Hurricane Recovery Resources
Last updated: 11/07/2022

There will be mental health resources posted here as well as general resources that can be a benefit to you. This will be separated into a series of categories- if you know of any resources that might be helpful that are not listed here, feel free to message me any additional resources.

State Assistance Information Line- 800-342-3557

General Answers/Info- 2-1-1 (or call 239-263-421 if 2-1-1 isn’t working and in SWFL)

Florida Power and Light Outage Updates- 800-468-8243

Lee County Electric Cooperative Outage Updates- 239-656-2300

Collier County Sheriff’s Office Wellness Check Line- 239-252-9300

Lee County Sheriff’s Office Wellness Check Line- 239-477-1000

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Wellness Check Line- 941-639-2101

Disaster Distress Helpline– 800-986-5990

FEMA Relief- https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4673/designated-areas

Individual and organizational relief aid applications are now active for the following counties: Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole.

You can find a link to the policy manual here with all the info. you need to know on qualifying for FEMA relief- https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_pappg-v4-updated-links_policy_6-1-2020.pdf

FEMA Resources- https://www.fema.gov/disaster/hurricane-ian

Emergency Unemployment

Individuals (and organizations on behalf of individuals) can apply for emergency unemployment benefits if their work is disrupted/no longer exists as a result of the storm. You can find that link here: https://www.floridajobs.org/Reemployment-Assistance-Service-Center/reemployment-assistance/claimants/apply-for-benefits

SBA Disaster Relief

The US Small Business Administration has opened up applications for businesses of all kinds and homeowners needing loans to help recover from the effects of Hurricane Ian. This is for funding AFTER FEMA Disaster Relief. You will find all relevant information here: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance/hurricane-ian

Donations

Be mindful of who you are donating to. Support local non-profit charities when possible to avoid fraudulent organizations. Here are some good, reputable places to donate:

Money

SWFL Relief Fund- https://collaboratory.org/
Red Cross (select the option to support people affected by Ian)- https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/
United Cajun Navy (this is the FL branch)- https://unitedcajunnavy.org/
Florida Disaster Fund- https://www.volunteerflorida.org/donatefdf/
The Salvation Army- https://salvationarmyflorida.org/monetary-donations/

Blood

NCH Community Blood Center- https://givebloodcbc.org/
RedCross Gulf Coast to Heartland- https://www.redcross.org/local/florida/south-florida/about-us/locations/florida-gulf-coast-to-heartland.html

Volunteer Opportunities

There are some both general and mental health specific volunteer opportunities available. Here are a few that are specific to Hurricane Ian recovery:

Volunteer Florida- https://volunteer.volunteerflorida.org/search?

Red Cross- https://www.redcross.org/local/florida/south-florida/volunteer.html

Food Pantries and Supplies

United Way of Lee, Hendry, and Glades is doing mobile water and meal drives at the North Ft. Myers Parks and Recreation Center- https://www.unitedwaylee.org/
Salvation Army Collier is doing food drives in Everglades City and in Naples- https://salvationarmyflorida.org/naples/
Our Daily Bread is doing mobile pantries starting on Saturday, 10/1- https://ourdailybreadfoodpantry.org/
Meals of Hope has mobile food pantry locations strewn throughout Lee and Collier County- https://mealsofhope.org/pantry/