{"id":159104,"date":"2026-02-18T00:18:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T00:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159104\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T00:18:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T00:18:59","slug":"st-pete-first-in-fla-to-use-church-land-for-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159104\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete first in Fla. to use church land for housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 St. Petersburg is the first city in Florida to adopt the \u201cYes In God\u2019s Backyard\u201d (YIGBY)<\/a> housing policy, allowing churches and other places of worship to build affordable housing on unused land.<\/p>\n

City leaders say the effort could help close a widening housing gap \u2014 especially for low-income residents, seniors on a fixed-income and young adults leaving the foster care system who often struggle to find stable housing.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

St. Petersburg is the first city in Florida to adopt the \u201cYes In God\u2019s Backyard\u201d (YIGBY)<\/a> housing policy, allowing churches and other places of worship to build affordable housing on unused land
\n
Faith Youth Services<\/a> is now raising funds to expand housing \u2014 and says the new law could make expansion possible through partnerships with churches
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Palm Lake Urban Sanctuary<\/a> is moving forward with plans for 86 affordable housing units on its property with the help of YIGBY
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City leaders say the effort could help close a widening housing gap \u2014 especially for low-income residents, seniors on a fixed-income and young adults leaving the foster care system who often struggle to find stable housing<\/p>\n

A critical gap after foster care<\/p>\n

Faith Youth Services<\/a> operates a transitional home for young men who have aged out of foster care. But the organization says demand far exceeds space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are maxed out. If we had more room, we\u2019d have more kids,\u201d said CEO Chris Davis.<\/p>\n

Residents learn hands-on job skills like mechanics and landscaping while living there \u2014 training meant to prepare them for independence.<\/p>\n

But once they leave, housing becomes the biggest hurdle.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying to get to the next level, trying to find a place,\u201d one resident said.<\/p>\n

\"Faith<\/p>\n

Faith Youth Services operates a transitional home in St. Pete for young men who have aged out of foster care. But the organization says demand far exceeds space. They are raising funds and with the help of YIGBY have partnered with two local churches to build housing options. (Spectrum News\/Fadia Patterson)<\/p>\n

Why housing prevents deeper problems<\/p>\n

Davis says the lack of housing can quickly push vulnerable young adults into dangerous choices.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big game changer,” said Davis. “When these kids age out of the foster care system, if they\u2019re homeless, they\u2019re more prone to find ways to get money so they can find a place and get off the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of that risk, the nonprofit is now raising funds to expand housing \u2014 and says the new law could make expansion possible through partnerships with churches.<\/p>\n

Churches stepping in<\/p>\n

The YIGBY policy lets faith institutions rezone unused property for residential development.<\/p>\n

Mayor Ken Welch says even small projects could have a big impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might be five units, maybe one or two \u2014 but it contributes to solving the problem,” he said.<\/p>\n

Palm Lake Christian Church (Palm Lake Urban Sanctuary) is already moving forward with plans for 86 affordable housing units on its property.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, this is a passion project,\u201d said Pastor Oscar Banks. \u201cWe pray people wake up every day with new hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

The units will be income-restricted for residents earning up to 80% of the area median income.<\/p>\n

City leaders expect more congregations to follow, with additional applications anticipated this year.<\/p>\n

Advocates say the policy could create a new pipeline of housing \u2014 one that prevents homelessness before it starts and keeps vulnerable young adults from entering the justice system.<\/p>\n

Photos below courtesy of\u00a0Pastor Oscar Banks
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 St. Petersburg is the first city in Florida to adopt the \u201cYes In God\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[16022,274,2375,276,1644,115,772,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-159104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-app-housing","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-fadia-patterson","11":"tag-hillsborough-county","12":"tag-housing","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-on-air-ticker-article","15":"tag-st-pete","16":"tag-st-pete-headlines","17":"tag-st-pete-news","18":"tag-st-petersburg","19":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","20":"tag-st-petersburg-news","21":"tag-tampa","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}