The construction of three cottage-style houses in the small, quirky city of Lake Worth Beach may sound insignificant in today's expensive, low-inventory housing market. But for first-time homebuyers like Shameka Foster, a single mother with a bright-eyed young daughter, owning and walking into their new living room is the kind of comfort they’ve dreamt about.
“I can give my daughter a home that I never had,” Foster told WLRN. “I’m just very happy now that they could do something like this for us single parents.”
As dignitaries and community members held a ribbon cutting ceremony in front of the homes this week, county officials said it was part of an ongoing effort to address the area's housing crisis.
The nearly million-dollar affordable housing project completed by the Community Land Trust of Palm Beach County — the county’s nonprofit arm — brought a sense of relief and joy to Foster, who helped cut the ribbon with her daughter.
Foster applied over a year ago and was the first applicant to get approved for her home. “It is very important for a child to have a stable home,” Foster added. “No parent wants to be moving around every single year, not sure where they're going to be living.”
The subsidized homeownership program is partly financed through the Federal American Rescue Plan. Foster put down north of $14,000, less than half of what she would have had to pay without the county’s support.
READ MORE: Lack of affordable housing in Palm Beach County drives troubling rise in homelessness
Cindee LaCourse-Blum, founding executive director for the Community Land Trust of Palm Beach County (CLT), told WLRN the new homes are “changing the life of these people by giving them an opportunity that otherwise wouldn't have been presented to them.”
“It's only three homes ... But what you see when you see their faces and their kids' faces is that it's an opportunity to really make generational change,” said Cindee LaCourse-Blum, referring to the equity accrued from homeownership.
The single-family three-bedroom units were built on 25ft lots and come equipped with hurricane impact windows and doors.
LaCourse-Blum said development partners were able to build these modern homes to sell for $200,000, despite spikes in construction cost.
That's thanks to a range of public and private subsidies as well as a myriad of funding sources, including a construction loan from JP Morgan Chase PRO Neighborhoods program, a loan from South Florida Community Land Trust and land donated by the Lake Worth Beach CRA.
All three units were sold to first-time homebuyers whose household incomes did not exceed 100% of the area median income.
Keeping up with the rising cost of living
Purchasing a home isn't easy for large segment of the population. Despite a slight increase in housing inventory in Palm Beach County, the median sales price for a single-family home in the county hovers over $600,000, according to recent data from Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie Realtors group.
The median household income in Lake Worth Beach hovers around $57,000, according to Census data. Low wages relative to the market have made most home purchases and rental properties largely unaffordable.
As a result, the county saw a 15% spike in homelessness from the same time last year.
County administrator Verdenia Baker said “salaries have not kept pace” with the cost of homeownership and renting. Even people making above average salaries are struggling to live and work in the county," she said.
“The board of county commissioners cannot address this problem alone,” Baker said. “It is going to take all 39 municipalities and our corporate partners because they’re going to need affordable workforce housing, even if they pay $100,000 per year, per job. That is still workforce housing.”
LaCourse-Blum says county officials are in the process of building more units through funds from the $200 million housing bond, a 20-year measure the county passed in 2022 that was spearheaded by Commissioner Mack Bernard, a Democrat whose district includes Riviera Beach.
Bernard said at the next commission meeting on May 7 the board is considering a $100 million package to “create workforce and affordable housing in Palm Beach County.”
The CLT is also in the process of building the CLT Villas Project, another small project that will bring eight units of affordable housing to Palm Beach County, LaCourse-Blum said.
Children need homes, too
County Mayor Maria Sachs said the topic surrounding housing should also include how children are impacted by the lack of affordability.
“We don’t build for us. We build for them,” Sachs said. “Every child needs a home. And that’s what we’re doing today.”
Lake Worth Beach commissioner Sarah Malega echoed her sentiment. “I was a child who was homeless. I was a child who bounced around,” she said.
“When you build a home, you build a community. When you build a home, you build a sense of pride.”
Shameka Foster, pacing through bedrooms, walk-in closet and long hallway, said the quality of the home is what brings a smile to her daughters face.
"When I walk in the house I noticed that everything inside there is just modern stuff, especially the lighting and the kitchen the cabinets," Foster said. "Everything is just modern, so it's just beautiful. It is extremely beautiful. This is my home. My first home."
