More than 75% of the pink shrimp harvested in the United States comes from the west coast of Florida. San Carlos Island, located in the Southwest Florida region, serves as a primary site for shrimpers to sell their catch and refuel. Hurricane Ian severely impacted not only the shrimp boat fleet in the region, but also the facilities used by shrimpers along the Gulf Coast. Prior to Hurricane Ian, more than 50 shrimp boats made up the harvesting industry fleet; today only 10 boats remain in operation. All docks on San Carlos Island were lost along with many of the support facilities including worker housing. To assist in recovery efforts, the Southwest Florida RPC wrote grants totaling over $38 million. As they recover, the local shrimpers are considering more resilient practices for rebuilding docks, support facilities, and worker housing.

The Apalachee RPC was awarded a $20,000 grant through AARP’s Community Challenge 2023, to launch an initiative offering legal assistance to residents in its nine-county region. The Apalachee RPC partnered with Legal Services of North Florida to provide legal assistance via mobile clinics throughout the region.

In coordination with county senior citizen agencies, this initiative, dubbed “Wills on Wheels”, provided information on estate planning, end-of life planning and assistance to help resolve heirs’ property issues. 

At each clinic, residents were given a presentation covering The Last Will and Testament document, Healthcare Directives and Surrogate Forms, The Living Will document, The Power of Attorney Document, and Guardianship forms. Eligible attendees were provided questionnaires that will be used to draft documents prior to executing them.

Five initial clinics were held around the region, reaching over 200 residents. Questionnaires are being received and plans are being made to coordinate meetings between the residents and volunteer attorneys for document execution.