ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County residents affected by COVID-19 who encountered issues looking for assistance will once again have to wait for help following the closing of an online application after reaching capacity.
Applications for the Individual and Family Assistance Program opened at 8 a.m. Monday but shut down about a minute later due to the high amount of applicants, and the limit was reached. About 2,000 people signed on as soon as they could.
Orange County tweeted that it received 50,000 applications Tuesday.
The Individual & Family Assistance Program has received the start of 50K applications. The portal is now closed for new applicants. Those who are in the system will still be able to complete their uploads. Applicants will have until tomorrow at midnight to complete their uploads.
— Orange County FL (@OrangeCoFL) June 9, 2020
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The program utilizes federal CARES Act dollars to grant people who have either lost their job or been furloughed up to $1,000.
County leaders initially announced Monday that an additional 20,000 people would be able to apply for the funds on Tuesday, and more will also be able to apply on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s online application closed just before 10 a.m. after opening around 8 a.m.
Watch the news conference below:
The pandemic put many Americans including Orange County resident Deloris Coaker out of work.
“When this happened it cut (my income) off … completely,” said Coaker, who’s a driver for Postmates. “So there was really no deliveries for about a month.”
Deliveries started picking back up, Coaker said, but she’s so far behind that it hasn’t been enough to pay for her $1,200 monthly mortgage.
When Coaker signed onto the Orange County website Monday morning, she said she was “very disappointed” to see the online application had already temporarily closed until Wednesday.
She had already completely filled out her application, but it could not be saved, and she’ll have to go through the entire process again.
“It’s disappointing,” she said. “It makes you think (to) not even try again,” Coaker said. “It’s like wasting your time, and it’s very frustrating.”
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Orange County said its website allowed people to start filling out applications at 7:54 a.m., and it had already hit its max of 2,000 applications for the day.
Moving forward, the system will be on a rolling schedule and will open on certain Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The county will process 1,000 applications a week through the end of the year or until the money runs out.
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Businesses that qualify can use the money to make up for lost revenue, but it does come with some strings attached. Qualifying businesses must have fewer than 25 employees, including the owner in some cases.
If a business receives $10,000 in assistance they must abide by some coronavirus protection guidelines, which includes practicing social distancing, requiring protective masks for employees, along with health screenings -- including temperature checks for all staff -- who must wash hands frequently.
Businesses with unpaid liens or evidence of financial mismanagement will not qualify.
This process is different from the small business grants application, which is still open.
Residents or business owners looking for assistance can find more information here.
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