NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Affordable housing projects meant to help homeless individuals get off the streets could be underway in Pasco County by this fall thanks to $4.4 million in American Rescue Plan funding.

"It is so critical," Pasco County Community Development Director Marcy Esbjerg said of the funds. 

Esbjerg said that as of the county's 2021 point-in-time count, more than 600 people were experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Pasco. Other federal money helped the county house 253 of those households in the past year, but more work remains.

"We do know that because of the pandemic, because of high rents, that there are a lot of new people experiencing homelessness," Esbjerg said.

The money recently awarded to the county is from the HOME-ARP program. Esbjerg said it's a combination of the HOME program, an affordable housing effort traditionally funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the American Rescue Plan. Pasco's first priority for the funds will be to create housing for single adults who are homeless in the form of studio and one-bedroom apartments, either by renovating existing properties or building new ones. 

"What we would hope is that we're getting projects that are shovel-ready as can be," said Esbjerg. "We are, at this point, not interested in ideas where people still have to find land, have to get permitting, or they have to go to the state for additional funding. 

"We have until 2030 to spend this money, but the need is now, and we'd like to get projects online as soon as possible."

Amanda Wise said she knows how hard it can be to find affordable housing. As a divorced, single mother of two, she said there was a point where the up-front costs that can come with renting were a challenge, even with a steady paycheck.

"For a normal place, I'd say not anything less than at least $2,500 for just the first, last, security," Wise said of what she experienced. "Most people don't have a support system or a back-up plan that they can go, 'Hey, mom, dad, Joe Schmo, can I have $2,500? That's a lot of money."

Wise now lives in one of the homes built in the Leisure Lane area through Habitat for Humanity. Her situation was different from those Pasco's HOME-ARP funds are meant to help, but she said she knows the difference affordable housing can make. 

"I can breathe, I can not live paycheck-to-paycheck," she said. "I can afford to buy my kids things and take them places and do fun stuff."

Esbjerg said the county has put out a request for proposals for projects, and the application cycle closes April 8. She said the hope is that work on projects will get underway by fall.