NOTE: This story originally appeared on WUCF Newsnight.
Central Florida continues to experience one of the worst affordable housing markets in the country, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Advocates say the shortage of affordable places to live is one of the biggest drivers of homelessness in the region, with many working families trapped in a cycle of poverty, unable to secure stable housing. For Vanessa Figueroa, a mother of three, home is now a hotel room.
Figueroa moved to Florida in 2017, drawn by the promise of sunshine and opportunity. She was living in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house with her children when the pandemic changed everything.
[RELATED: Stories about homelessness in Central Florida]
“After COVID… my landlord didn’t want to renew the lease,” Figueroa said. “He raised the rent by $500 and wanted me out so he could get another tenant.”
Since then, Figueroa has been living in an extended-stay hotel while working in the hospitality industry—waiting tables, catering, and staffing events. She says seasonal influxes of tourists can temporarily bring more job opportunities, but it’s still not enough to meet strict rental requirements.
“Now, a lot of landlords require three times the amount of the rent, you know, which is kind of hard to meet sometimes,” she said.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a minimum-wage worker in Florida would need to work approximately 98 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment priced at $1,500 a month.
In an effort to address the affordable housing shortage, which has enveloped many hospitality workers, Universal has donated 20 acres of land for the Catchlight Crossings project near International Drive, which will include 1,000 new units. The first residents are expected to move in next year. Walt Disney World has also contributed 80 acres in Horizon West.
[VIDEO: ‘Game-changing’ affordable housing community under construction near Epic Universe]
Still, Figueroa believes the root issue lies in wages that don’t align with the region’s cost of living.
“Prices have gone up. I mean, the hourly rate for pay is not meeting the needs of the pricing down here,” she said.
Lawmakers passed the Live Local Act in 2023 and updated it recently to incentivize developers to build more housing. But for families like Figueroa’s, the wait is long and costly. “I believe our politicians should look at, you know, the struggles that people are going through and try to find better means of assistance and hope,” Figueroa explained.
Until then, extended-stay hotels remain a costly and unstable solution for Figueroa, who says she will do all she can to keep a roof over her children’s heads.
[VIDEO: Central Florida news outlets join forces on homelessness crisis]