There will be one last opportunity to apply for the $1,000 grant payment for Orange County residents who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 through the Orange CARES for Residents Program, it was announced at the Monday, December 14, Orange County news conference on COVID-19.Â
The final online application portal will open on Thursday, December 17, at 8 a.m., and allow up to 10,000 users into the system.
The county is allocating $2 million in remaining funds to approved applications in the order they were received. All applicants will be notified of their status no later than the first week of January.
There is no guarantee for funding for everyone who applies.
Anyone whose application has been denied for documentation issues before, may re-apply.
Those who have previously applied for the program but haven’t received an email with their status, can apply again when the portal opens this Thursday. If the application is approved, allow up to 30 days for processing and mail delivery of the check.
Visit www.ocfl.net/orangecares for more information and to read a helpful article about the top five reasons for denial and how to avoid.
Eviction Diversion program
The program will close to new applicants on Wednesday, December 16. Residents and landlords with applications pending will have until Thursday, December 24, to submit any outstanding documents.
There is not an income cap for the program, so those who are in imminent danger of eviction are advised to apply today.
Visit www.ocfl.net/evictiondiversion for a full list of eligibility criteria and required documents.
COVID-19 testing
For testing at Barnett Park, residents should try to be in the waiting line as early as possible as the line has been closing earlier to accommodate all cars in line for testing. Testing closed today, Monday, December 14, at 2 p.m. to accommodate all cars in line. The testing site operates daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Families are advised to carpool to the site together and not separately.
Orange County’s Health Services testing site at Barnett Park will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Continued testing through 2021 will continue to be a priority. The state testing site at the Convention Center will offer free testing through at least the first quarter of 2021.
For more information visit www.ocfl.net/testing.
COVID-19 by the numbers
For a snapshot of the latest COVID-19 statistics in Orange County, visit www.ocfl.net/covid19snapshot. The snapshot is updated Monday through Friday.
Toy drive thank you
More than 9,000 toys have been collected for the Mayor’s Toy Drive. That’s more than double from last year’s toy contributions.
The county wants to give special thanks to the organizations that participated in team toy drives:
Ana G. Mendez University
Valencia College
Orlando Magic
Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association
True Health
Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency
Seretta Construction, Inc.
Fanm Ayisyèn
Jacobs Engineering Group
The Apopka Chief and The Planter are weekly community newspapers, independently owned and family operated, that have served the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923 and 1965 respectively. Subscribe today!
