TAMPA, Fla. — The reality of the housing crisis in Tampa and cities across Florida is that tens of thousands of people are in need and waiting their turn for housing. But, some will never be helped.
The housing wait lists ebb and flow like ocean waves. As one rolls in, another rolls out. Just like the nearly 1,000+ people estimated to move to the Sunshine State daily, that influx creates its own problems.
Mary Wyche has three children: an infant, a 3-year-old son with special needs, and a teenage daughter. To keep her family off the streets, she crashes with friends, a serial couch surfer, to avoid homelessness.
A now-former employee told Wyche of Silver Oaks apartments that a unit was available for her. But when she went to pay her deposit, she told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska that management said it was a "mistake," and the waitlist was two years. Wyche was heartbroken and felt helpless. That is why she initially contacted ABC Action News for help navigating the system. Paluska confirmed Wyche's story with the property manager.
For the past several years, ABC Action News has reported on multiple groundbreakings and live-work-play communities getting built across Tampa.
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Mayor Castor's goal is to create or preserve 10,000 affordable housing units. According to Adam Smith, the city's communications director, 2,200 units are either completed or underway, with 7,700 in the works over the next few years.
Wyche is one of tens of thousands in the Tampa Bay area and across the state needing stable housing. According to Margaret Jones, Director of Assisted Housing for the Tampa Housing Authority, people on waitlists must update their preferences to be moved higher.
Currently, there are nearly 13,000 people on their waitlist.
After we contacted the Tampa Housing Authority, they were able to update Wyche's preferences, which moved her closer to getting a unit. Wyche went from 626 to 58.
Despite so many people waiting, there are stories of hope. Small victories Kayon Henderson, the Director of Housing and Community Development, told Paluska they will always celebrate.
Jones said the ultimate goal is to help families get a hand up, not a handout.
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