MY VIEW: Support housing that makes a difference

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

by: Denise Calderwood

Flagler County is a beautiful place to call home. We have everything that anyone can ask for: the beach, rural living, city life, cultural activities, parks, trails, recreation centers, golfing, tennis, a rowing center, a horseshoe park and plenty of pickleball courts. Flagler County residents have a lot to be grateful for — as long as you have a home where your family can live without having to rely on subsidies.

For many of our long-term residents, this is not the reality.

We have way too many homeless students enrolled in our schools, and those numbers will only grow in the future if we keep approving affordable housing developers in name only. Even “affordable” rents start at $1,100 and you need a minimum of $2,900 to move in, in addition to needing a clean background, a good credit score and an income of $2,500 a month and no liens, late payments, evictions or bankruptcies.

In Florida, communities are required to have comprehensive plans, and each plan has an affordable housing component. In 2016, the Flagler County Homeless and Housing Taskforce developed strategies; however, the leadership never adopted the recommendations. Then, in 2019, we aggressively cleaned up the homeless camp behind the library and then gated it without providing resources to the homeless.

So what is the solution?

We need leadership that will take the time and energy necessary to bring the right people around the table to create a workable model, similar to the cottages at Princess Place, that can be replicated and made affordable to build.

Flagler County governments are still the largest land holders in our community, so, be the leaders and come together with the social service agencies, religious community and caring volunteers including the homebuilders and the newly established Chamber of Commerce to develop a truly affordable housing community that allows residents to become homeowners. Such an approach would provide an incentive to go to work and to address the attitude that says, “not in my backyard,” or, “Let’s put a gate around it and provide 24-hour security.”

As a grant writer, a volunteer executive director of a local not-for-profit and a licensed security guard, I would be willing to be the first volunteer. Call 386-225-3053 if you want to help.

Denise Calderwood is the executive director of Family Matters of Flagler.