Florida's Gulf Coast region has long struggled with a lack of affordable housing for workers, and the issue is only getting worse.
"For years, we have been working behind the scenes on a systemic solution to reduce the imbalance between the demand for and available supply of workforce housing," Mark Pritchett, CEO of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, writes in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
"The key to workforce housing is market-based, matching the supply with the demand," he says.
That's why the foundation has been working with local governments and nonprofits to find solutions, including using government surplus lands for housing.
"For years, we have been working behind the scenes on a systemic solution to reduce the imbalance between the demand for and available supply of workforce housing," Pritchett writes.
"Our community has built many workforce housing units over the past few decades, but with the large-scale creation of market-rate units, demand overwhelms new supply efforts," he continues.
The foundation has recently helped fund a 10-unit apartment complex for veterans in Sarasota, as well as a new development for adults with developmental differences and mental health diagnoses.
"This is a big step forward in incentivizing the market to build workforce housing, and we thank the Sarasota
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