SBP Offers Free Program to Help Affected Homeowners in Florida Submit Appeals for Federal Disaster Assistance

PRESS RELEASE

Helene and Milton Survivors in Florida Can Appeal FEMA Decisions

•  More than 1.4 million households in the Florida counties where a federal disaster was declared after Hurricanes Helene and Milton have submitted applications for federal disaster assistance.

• The maximum amount of FEMA assistance available for households in Helene-affected Florida counties is $42,500 for Home Repair/Replacement and $42,500 for Other Needs Assistance.*
• The maximum amount of FEMA assistance available for households in Milton-affected Florida counties is $43,600 for Home Repair/Replacement and $43,600 for Other Needs Assistance.
• An average of 66 to 87 percent of FEMA applications submitted by disaster survivors are denied, but they can be appealed. 
• Fewer than 5 percent of disaster survivors appeal their FEMA decisions.

TAMPA, Fla. (APRIL 25, 2025)—SBP, the national disaster recovery nonprofit, is offering a free program in Florida to help uninsured and underinsured homeowners affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton file FEMA appeals. 

Although the application deadline for federal assistance in Florida has passed, FEMA applicants still have the right to appeal as many times as needed within FEMA’s 18-month assistance period. SBP’s specialists are available to help survivors file appeals for FEMA decisions and unlock the maximum funding for which they are eligible for needs such as home repairs, temporary housing, and personal property.

Since 2020, across nine different natural disasters, SBP’s Disaster Assistance Program has supported 1,300 households to appeal FEMA decisions and access more than $5.6MM in additional FEMA awards as a result. The SBP program provides one-on-one support to affected homeowners to help them appeal FEMA decisions that are denied or underawarded.

SBP was founded in New Orleans in 2006 in response to Hurricane Katrina. The organization launched its Disaster Assistance Program in Southwest Louisiana in 2020 to help survivors of back-to-back disasters submit FEMA applications and file appeals for applications that were denied or under-awarded. 

“Helping impacted individuals to submit applications and appeals for FEMA assistance not only helps survivors recover,” said SBP Disaster Assistance Program Director Claire Balsley. “It also triggers a ripple effect to ensure that adequate resources are directed to local governments to rebuild their communities through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grants Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grant funds.” 

The amount of federal disaster recovery funding that HUD awards to individual communities through CDBG-DR grants is directly correlated with the number of Individual Assistance applications and appeals that survivors in each community submit to FEMA. 

If you are a Florida homeowner whose application for FEMA assistance after Helene or Milton was denied—or under-awarded—and if you occupied the home at the time of the Sept. 28, 2024 or Oct. 9, 2024 disasters, contact the SBP Disaster Assistance team for free, one-on-one help with drafting and submitting a FEMA appeal.

Homeowners can get assistance with FEMA appeals in one of three ways:

• Visit www.sbpusa.org/gethelp.
• Email [email protected].
• Call the SBP support team at: 1-800-276-9511.

Affected Florida residents can submit as many appeals as needed for FEMA assistance up to approximately 18 months from the date of the Florida federal disaster declaration.

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Note to editors:
*The maximum award amount available for individuals or households in which a federal disaster declaration was approved after Hurricanes Helene and Milton is $42,500.

ABOUT SBP
SBP is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities to shrink the time between disaster and recovery by rebuilding homes, increasing resilience, and improving policies to meet the needs of all survivors. For more information, please visit www.sbpusa.org.

Media contact:
Elizabeth Wright
SBP Chief Communications and Marketing Officer
[email protected]