{"id":53756,"date":"2025-11-20T05:57:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T05:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/53756\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T05:57:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T05:57:29","slug":"trump-cuts-to-subsidized-rent-programs-could-displace-hundreds-in-orlando-advocates-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/53756\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump cuts to subsidized rent programs could displace hundreds in Orlando, advocates say"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE: This story originally appeared in the Orlando Sentinel.<\/a><\/p>\n

As part of an effort to reinvent how America handles its homeless,\u00a0the Trump administration is slashing funding to long-term housing programs, a decision advocates fear will force many of Central Florida\u2019s disabled and most vulnerable back out onto the streets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who are participating in these programs are people who have limited ability to work and limited ability to access income,\u201d said Martha Are, the CEO of the Homeless Services Network.<\/a> \u201cIf they lose the support services and that partial rental subsidy, they won\u2019t be able to function.\u201d<\/p>\n

[WATCH: Orlando groups helping homeless fear Trump administration changes will affect funding]<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s new priorities and rules for funding were revealed Thursday evening as part of a $3.9 billion \u201cNotice of Funding Opportunity,\u201d<\/a> for which state and local governments and homelessness providers can apply for federal funding \u2013 the largest single source of money to combat homelessness. The tranche of funding allowed for permanent housing programs is now capped at 30%.<\/p>\n

Instead, the new plan prioritizes drug and mental health treatment, temporary transitional housing and street outreach work to bring unsheltered people into services. It adds a work requirement to those receiving rental assistance.<\/p>\n

[RELATED:Stories about homelessness in Central Florida<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Among the programs facing substantial cuts is one called Permanent Supportive Housing, which matches someone experiencing homelessness with an apartment they can afford.<\/p>\n

In Orlando, some 1,600 people are in such apartment units, though the funding cuts appear to affect only about half. The other half, about 800, are veterans whose housing subsidy comes from the U.S. Department of Veterans\u2019 Affairs \u2014 apparently spared from the change.<\/p>\n

People supported by the program pay 30% of their income toward rent and utilities, and a subsidy covers the rest. Along with their apartment, they have access to a host of services ranging from mental health and drug treatment to budgeting assistance and life skills coaching.<\/p>\n

To qualify for such a unit, a person must have been previously homeless and have a permanent disability. Many who qualify are seniors.<\/p>\n

[WATCH: Lawsuit against Trump\u2019s HUD puts homeless senior housing project in legal limbo]<\/p>\n

Are estimated that the agency overseeing such services in Orange, Seminole and Osceola Counties would lose about 40% of its subsidized Permanent Supportive Housing units, affecting several hundred people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll absolutely be losing access to resources that are currently helping people,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the path for how those people can move forward without being homeless again is not clear at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new plan also encourages policies that allow law enforcement to clear encampments, reflective of a law encouraged by the right-leaning Cicero Institute and passed last year by Florida lawmakers.<\/p>\n

The Cicero think tank was also a major influence on the Trump Administration\u2019s decision to dismantle \u201cHousing First,\u201d the predominant anti-homelessness strategy for decades, of which the new Notice for Funding Opportunity is a critical piece.<\/p>\n

In a news release announcing the changes<\/a>, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner declared that Housing First had failed.\u00a0He said such programs \u201cincentivized never-ending government dependency.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur philosophy for addressing the homelessness crisis will now define success not by dollars spent or housing units filled, but by how many people achieve long-term self-sufficiency and recovery,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n

[RELATED:Debunking 8 myths about homelessness in Central Florida<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Among the justifications for the changes is that homelessness nationwide is at an all-time high. But the new plan doesn\u2019t acknowledge the severe shortage of affordable apartments nationwide, as well as how working people have been priced out of markets around the country by skyrocketing housing costs and wages that haven\u2019t kept up with inflation.<\/p>\n

Are said that many in Permanent Supportive Housing, because of their condition, either can\u2019t work or can\u2019t work enough to afford an apartment without the subsidy.<\/p>\n

[WATCH: Homelessness in Metro Orlando holds steady, but is \u2018literally killing\u2019 seniors, advocates say]<\/p>\n

According to Rent.com, the average one-bedroom in Orlando is $1,409 and the average two-bedroom is $1,795. The Orlando Sentinel reported this week that the metro area is 49th among the 50 largest in wages.<\/p>\n

Without the subsidy, it\u2019s likely many will become homeless again, said Jesse Rabinowitz, a spokesman for the National Homelessness Law Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur analysis is that over 170,000 people, primarily people with disabilities or seniors, who were once homeless and are now stably housed, will be kicked out of their housing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will have long-term ramifications on people\u2019s lives\u2026.more people are going to suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NOTE: This story originally appeared in the Orlando Sentinel. As part of an effort to reinvent how America…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,2161,1192,27850,1335,139,141,140,99],"class_list":["post-53756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-florida","tag-government","tag-homelessness","tag-hud","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53756","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=53756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}