We're taking the show on the road to the Harry Chapin Food Bank’s Fort Myers warehouse to meet some of the people who work to bring food to those in need all across the region. The food bank has been operating in Southwest Florida since 1983. It partners with church food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, and disaster relief agencies to provide food for about 28,000 people each and every week in Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry Counties. Last year the food bank distributed 22.3 million pounds of food, that equates to 18.6 million meals, with a total value of more than $37 million dollars. We're going to explore how this process works with Miriam Periera, she’s Director of Development here at the food bank, and a local woman who is getting help from the food bank.
And, according to the 2018 report Attainable Housing in Lee County, which was funded by the Horizon Council Foundation and prepared for the Lee County Attainable Housing Coalition, there are more than 107,000 households in the county spending more than 30% of their income on housing, and more than 52,000 households spending more than 50% of their income on housing. 30% is considered burdensome, and 50% severely so. And while unemployment is low, home prices and rents continue to increase faster than wages are growing. You can find similar numbers in other southwest Florida Counties. One of the things that leads to food insecurity is a lack of affordable housing. When the rent is too high, but is completely necessary to pay, that leaves little room for things like milk and bread. We're joined by Phillip Payne with the Urban Land Institute. He spent some time in Southwest Florida putting together a report for Collier county concerning its housing situation. We're sitting down with him to about the problems facing communities that are heavily reliant on tourism and the service industry.
We're also joined Dr. Christopher Westley, he is a Professor of Economics at Florida Gulf Coast University, and the Director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at the university’s Lutgert College of Business, which closely tracks things like the region’s economy, and where housing fits into that equation.
