Thousands of residents in the greater Orlando area are struggling to pay the increasing rent with inflation, as prices are reaching higher and higher with no end in sight.
According to The Central Florida Foundation, the metro Orlando area sees an influx of over fifteen-hundred people moving into the area every week. These individuals are moving to town with hopes and dreams, and end up committing to spend up to half of their monthly income on housing alone.
Given that the median income in Orlando is $30,264, according to the US Census Bureau, and the average rent for a one bedroom apartment is nearing two thousand dollars a month, one would need to earn over four thousand dollars a month to live independently. The hourly wage to obtain that is twenty-five dollars or more – a wage that simply isn’t attainable for much of the population in today’s economic state.
Em Huff has lived in the Orlando area for the past ten years and has rented seven different apartments. She has spent the last seven years working forty hours a week at Panera Bread and has been a Shift Supervisor/Manager for four of those.
“Panera pays me so little, not even the government wants to take my money,” Huff said regarding a student loan deferment program she had applied to.
With the ever-growing costs of inflation, Huff is struggling to pay her half of the rent for her two-bedroom apartment, where she lives with a roommate. Her managerial position with years of experience earns her just over fourteen dollars an hour. This is a situation faced by hundreds, if not thousands of Orlando residents.
Years ago, she faced homelessness herself, and considered a temporary stay at Covenant House Florida, a private agency that serves runaways and homeless youth between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four in the State of Florida, specifically in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
“It can be kind of difficult to get into Covenant House,” Huff said in an interview. “There are a lot of individuals in need. I was placed on a two-week waiting list, and you have to call them pretty much every day for them to not remove you from that list.”
Huff was attempting to join the CHF Supportive Services Program, which provides temporary housing, referrals, as well as assistance budgeting to help those in need save up and afford a down-payment.
“It’s such a high demand list that you have to show an active and persistent willingness to be a part of the program,” said Huff.
Luckily, Huff had discovered that friends from South Florida were moving to the city, and she was able to sign a lease with them before her situation turned perilous.
The Central Florida Foundation is actively trying to improve the housing crisis with a program called the Housing Impact Fund that collaborates with local businesses in order to create affordable housing to rent or own. Their goal is to build twenty-five thousand affordable homes over the next ten years.
“If we create a whole spectrum of housing, we will make it easier for a whole spectrum of people to find a place they can live and thrive,” said Shannon Nazworth with Ability Housing.
If you or someone you know is struggling with homelessness in Orlando, check out Covenant House’s assistant programs here.
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