this crisis that has affected our physical and economic health.“

Commissioners also agreed to a third round of gap funding for local food pantries.

County officials are still waiting for Gov. Ron DeSantis to release funds from the CARES Act to counties such as Osceola that did not meet the Federal population threshold of 500,000 to receive the funds directly. Osceola could receive as much as $22 million based on a study from the Florida Association of Counties.

The County Commission plans to vote on the proposal on Monday, June 15. Officials expect the next round of housing assistance to be available in early July. Applications for the first three rounds were held to 500 and filled in minutes. The situation led to frustration for applicants locked out of the application process online, which initiated the new approach laid out Monday.

Mortgage foreclosure prevention and rental assistance is available only for those households in unincorporated Osceola County, and not those who live within the city of Kissimmee or city of St. Cloud.