United Way staffer Sharon Cheek (left) gets north Lakeland homeowner Paula Drummond (in yellow) checked in. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow
3-minute read

For most Polk County residents, last year’s hurricanes are in the rear-view mirror. If they’re thinking of storms, it’s about the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season that starts June 1 and is expected to be “unusually active” again.

But Hurricane Milton is not over for hundreds of local families who are still displaced.

Some have been living in motels, RVs or sections of their homes for the past six months. Others are now homeless or on the brink of homelessness since their FEMA housing vouchers expired on April 9. 

A lifeline: Those families were offered a lifeline Saturday by several nonprofit groups that are prepared to do essential repairs at no charge for homeowners who have exhausted all other options.

Rebuilding Together Greater Florida and Inspiritus are two nonprofits that have enough funding to make substantial renovations to about three dozen Polk County homes.

They were recruited by GiveWell Community Foundation and United Way of Central Florida.

Sabrina More (center), Inspiritus’ interim executive director for recovery, speaks with a hurricane survivor. Her husband, volunteer Brandon More, looks on. | Cindy Glover, LkldNow

Unmet needs: Immediately after the storm, the main needs were humanitarian – food, water, shelter, clothing. But then the priority shifted to home repairs.

Callie Neslund, GiveWell’s president and CEO, said philanthropic groups have been working behind the scenes since late last year to help, first raising funds and then recruiting groups with the expertise to do roofing, foundation repairs, drywall, flooring and other work.

“It took us a second to figure out,” Neslund said. “We have donors that want to fund that, but we didn’t have any nonprofits to do that work. And so we had to go find some.”

‘Soft launch’: Twenty-two families met with representatives of the nonprofits plus FEMA, the Small Business Administration and state-sponsored Rebuild Florida at an event Saturday that Neslund and Polk County Emergency Manager Paul Womble described as a “soft launch.”

Rebuilding Together Greater Florida is up and running, with initial funding for about 14 homes. Inspiritus doesn’t have its online application fully set up, but is taking contact information. It has funding for about 20 homes.

Neslund said the donor-funded repairs are meant to be a “safety net of last resort,” but there could be more rounds of funding, if needed. 

Not a scam: When GiveWell and United Way brought the nonprofits to Polk County, “We toured homes and said, ‘Here’s the scale, the scope. What do you need to be successful?’” Neslund recalled. 

The home-repair organizations identified three things: They needed a list of contractors they could call. They needed free office space. And they needed credibility.

“Basically, they said, ‘We need you to tell people that this is a free nonprofit service, not a scam,’” Neslund said.

Combee Connection Ministries and Church hosted the event Saturday. Its lead pastor, Kay Kasser, said the past six months have taken a mental and physical toll on hurricane survivors.

“They were so bombarded in the beginning with scams,” Kasser said. “And the people that were really desperate, and the older people — a lot of them were taken advantage of.”

Apply for help

  • Rebuilding Together Greater Florida can help with basic renovations as well as structural damage, roof replacements and accessibility modifications for disabled residents. They work with homeowners, not renters, and cannot repair mobile homes built before 1976. Apply here.
  • Inspiritus is a faith-based nonprofit headquartered in Atlanta. Like RTGF, it can help with most home repairs and construction. Applications will be available here when ready.

Cautiously optimistic: Paula Drummond, of north Lakeland, is hoping for help with her flooring and air conditioning. Roberta French, of Haines City, also has flooring problems. Jacinda Montalto, of Davenport, urgently needs a new roof. 

They all left the event holding papers and encouraged by what they heard. But, after six months of frustration, they said were keeping their expectations in check.

Insight Polk examines community conditions and solutions in six target areas from UCIndicators.org: economic & employment opportunity, education, housing, food security, transportation & infrastructure, and quality of life.

LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting is made possible by the United Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.

SEND CORRECTIONS, questions, feedback or news tips: newstips@lkldnow.com

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Cindy's reporting for LkldNow focuses on Lakeland city government. Previously, she was a crime reporter, City Hall reporter and chief political writer for newspapers including the Albuquerque Journal and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. She spent a year as a community engagement coordinator for the City of Lakeland before joining LkldNow in 2023. Reach her at cindy@lkldnow.com or 561-212-3429.

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