ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Days after rolling out a crisis hotline for Orange County residents to apply for help paying rent during the coronavirus pandemic, county officials have rolled out a new method for inquiring about payment assistance after the call line was flooded with people in need of rent assistance.
Orange County director of community and family services Lonnie Bell said in a news conference Thursday that the county has received an overwhelming number of calls since it launched Monday, which has presented several challenges since the initial roll out.
On Tuesday, just one day after the hotline launched, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings the call center was flooded with calls, receiving more than 127,000 since Monday.