HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Times are tough, and the fight for affordable housing is more urgent than ever.
Members of the group, Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality, or HOPE, are fighting for funding.
WATCH: Hillsborough County affordable housing funds in jeopardy; one organization is fighting back
HOPE’s co-president Sheila Simmons Tribble said it’s critical now, with hurricanes and rising costs displacing families across the country.
The HOPE Affordable Housing Act has helped hundreds of people, and Tribble is grateful for its already positive impact on the community.
"We are very appreciative of the fact that we have had this housing fund since 2019 and we're grateful that some 1100 persons have been able to be housed," said Tribble.
Back in 2019, the act created an affordable housing trust fund that required at least $10 million to be allocated to it every year.
However, County Commissioner Chris Boles is proposing to slash those funds and use them for public safety instead.
Its set to be discussed at Wednesday’s County commissioner meeting.
"We’re very disappointed," said Tribble.
She said the two go hand in hand - investing in affordable housing is also an investment in public safety.
"We should never pit the two against one another," said Tribble. "When you have housing affordability that fosters safer and more resilient communities, it also helps to stabilize communities and stabilize families."
The 2025 budget is showing the commissioners are already planning to allocate about $1.3 billions dollars for public safety.
"$10 million is just a drop in the bucket," said Tribble. "And we are looking at a total county budget of over $10 billion. So here's an opportunity for us to continue to address a crisis in our community."
Cuts have been made to the Affordable Housing Act before.
Back in September, County Commissioner Joshua Wostal spoke out against putting money into the Act.
"It’s just simply unethical to have this continued rebinding of money for future boards based off of a past board’s decision," said Wostal. "It was just a clever way to circumvent the laws and protections that are in place."
Tribble said she plans to attend the meeting Wednesday morning to make her voice heard. She expects about 50 other people, wearing purple shirts, to do the same.
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