Sarasota's Season of Sharing program pays some families' bills as they recover from hurricane season

Cecilia Grove didn’t work for 38 days after Hurricane Helene’s storm surge flooded the kitchen of the restaurant where she waits tables.

The Cottage, a local and tourist favorite on Siesta Key near Sarasota, Florida, might have reopened sooner, but Hurricane Milton made landfall on the key 13 days later.

The wait was excruciating for Grove. The 39-year-old single mother cares for her seven-year-old daughter Aria, who is deaf and depends on cochlear implants, and her father, who lives with them. “I’m one person feeding three of us,” she said.

After draining her savings to pay for car and health insurance, rent, and food, Grove’s options were to tap into a savings account she’d set up for her daughter or start racking up credit card debt.

Instead, she got help from Season of Sharing, a Sarasota-based program that pays essential expenses for households in crises. Since Helene, the fund has spent over $710,000 helping more than 400 families impacted by the storms. It paid Grove’s rent for November and December, letting her catch up on past bills.

“It made me cry,” she said. “I couldn’t believe they were willing and able to do that for me.”

Residents of Florida’s Gulf Coast endured two major hurricanes and a tropical storm in the span of nine weeks, and they are still feeling the economic fallout. The disasters aren’t just costly for those whose properties were damaged or destroyed. Replacing food that spoiled during power outages, evacuating to a hotel room, and missing weeks of work all strain budgets too.

Studies show those blows hit harder for low- and moderate-income households, who may not have savings to fall back on. Renters, the uninsured, and informal or undocumented workers will miss out on certain kinds of help. The consequences of falling behind — debt, bad credit or even eviction — long outlast a storm’s immediate aftermath.

Programs like Season of Sharing can help fill the gaps or tie over households while they wait for assistance.

“Providing stability when a family is in chaos is so important,” said Kirsten Russell, vice president of community impact at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, which sponsors the program. “When households rebound, communities rebound.”

People in Sarasota, DeSoto, Manatee and Charlotte counties can apply to Season of Sharing by calling the 211 non-emergency helpline or contacting one of 100 nonprofits in the fund’s network. Case managers help them submit an application. If it’s approved, Season of Sharing pays the bill directly.

The program only pays bills related to housing, transportation, childcare and utilities, but it finds ways to help those facing other disaster-related expenses. If a family needs to replace its flood-damaged washing machine, the fund might cover a mortgage payment to free up funds.

The Community Foundation of Sarasota County and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune founded Season of Sharing 25 years ago. It helps people year round, but it temporarily loosened its application criteria and increased maximum payments in light of this unprecedented hurricane season.

Read more of the story, originally publised on Nov. 27, 2024, in the AP News Business section, here.