Faith leaders and residents gathered at St. Ann Catholic Church in Lake Worth Beach to sound the alarm on a housing affordability crisis they say is pushing working families out of Palm Beach County. The group, organized under the coalition PEACE, shared personal stories of rising rents and stagnant wages before announcing a county commission candidate forum later this month focused squarely on housing.
As reported by WPTV, Rev. Latifah Griffin told the gathering that people who work in Palm Beach County are struggling simply to live there. PEACE describes itself as a coalition of 31 congregations across the county, and its members reported that residents face rising rents, stagnant wages, and the possibility of being displaced from the communities where they work and raise families.
The numbers behind those complaints are stark. A Palm Beach County affordable housing report cited by the station found that average two-bedroom apartment rent climbed from $1,899 in 2021 to $2,833 in 2024, a 49.2% jump in just three years. Over roughly the same stretch, the median single-family home price rose from $425,000 in late 2020 to $600,000 in late 2024, a 41.2% increase. Redfin data from August 2026 found that households nationally needed nearly $110,000 in annual income to afford a typical home, a threshold many local workers simply don't clear.
A Father's Worry Over His Daughter's Future
Harry Wolin, who lives on a fixed income with his retired wife, said his family helps support their adult daughter, a waitress in Lake Worth who has worked in the restaurant industry for more than 20 years. Despite her work history, she needs financial help from her parents to afford housing, Wolin said, telling the station his daughter works hard but still cannot afford housing at today's prices.
Wolin said his family is willing to sacrifice to make sure his daughter has a safe place to live, but he worries about what happens to workers who don't have relatives able to step in financially. He also worries about who will support his daughter once he and his wife can no longer help.
Doubled-Up Households and Workers Moving Away
Mamie Kisner, who represents Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, said families in her congregation report increasing rents, adult children unable to afford homes of their own, and crowded, doubled-up households as a result. She said some workers are moving farther away to find affordable housing, and that local businesses are struggling to retain employees who can no longer afford to live nearby. The people affected, Kisner said, are people PEACE members know and love.
Faith leaders at the gathering urged elected officials to listen to residents experiencing housing insecurity and to consider ways to help workers remain in Palm Beach County. The pressures described at the church align with broader regional data: an October 2026 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta found that 60% of middle-income renter households earning between $74,000 and $111,000 a year in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area are cost-burdened, meaning they pay more than 30% of their income on housing.
A Countywide Deficit and Competing Policy Tracks
The Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County's Housing for All plan set a countywide target to build, preserve, or rehabilitate 20,000 affordable and workforce housing units by 2032, according to the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County. That goal was created to address a historic supply deficit averaging more than 2,000 affordable units a year. In Florida, 47% of households in 2023 were either in poverty or ALICE households.
Local policy has moved on multiple fronts to address the gap. Palm Beach County voters approved a $200 million affordable housing bond in November 2022 to finance projects through low-interest loans to developers, and commissioners have continued allocating those funds, including evaluating $81 million in loans for nine housing projects this past July, according to the South Florida Business Journal. That round included $12.87 million proposed for the 181-unit Lake Worth West Apartments, with 154 of those units set to serve households making up to 110% of area median income.
Separately, Florida's Live Local Act gives qualifying projects density and height flexibility, and qualifying projects generally must keep at least 40% of units affordable for a multi-decade term; a tool Hoodline has previously reported is reshaping redevelopment in cities including West Palm Beach and Boca Raton. The county has also connected its own policy directly to congregations like those in PEACE: in February 2026, the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners approved a contract with the Housing Leadership Council to launch the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Development Program, offering technical training to help religious organizations build affordable housing on underutilized church land.
Candidate Forum Set for Late October
PEACE is encouraging residents to come hear county commission candidates explain their understanding of the housing crisis and what they would do about it. The group has announced a community kickoff and candidate forum focused on affordable housing, scheduled for October 26 at 7 p.m. at St. Juliana Catholic Church.
Palm Beach County's own income benchmarks underscore how narrow the path to affordability has become. The county's Area Median Income reached $111,800 for a family in 2025, setting qualification brackets for its Workforce Housing Program between 60% and 140% of that figure, with designated workforce home purchase prices ranging from $234,780 to $419,640 depending on income tier. When the 60-unit Island Cove Affordable Housing Community opened in Delray Beach in January 2024, with 18 workforce units set aside for local first responders and teachers, all units were fully leased before opening day, a sign of just how much demand is waiting for whatever supply gets built.
