Federal funds are now available through the Disaster Dislocated Worker Grant to help Pasco and Hernando County residents still struggling with unemployment because of Hurricane Irma.

  • Federal funds available to help residents struggling with unemployment
  • To qualify, people must have lost job due to Irma
  • Jobs are temporary and pay $13 an hour

“It’s really hard out there. No matter where you apply, it seems like there’s hundreds of people showing up for jobs,” said Sandra Stephenson, a participant in the program.

To qualify, people must have either lost their job because of the storm or, like Stephenson, exhausted unemployment benefits.

“It’s kind of depressing and disheartening because it just makes you want to give up sometimes, you know?” said Stephenson of her job search.

This week marked Stephenson’s first working for The Volunteer Way. The non-profit is the largest hunger relief organization in Pasco County, giving out more than eight million pounds of food every year.

“They had the skills that we didn’t have, and they’re teaching us new skills as we teach them new skills,” the Volunteer Way’s CEO and founder, Lester Cypher, said of the four workers he’s hired through the grant.

Eckerd Connects, Workforce Development, and Career Source Pasco Hernando are administering the $200,000 grant.

Rachael Ginnick, program manager with Eckerd Connects, said all of the positions job seekers will be placed in will be with organizations that, like The Volunteer Way, are working to help those in the community still struggling with Irma’s impacts.

“For many people in our community, they’re living on a budget, and so it is costly to prepare for the storm and then to replace things that were lost during the storm,” said Ginnick.

“They have no work, they have no food, and they have no personal items. They don’t even have furniture because they were flooded out,” said Cypher of the continued struggles of his organization’s clients.

The jobs will pay a guaranteed minimum of $13 an hour and can include work done outdoors and in an office. Positions are temporary, and administering agencies said they plan to continue working with participants to find permanent positions.

“This is great because, you know, meeting a lot of people and hopefully making connections and finding out where there’s some available work,” said Stephenson of what the grant’s meant to her.

Additional qualifications include:

  • Participants must be 18 years of age or older
  • US citizen
  • Reside in Pasco or Hernando County
  • Been laid off
  • Lost employment due to Hurricane Irma
  • Exhausted unemployment benefits

To learn more about the program, visit www.eckerd.org/Irma. To apply, contact Mary Louise Foy at (352) 668-3590, or mfoy@careersourcepascohernando.com.