One in 6 households in the U.S. spend at least half their income on a place to live.

This means that nearly 19 million families are making difficult choices to make ends meet, choosing between basic necessities: Nutritious food. Health care. Education. Transportation.

What would you give up for a safe and comfortable place to live?

The stability that housing should bring remains out of reach for many people, even more so in the Greater Orlando area, which ranks worst in the nation for affordable housing, especially for low-income households.

Today, Habitat for Humanity Greater Orlando & Osceola County is joining Habitat organizations across the country to launch the Cost of Home campaign. This national advocacy campaign aims to improve home affordability for 10 million people in the US over the next five years. We’re teaming up to coordinate advocacy efforts at the local, state and federal levels.

Video transcript

Habitat Orlando & Osceola has already taken several steps toward these goals. We met with state and national legislators to advocate for housing trust funds to be used as they were intended – for affordable housing; served on several affordable housing task forces; supported zoning and tax regulations that encourage affordable housing production; and more.

 “We can’t meet the need through building alone,” said Catherine Steck McManus, president and CEO of Habitat Orlando & Osceola. “We can’t reach our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live without addressing the underlying policies and systems that hinder access to housing. Solving the nation’s home affordability challenge will take all of us working together. Please join us in our efforts to address home affordability.”

So, what can you do you help?

Sign up to be an Advocacy Ambassador—you’ll be the first to know about opportunities to contact legislators and advocate for affordable housing in Central Florida.

In addition to our email list, we’ll be sharing updates on the Cost of Home campaign and steps that YOU can take here on our blog and across our social media platforms. 

Help us make the #CostofHome something we ALL can afford.