“It was very affordable here growing up and as a young adult,” she said. “Even three years ago, I was renting a one-bedroom, one-bath condo for $1,200 a month, on the fifth floor. It was lovely and on a golf course.”
Yet by this fall, those types of rentals were out of reach. Instead, at 74, Susan was sharing rent in a mobile home with one of her adult daughters.
And then the affordability crisis collided with another one to befall Sarasota and Bradenton: Hurricane Milton.
When the mobile home owner informed Susan and her daughter that his own residence sustained damage and that he needed his unit back, Susan had nowhere to go.
Soon her daughter was moving out of state with her new husband – right behind Susan’s other daughter who lost work on one of the barrier islands due to the storm.
“I was left to figure it out by myself,” she said.
Susan spent weeks trying to find another place to live.
“There was nothing I could afford,” she said. “Everything had been rented out, and the rents have skyrocketed.”
When her home health client died, she also had to conduct a mad search for another job.
As December approached, so did eviction proceedings. Then the electricity was turned off, just as the temperatures dropped. Susan slept under piles of blankets.
“You do what you have to do to survive,” she said.
Seniors greatly affected by Sarasota-Manatee's increased cost of living
Local experts say Susan is not alone in needing to work way past the official retirement age – in large part because of high housing costs as well as rising food and utility expenses.
According to the updated ALICE Report released last year, seniors have been disproportionately affected by the area's increased cost of living.
In both Sarasota and Manatee counties, almost half of all households of residents 65 and older fall below the ALICE Threshold – a category that includes residents living in poverty as well as those deemed Asset-Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (or ALICE).
Researchers considered the point to be alarming, given seniors’ large share of the local population – and also because of how sharply their hardship numbers are rising.
In Sarasota County, the number of senior households under the ALICE Threshold went from 37,000 in 2019 to 48,600 in 2022. In Manatee County, the numbers went from 24,800 to 35,100 during that time.
In Susan’s case, she was finally able to track down another mobile home whose rent at $1,000 a month she could afford. But there were lots of fees and deposits in order to get through the door.
That’s when she reached out to Turning Points, which was able to apply to Season of Sharing for rental assistance on her behalf so she could move in.
Help your neighbors in need:Donate to Season of Sharing
Worried, but trying to stay upbeat
That assistance has allowed Susan to catch her breath. Not only does she have a solid roof over her head – and heat (though the electric company is charging several hundred dollars for a deposit) – she also has acquired a new client.
She loves her job and thinks she would do it no matter what – though possibly not nearly as many hours per week if it weren’t for the housing crisis. Given the way things are going, she’s not sure when or if she’ll ever be able to retire.
“I feel like the morning of my funeral, I’ll still be working,” she says laughing.
But Susan knows the matter is serious. Though she worries about her financial security in the long term, she’s trying to maintain her upbeat and positive attitude, taking one day at a time, finding purpose while caring for her new client.
“I can go there and try to make him smile,” she said, “and that gives me a good feeling.”
How to help
Season of Sharing, a program administered by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, assists individuals and families in an emergency with rent, mortgage, transportation, utility and childcare expenses in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties.
