The impact of living in the Sunshine State comes at a high cost, and that’s why hundreds of Brevard County residents are raising awareness about the lack of affordable housing. Brevard’s Department of Justice, a newly formed coalition of faith groups, gathered hundreds of residents at Suntree United Methodist Church in Melbourne on Monday night to tackle rising housing costs. Together, they called on their elected leaders to make this growing problem their top priority. “The homeless situation in our county is so dire that it is the magnet that has brought us together from different denominations and organizations because the crisis is at a critical mass,” Bishop Merton Clark told Truth Revealed. International Ministries. People started the meeting with song and prayer before spending an hour talking about how the families are feeling the impact because many of them end up on the streets. “I think we appreciate the tourism, the economy and the industries that come to Brevard and Florida and if we appreciate that, we need to value the workers who support those industries,” said Reverend Allee Willcox, associate pastor at Suntree United Methodist Church. Those in the audience held up signs during the meeting showing a variety of salaries in the county, from office clerks, orderlies to restaurant workers. Some of them explained that they would have to pay nearly half of their income for rent. “We were fine until they started raising our rent,” resident Keith Camby said. Camby, his wife and two children could not afford the rent, so they were evicted. The only option they had was to sleep in their car. “Truth Revealed Church stepped in, helped us find housing, but now another tragedy has happened. The house we were in, the plumbing collapsed,” Camby said. “We are again in a hotel until Thursday, so we could face homelessness again.” Organizers said they sent letters, messages and left voicemails, but no county official was in sight at Monday’s large rally. “We are frustrated and saddened that they chose not to come tonight,” Willcox said. “You can see by the turnout that this is a huge priority for our community members and the crisis.” The group has two meetings scheduled with some county commissioners later this month and in June.
The impact of living in the Sunshine State comes at a high cost, and that’s why hundreds of Brevard County residents are raising awareness about the lack of affordable housing.
Brevard’s Department of Justice, a newly formed coalition of faith groups, gathered hundreds of residents at Suntree United Methodist Church in Melbourne on Monday night to tackle rising housing costs. Together, they called on their elected leaders to make this growing problem their top priority.
“The homeless situation in our county is so dire that it is the magnet that has brought us together from different denominations and organizations because the crisis has reached critical mass,” Bishop Merton Clark told Truth Revealed. International Ministries.
People started the meeting with songs and prayers before spending an hour talking about how families are feeling the impact, as many find themselves on the streets.
“I think we appreciate the tourism, the economy and the industries that come to Brevard and Florida and if we appreciate that, we need to value the workers who support those industries,” said Reverend Allee Willcox, associate pastor at Suntree United Methodist Church.
Those in the audience held up signs during the meeting showing a variety of salaries in the county, from office clerks, orderlies to restaurant workers. Some of them explained that they would have to pay nearly half of their income for rent.
“We were fine until they started raising our rent,” resident Keith Camby said.
Camby, his wife and two children could not afford the rent, so they were evicted. The only option they had was to sleep in their car.
“Truth Revealed Church stepped in, helped us find housing, but now another tragedy has happened. The house we were in, the plumbing collapsed,” Camby said. “We are again in a hotel until Thursday, so we could face homelessness again.”
Organizers said they sent letters, messages and left voicemails, but no county official was in sight at Monday’s large rally.
“We are frustrated and saddened that they chose not to come tonight,” Willcox said. “You can see by the turnout that this is a huge priority for our community members and the crisis.”
The group has two meetings scheduled with some county commissioners later this month and in June.