CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — Many have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which means it is easy to fall behind on bills like rent and mortgage bills. That is why the United Way in Citrus County is paying one bill at a time for residents who have faced financial hardship due to the pandemic.

What You Need To Know

  • Donors helped raise money for folks facing hardship

  • United Way partners with county commissioners to disperse funds

  • Citrus County residents can apply for help here

Citrus County United Way CEO Meghan Pitzer said, “Many of these folks have never asked for help before in their life."

Pitzer and her team open their doors to those who came calling. 

“We started a fund way back when and thanks to generous donors, I was able to raise money to help those folks,” she said.

Then the need grew.

Pitzer added, "They weren’t in their normal territory when all of this happened and they didn’t know where to turn.”

She said that thanks to the government's CARES Act dollars, so did the amount of money she had to be able to help

“It’s an amazing feeling to know that you are helping someone that has never asked for help before. Our United Way is now lucky enough, we are partnering with our Board of County Commissioners to help disperse the funds as quickly as possible to those that need it,” she said.

Residents can simply go online to apply for help, all they need to do is show proof of loss an income.

“So there’s a couple (of) different ways you can show loss of income,” Pitzer said. “One of them can be a letter from their employer stating ‘I’ve had to cut their hours back by half because of COVD,’ another one is bank statements.”

Citrus County residents who are looking to apply can click on the link.