By Shannon Nazworth | The Florida Times-Union Jacksonville
Another view: Affordable housing is an issue of equity and economic recovery.
The economic recovery after the Great Recession was not shared equally by all segments of our society..
Too many households were already living at or below the area median income before the virus sent them to the unemployment line. The state’s eviction moratorium is set to expire on July 1. Without steady employment, the ability to pay rent, or anywhere to go, many Floridians will be at risk of homelessness.
As we rebuild Northeast Florida’s economy, rental housing must be part of the solution. And it must be accessible to our neighbors who are often priced out of the market-rate rental market: the working families, the fixed-income seniors, and the persons with disabilities who deserve to live with dignity.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that a minimum-wage employee in Jacksonville would need to work 73 hours a week, almost two full-time jobs, to afford a one-bedroom apartment.
No one in modern-day America should have to work that many hours to keep a roof over their head. It’s unconscionable. Worse yet, it’s unnecessary.
History has shown that housing is a catalyst for economic recovery. The construction of new housing helped reverse the tide after several recessions. The development of rental housing, in particular, is a boon.
The National Housing Conference estimates that for every 1,000 rental apartments built, approximately 1,250 jobs are created and an estimated $55.9 million in taxes and revenue flow to local, state and federal governments.
Florida families need both public and private investment in affordable housing. In early March, the Florida Legislature agreed to fully fund the Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the first time in 13 years.
If we don’t address the housing shortfall that existed long before the coronavirus pandemic, many families will never financially recover.
On behalf of the thousands of Floridians served by Ability Housing, and the many thousands more in need of an affordable place to call home, I urge legislators to focus on the causes for the societal issues exposed by COVID-19.
If we don’t address those causes, we will not have a healthy recovery. And we will not create a society better able to navigate a future crisis. We must embrace the change that is needed to ensure we have a healthier community for all of us.
We must do this because it is – and always has been – the right thing to do. But it is also to our own benefit. Our community will be a stronger, better community, for all of us, when all of our neighbors have the opportunity to thrive and achieve their full potential.
Shannon Nazworth is the president of Ability Housing, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing.
Article last accessed on June 24, 2020 here. A print-ready version is available here.