US Department of Labor approves up to $5M in initial funding to support disaster recovery jobs, training for Florida residents after Hurricane Helene

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the approval of up to $5 million in initial emergency grant funding to Florida to support disaster-relief jobs and training services in 31 counties to help respond to Hurricane Helene.

On Sept. 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm at Dekle Beach in Taylor County as the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the state’s Big Bend area. The third hurricane to hit the area in about 13 months, Helene was a deadly storm that brought catastrophic flooding and damaging winds to homes, businesses, other structures and public lands in the northwest part of the Florida Peninsula. Many areas along the Gulf Coast previously affected by hurricanes Idalia and Debby experienced storm surges and flooding with Helene. 

“The Employment and Training Administration is committed to ensuring workers in Florida affected by Hurricane Helene have access to grant funding and assistance,” said Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training José Javier Rodríguez. “This Dislocated Worker Grant provides critical support by providing jobs to affected workers while helping Florida in its recovery efforts.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued an emergency declaration on Sept. 24, 2024, and a major disaster declaration on Sept. 28, 2024, enabling the state to request federal assistance for recovery efforts in the following 31 counties: Alachua, Bay, Bradford, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Suwannee, Taylor, Union and Wakulla.

The National Dislocated Worker Grant – supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 – allows the Florida Department of Commerce to provide people with temporary disaster-relief jobs and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to address immediate, basic needs for those displaced by Hurricane Helene. The funding also enables the state to provide training and services to individuals in the affected communities. 

The department’s Employment and Training Administration oversees National Dislocated Worker Grants, which expand the service capacity of dislocated worker programs at the state and local levels by providing funding assistance in response to large, unexpected economic events that lead to significant job losses.