FORT PIERCE, Fla. — More people are seeking help with housing and utilities in Fort Pierce amid a significant spike in the price of rent.
According to a study from Smart Asset released in May, Fort Pierce ranks 19th in the nation for the highest rent increase from 2022 to 2023. The study said on average, renters are paying $2,331 per month, an increase of 17.19% from the previous year.
"Yeah, you got the scenery, but the prices are crazy," Reeva Reder said.
The mother of three spent six months looking for a home before finding something affordable.
"With the rent, it's really hard to find a place, especially when you have three kids," she said. "It's getting higher."
"The rent was so high, you know?" Cynthia Johnson said.
She told WPTV her niece, who had moved to Fort Pierce recently, couldn't afford to stay because of the rising costs.
"She had to move back to Tampa," Johnson said.
"Our rent has almost doubled," business owner Michael Crowe said.
Crowe owns Beach Bowls Fort Pierce, a health food restaurant in downtown. With his rent doubling and inflation raising the price of production, it's been tough on his business.
"Nowadays, it takes a lot of money just to make a little bit of money," Crowe said.
Even Laura Hannon can relate. Her hardworking son has been struggling to afford rent on a single income.
"People are trying to survive here," she said. "I wrote to the governor about rent prices."
It's a problem Mustard Seed Ministries in Fort Pierce sees firsthand.
"Our problem has been that there is very little affordable housing," Greg Smith said, "and that has driven the rents higher."
Smith is the nonprofit's executive director.
He said his staff is seeing a dramatic increase in the number of people who are not able to afford their homes. However, with the lack of affordable housing, they have nowhere to put those being evicted.
"People are coming to us saying, 'I didn't really have a crisis. I've had the same job for seven years, but it simply doesn’t pay the bills like it used to,'" Smith said.
Smith added the increase in need comes as the nonprofit's funding was cut from more than $250,000 to slightly more than $38,000 as the pandemic was ending.
"And that went very quick for rent and mortgage," Program Director Stacy Malinowski said.
"We could be helping five times more people," Smith added.
Smith and Malinowski said the problem is two-fold: between the people moving to small towns, like Fort Pierce, in droves, and the lack of affordable housing, rent prices have dramatically increased.
"Supply and demand," Smith said. "If there’s not enough supply, if someone moves out, or if they can't pay their rent, when someone moves out, that rent goes up, because the landlord can ask for it."
Smith and Malinowski called on elected officials to fix the problem.
Others told WPTV they agree something needs to be done.
"I do think they need to help bring the rent prices down," Hannon said. "A tax cap."
"I mean, it's ridiculous," Johnson added.
WPTV contacted the city of Fort Pierce to see if they're working on increasing affordable housing opportunities. City officials declined to comment.
WPTV also reached out to St Lucie County Commissioners.
A spokesperson for the Board of County Commissioners told WPTV they recently reviewed the proposed fiscal year 2024 budget last week, and have proposed budgeting some funds for rental and utility assistance due to the rising costs.
If the proposed budget gets approved in September, starting Oct. 1, the County said their Community Services will have additional funds to help.
In addition to this, the Board said they requested that developers who want to build in St. Lucie County provide a percentage of the new construction be for workforce/affordable housing. The details of this new plan are still being finalized.