ST PETERSBURG, Fla. — “Yes, in God’s backyard.” That was the push for a bill that recently went into effect this summer.

It allows churches to use their property to develop affordable housing, regardless of zoning restrictions.

A local nonprofit is using that model to tackle the issue of homelessness and affordable housing for young people aging out of foster care.

What You Need To Know

Nonprofit organization Spring Zone St. Pete is using the Yes in God’s Backyard house bill as the model to tackle the issue of homelessness and affordable housing for young people aging out of foster care
 
They will be providing housing on the land of Mt. Zion Primitive Baptist in St. Pete

The project is expected to be completed within the next two years and some of the people who will live in the units will also get a chance to help with the building and construction process

RELATED: ‘Yes, In God’s Backyard’ bill part of proposed affordable housing solution

Graduation, homemade desserts and a culinary career in the making are what 20-year-old Lexi Allison does have. But it’s what she’s had to face after aging out of foster care that’s always top of mind.

“Homelessness, unemployment, a mental battle, jail. Like I know a lot of people just struggling and constantly going to jail. That’s another thing that not having somewhere stable can cause,” Allison said. “One thing I realized when I didn’t have nowhere to go it was either hard to keep a job, it’s hard to think about your next step when you’re not even in the place you want to be, or be in a place you want to live in or feel comfortable at.”

That’s the kind of information Christopher Warren with the nonprofit, Spring Zone St. Pete, said they took into account when they came up with a plan to help solve the housing issue for young people.

“The Yes in God’s Backyard house bill that passed has been a tremendous blessing in this effort. The ability for us to be able to provide housing, but provide housing on church property, is amazing. It’s essential to success because what we need is community,” Warren said. “When it’s fully developed, we’ve got ten units with two young people in each unit. They each have their own room, which was something I wanted to make sure they had, because in the foster system they can be three, four, five — sometimes six to a room.”

He said each unit will be equipped with the comforts of home and a house of worship on the same property.

Mt. Zion Primitive Baptist Church Senior Pastor G. Gregg Murray said his church is excited about leasing their land for this housing.

“Here at Mt. Zion, we want to make sure that whatever we do with our land, we be about ministry,” Murray said.

At Mt. Zion Primitive Baptist in St. Pete, Murray said their focus is on ministry that makes a difference in the lives of their members and members of a community that’s often forgotten.

“For foster children who have aged out of the program between the ages of 18 to 23, and we know that’s a time they get displaced and somehow, they disappear into the community, they’re no longer getting services,” he said.

Pastor Murray is also a social worker. And for his wife, Pauline, working with foster children is part of her life’s work.

“Working with foster children for pretty much all my life and supervisor of a foster care program here in Pinellas County,” Pauline said. “When you get a child that’s aging out of foster care and coming into an independent living program, they need a lot of wrap-around services. They need a lot of love and attention — you’re their parent. And the same thing you would do with your children, you do with those children.”

A handful of other churches have also signed on to help with the affordable housing crisis hitting this vulnerable population. It’s something Allison says she can only be thankful for.

“Yeah, that’s all God’s work,” she said.

The project is expected to be completed within the next two years. Some of those young people who will live in the units will also get a chance to help with the building and construction process.