It’s no secret that one of the biggest issues facing our working families here in Central Florida is the problem of finding, and then keeping, housing that is affordable.
Over the years, I have heard too many times from members of my congregation about the incredible stress the issue has caused them and their loved ones in an area they remain overwhelmingly proud to call home.
But what keeps getting lost in the noise of all the talking heads and politicians are these basic struggles that too many people in our communities are going through every single day.
– Original Credit: handout
– Original Source: handout
We should all be able to agree that anyone who puts in 40 hours of hard work each week should have access to housing for themselves and their family whose cost doesn’t prevent them from paying for groceries or a trip to the doctor for their children.
Unfortunately, that’s just simply not the case for too many families in our communities. Even though voters in Florida last year approved a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, the Orlando metro area ranks dead last among the top 50 in America in median wages.
In a region that’s seen rents rise by 20% since last January and foreclosures increase by 17% year over year, it is clear that finding affordable housing is becoming out of reach for far too many of hardworking folks.
This problem is especially dire for us in the Black community, as over 30% of Black renters nationwide are spending more than half of their household income each month to put a roof over their head.
However, there is good news on the horizon, but only if the politicians in Washington will put partisan politics aside and do what’s right for our working families.
President Joe Biden was elected on a promise to improve life for working and middle class families, and a big part of that promise was to ensure that everyone had an affordable place to live. Under President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, our country would make historic investments to lower housing costs, increase the supply of affordable housing units, upgrade existing public housing properties, and retrofit thousands of homes by removing harmful lead paint.
These simple steps alone would increase the supply of affordable housing nationwide for homeowners and renters by 100,000 units over the next three years. That would have a tremendous impact here in Central Florida, especially for Black families who have been neglected for too long.
Access to affordable housing could help thousands of working families here in our community take a step up the economic ladder, while improving the overall health and well-being of our communities. I don’t need to tell you what a difference it makes to have a little money left over in your pocket at the end of every month, both for your peace of mind and in case of an emergency, whatever that may be.
I am calling on all of us in the faith community to strongly urge our representatives in Washington to stop the bickering and pass President Biden’s Build Back Better plan as quickly as possible in order to make the historic investments in our working families that they deserve.
It is the right thing to do. It is the moral thing to do. It is the just thing to do.
The Rev. James T. Morris is pastor of Carter Tabernacle in Orlando.
