St. Petersburg, Fla. – Shaquirra Graham left a job in February that paid more, for a job that she loves. Now, working with kids at the Willis S. Johns Recreation Center where she went as a child.

“Them knowing that I’m teaching them something or just lifting her spirits in any way,” she said. But she's found out that loving her job is enough when it’s time to pay the rent.

“My lease will be ending in December and I will be going back to my mom’s house. I can’t afford rent.”

Like so many others, her rent is spiking so high that she can't afford to pay for anything else.

And now, working a city job that requires her to live in St. Petersburg, she feels like she's losing control of her life, but hope may be on the horizon for her and hundreds of other city workers.

Last week during a city planning meeting, leaders proposed a plan to subsidize rent for employees like Graham, by having them use only a third of their household income for rent, while the city pays the remaining balance directly to the landlord. Graham says that could definitely put her back in control again. 

“That would be amazing. Amazing,” she said, “Anything honestly that would help. Even groceries, that would help, because I don’t even have money for grocery shopping. I just pay for rent. Have a roof over my head.” Some 250 city employees are in the same situation Graham is in right now and could take advantage of a program like this.

As she plans to move out of her apartment, the city is still trying to figure out where to find the nearly $3 million to fund this proposed program. It's a big problem with no quick solutions. The city council and housing officials plan to meet with union reps to iron out more details on one the proposal in June.