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Group working on adding Mower County

 

Area residents displaced from their homes during the flooding earlier this year may be eligible for up to $1,000, thanks to a $1 million grant from the Realtors Relief Foundation to Minnesota Realtors for disbursement in several area counties. 

Eric Brownlow, executive and government affairs director with Southeast Minnesota Realtors, said residents in Blue Earth, Carver, Cass, Cook, Cottonwood, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Jackson, Lake, Le Sueur, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Rice, Rock, St. Louis, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca and Watonwan counties are eligible. They are also working to add Mower County. 

The grant includes both people who own their home and those who rent. People would qualify if they were forced to leave their home overnight and had to stay with relatives, friends or at a hotel for any length of time. 

Brownlow said this is the first time in at least 15 years, if not longer, that the relief funds have been received for this part of the state. 

The Realtors Relief Foundation is a charitable organization established by the National Association of Realtors to provide housing-related assistance to victims of disasters. Since its inception in 2001, the foundation has distributed millions of dollars to help families rebuild their lives and secure safe, stable housing after natural disasters. The foundation’s mission is to support communities in times of crisis, ensuring that everyone has a place to call home.

He noted in 2024 alone, out of the $10 million that the Realtor Relief Fund has given out, $3 million has gone to Region 8, which includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. 

For this grant, Brownlow said several of the local Realtors associations in Minnesota started talking in July and decided to apply for a grant through the fund to help local residents — and it snowballed from there. 

He said it was a widespread effort to get to the point to receive the funds, and now that they have done so, the next step is to get the money into the hands of the people who need it. 

The application is short, and the committee meets once a week to review applications, he said. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 18. 

People can fill out the application online by going here, or if they are unable to do so online, they can contact Brownlow at 507-285-9833 for assistance. 

“We can come to them and help them fill out the application and get it in,” he said. 

The review process is short, and funds can be disbursed in only a few weeks. 

Brownlow said if anyone wants to support the foundation, donations are also accepted. They can do so by texting TEAMRRF to 71777.