Strengthen Alabama Homes Grant Program
If you own a home in Mobile or Baldwin County, the Strengthen Alabama Homes (SAH) program can cover up to $10,000 of the cost to upgrade your roof to the wind-resistant FORTIFIED Roof standard. B&B Roof and Gutter helps homeowners throughout our service area navigate the grant process and provides the roofing work itself.
What Is Strengthen Alabama Homes?
Strengthen Alabama Homes is a grant program run by the Alabama Department of Insurance. It provides funding directly to homeowners — not contractors — to help pay for wind-mitigation retrofits that meet the FORTIFIED Roof standard developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). The goal is straightforward: fewer homes with roofs that fail catastrophically in hurricanes and severe wind events means fewer claims, lower long-term insurance costs, and safer communities along the Gulf Coast.
How Much Does the Grant Provide?
The program provides up to $10,000, or the actual cost of reaching the FORTIFIED Roof standard, whichever is less. Grants pay 100% of eligible mitigation costs up to that cap — homeowners are only responsible for costs above $10,000, which is uncommon for a straightforward roof-only FORTIFIED upgrade.
Who Qualifies?
To be eligible for a Strengthen Alabama Homes grant, your property generally needs to meet these requirements:
- Owner-occupied, single-family home — rentals, condos, townhomes, and mobile homes do not qualify
- Located in Mobile or Baldwin County
- In good repair overall, and not currently listed for sale
- Covered by active homeowners and wind insurance policies (plus flood insurance, if the home sits in a designated flood hazard area)
How the Application Process Works
Grant availability and application timing can change, so homeowners should always check the official Strengthen Alabama Homes website for the current grant award schedule before applying. The current process generally works like this:
- Create an online homeowner profile and submit the application.
- Upload the required documentation within the program deadline, including the requested income information, insurance declaration pages, and vendor disclosure form.
- After the documentation is approved, select an independent Certified FORTIFIED Evaluator.
- Complete the FORTIFIED evaluation. The homeowner is responsible for the evaluator’s fee.
- If the home passes the evaluation, select three SAH-qualified contractors to bid on the required mitigation work.
- After all three bids are submitted, SAH provides the grant award amount and identifies any expected out-of-pocket construction expense.
- Select the final contractor and complete the FORTIFIED Roof work.
- The evaluator documents the completed work and submits it for the FORTIFIED designation.
- After the home receives its FORTIFIED designation, SAH pays the approved grant amount directly to the contractor on the homeowner’s behalf.
- Provide the FORTIFIED designation to your insurance agent to determine the applicable wind-mitigation discount.
The evaluator who certifies your roof is required to be independent of the contractor who installs it, so B&B handles the roofing work and coordinates closely with your evaluator, but we don’t perform your certification inspection ourselves — that’s by design, to keep the process honest on both sides.
Why Choose B&B Roof and Gutter for Your SAH Project
We’re locally based in Spanish Fort and have helped homeowners throughout Mobile and Baldwin Counties navigate SAH-funded roofing projects from bid to certification. We build every FORTIFIED project to the same specification regardless of whether it’s grant-funded or not, and we’re also a GAF Certified contractor, so your new roof can carry stronger manufacturer-backed warranty coverage on top of your FORTIFIED certification and grant savings.
Get a Free Estimate for Your SAH Application
If you’re ready to apply for a Strengthen Alabama Homes grant, or just want to understand what a FORTIFIED upgrade would cost before you do, call B&B Roof and Gutter at (251) 402-6534 for a free estimate and bid you can submit as part of your application. Because SAH requires multiple contractor bids, our guide to comparing roofing quotes in Baldwin County can help you compare the scope, documentation and warranties behind each number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Strengthen Alabama Homes grant paid to me or to the contractor?
After the approved mitigation work is complete and the home receives its FORTIFIED designation, the Strengthen Alabama Homes program pays the approved grant amount directly to the contractor on the homeowner’s behalf. The homeowner is responsible for costs above the grant award amount and for the independent evaluator’s fee.
How long does the whole process take, from application to a finished roof?
It varies based on funding availability that quarter, evaluator and contractor scheduling, and how quickly documentation is submitted, but homeowners should generally expect the process — from application to final FORTIFIED certification — to take a few months.
What if my roof doesn’t need full replacement — can I still get the grant?
The grant is specifically for wind-mitigation retrofit work that brings your roof up to the FORTIFIED standard, which in most cases means a full roof replacement done to FORTIFIED specifications, since the improvements involve the deck attachment and sealing underneath the shingles themselves.
Do I need to apply the moment the quarter opens?
Since funding for each quarter is limited and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, applying as close to the opening as possible improves your odds, especially if the program is in high demand that quarter.
