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LeeCARES still delivering assistance funds

By NATHAN MAYBERG - | Aug 4, 2020

Financial assistance from the LeeCARES program operated by the Lee County Government through the CARES Act approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, is still available to individuals and businesses.

The program, which kicked off in May with $57.5 million allotted out of the county’s $134 million share of the federal dollars, currently is offering grants to rehire workers, as well as a one-time rent or mortgage payment for individuals, as well as a utility bill payment.

Lee County Government spokesperson Betsy Clayton said the current LeeCARES programs includes grant funding to small businesses for rehiring full-time equivalent (FTE) positions that were on the payroll as of March 1. Eligible positions must be rehired on or after July 6. Businesses can obtain grants of $5,000 per full-time equivalent positions rehired, up to $10,000 for businesses with 10 or fewer employees or up to $20,000 for larger qualified businesses with fewer than 250 employees. Nonprofits that are 501(c)3 and 501(c)19 organizations are also eligible.

The grants can be used for operating expenses not covered by other resources, including working capital, professional services or employee training. Businesses can access $2,000 of each job grant once the full-time equivalent position is back on the payroll on July 6 or afterwards. The other $3,000 of each job grant may be accessed once the full-time equivalent position has been retained for 60 days.

Individual Assistance Program

Those who haven’t yet applied still have time to put in an application for rent, mortgage and utilities assistance. The maximum amount of assistance is $2,000 per household, which is paid directly to the landlord, mortgage company or utility company.

There is an income limit for the assistance. For a family of four, the income limit is $55,100; $59,550 for a family of five, raising by $4,450 for each additional household member up to 8.

The county also is funding United Way childcare scholarships, and PPE supply for partnering childcare providers for qualifying families.

Food assistance

The county also has funded $5,000 food pantry grants and food assistance programs including $1.55 million to the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, $425,000 to the Midwest Food Bank, $225,000 to Community Cooperative, $500,000 to Lee County food pantries through $5,000 individual grants and $300,000 to reserves.

Completed programs:

The Business Relaunch program closed to applications on June 26. That program offered one-time, $5,000 relaunch grants to help offset the unintended costs of reopening or relaunching a small business, such as sanitation, signage or marketing. Those funds were to reimburse the cost of business interruption during mandated closures.

The county’s personal protective equipment for small businesses also has completed.

As of Aug. 4, the county has received 17,660 applications, including 13,213 individual assistance applications. Nearly $11 million in individual assistance has been approved by the county.

“On average $1,563.70 per application has been approved,” said Tamara Pigott, who oversees the county’s individual assistance program.

Clayton said the LeeCARES Individual Assistance Call Center, which is open daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, has received on average 640 calls per day.

For businesses, approximately $6.3 million in assistance has been approved. Hotels and motels were not eligible for the Business Relaunch program, but are eligible for the Business Rehire program, if they have fewer than 250 employees and meet the other criteria, Clayton said.

In an emailed statement, Lee County Economic Development Director John Talmage said “the Lee Cares Relaunch grant supported the many businesses that were required to close with some extra capital to reopen whether this was to help restock their inventory, support a small marketing plan or expand their outdoor seating. While the first grant was to help them reopen, the second grant will help them bring their employees back and get them through the summer until we can get back into a regular business cycle.”

Applications and additional eligibility requirements can be found online at https://leeflcares.com/