A mother and her children faced eviction from their affordable housing unit in Orlando last month despite overpaying her rent by more than $1,000.

The city of Orlando is urging residents who experienced financial hardship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic to attend an upcoming listening session on the rental assistance program.

In a regional effort, Seminole County, Orange County, Osceola County and the city of Orlando have all implemented a 10-year plan to combat the affordable housing crisis. "We aren't going to solve Osceola County, without solving Orange County, without solving Seminole County so we have to do this together." “Sadly, it’s typical of what’s happening,” Constantine said, reacting to the story of an Altamonte Springs single father struggling to find affordable housing. Seminole County solutionsThe Seminole County Commission last month was presented with a 10-year plan conducted by the Regional Initiative. “A lot of times people say, ‘We need affordable housing, you need to make them put in that affordable housing,’” Osceola County Commissioner Cheryl Grieb said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State Rep. Carlos Guillermo-Smith (D-Orlando) says finding solutions to fight Central Florida’s affordable housing crisis is a priority in Tallahassee right now. According to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, affordable housing is defined when a person or family isn’t spending more than 30% of their income on rent or mortgage. "In Central Florida, 12,000 people are on the waiting list for affordable housing. "It is an affordable housing crisis and that's why we have made tackling this at the state level important for us." "The reality is, we have a very limited number of resources to pay for affordable housing and transportation," Smith said.

Since then, the family of five, including four children -- all under the age of 11 -- have crammed into a two-bedroom condo in Altamonte Springs and the new adoptive father is struggling to find affordable housing in Central Florida. Riddle, who works as a hotel booking manager, makes $15 an hour and says after taxes, he brings in about $2,100 a month. A local man says he's struggling to afford housing after adopting his niece and her siblings in order to keep them out of foster care. “I’ve spent over $700 in the past year and half and have been denied for every single application,” Riddle said. “I try everything, like I am going to pawn the TV, I’m going to pawn the laptop.