St. Lucie County Amends CARES Hotline Hours
and Temporarily Postpones Application Process
St. Lucie County has received more than 1,800 applications from residents seeking financial assistance through the CARES Act funding that was made available July 8. Staff is working to review and process payments as quickly as possible. To help expedite that process, St. Lucie County will be temporarily postponing the online application process for a week to allow intake specialists time to finalize approved applications for payment.
St. Lucie County will be reducing the hours of the CARES Public Information Line at 772-462-1705. The CARES Public Information Line will be open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
The St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners received $13.8 million in CARES Act funding from the State of Florida with the potential to receive an additional $41.6 million in reimbursements. Thirty percent of the initial funding ($4.1 million) is being distributed directly to residents to help those facing financial difficultly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Any St. Lucie County resident who has suffered an economic hardship caused because of COVID-19, and who earns less than 120 percent of the area median income (as shown in the table below) is eligible to apply.
| Household Size | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Income Level | $58,440 | $66,720 | $75,120 | $83,400 | $90,120 | $96,840 |
Residents can received up to $4,000 in CARES Act funding from St. Lucie County to help with:
- Rental Payments;
- Mortgage Payments (Primary Residence Only);
- HOA Payments (Primary Residence Only);
- Homeowners/Flood Insurance Payments (Primary Residence Only);
- Utility Payments;
- Car Payments; and
- Car Insurance.
Residents will need to provide documentation of past due payments to support the need for assistance.
Those seeking assistance can apply online at www.recoverstlucie.org (Under CARES Act), starting Monday, July 27, 2020.
St. Lucie County is finalizing the second phase of the CARES Act distribution, which will include direct payments to the business community. Additionally, a portion of these funds will be available as reimbursements to local governmental agencies that spent funds on preventative measures relating to COVID-19.
