Shannon Rewoldt and her ten-year-old daughter, Lihanna, will never forget being homeless a few years ago. Despite having a steady job and working hard, Shannon, a single mom, just couldn't find affordable housing.

“You feel like you're failing all the time, no matter how much you're doing,” Shannon said.

They finally found a two bedroom rental in Dingmans Ferry which costs $1,500 dollars a month, not including most utilities. While Shannon is thankful to receive Section 8 assistance, she says the home isn't ideal. It lacks storage and is far from work and stores. There's also the rising costs of food and fuel. Plus, the move required Lihanna to switch schools.

“With the transition, she has to make new friends and give up some of the things she was able to do before,” Shannon explained.

Clentel Dinkins, 49, also became homeless while maintaining a full-time job. After separating from his significant other, he couldn't afford to live on his own. “There's not a lot of people making a lot of money an hour to pay these astronomical numbers for deposits, security deposit,” he said.

Clentel eventually got connected to a Stroudsburg landlord who works with tenants in need. He currently lives in shared housing, paying $800 a month for his own room.

“The housing market needs to change. It shouldn't just be beneficial for the people who have money. It should be beneficial for everybody. We all deserve a chance,” he added.

David Orlando, a local landlord, remembers how different the housing market was when he got started in 2017.

He recalled, “I had some renters pay $560 for a one bedroom, $800 for a two bedroom. Because of the housing market, I was able to buy a two unit apartment for $100,000. That same unit today is two to three times that price.”

David notes several issues today:

- Low inventory despite high demand as people continue moving to the Poconos from nearby cities like New York and Philadelphia.
- Homebuyers competing with outside investors who bring all cash offers to the table, oftentimes above asking.
- Local residents unable to pay as much as others moving in, who are used to higher prices.

David says Covid, inflation, and political environments all play a role too.

“As a result, the market keeps going up, and I’m surprised. I thought it would have capped off in 2021, 2022. I’m here saying, ‘it's 2024, still hasn't capped off.’ Even though the rest of the country might say the housing market is cooling off, it's not in this area because there is so much demand,” he added.

While rental prices have doubled, David says tenants aren't the only ones seeing dramatic increases. All of his expenses have gone up, including employee costs, property taxes, mortgage rates, and utilities.

“People think landlords are just gouging. Well, some are. But the vast majority are just sitting there saying, ‘how do I just make sure I don't lost money?’,” David said.

Seniors, like 68-year-old Diane Mukhtar, also feel the strain. Diane was on the waitlist for three years before recently getting a coveted apartment at Whitestone Commons in Stroudsburg, one of Monroe County's only low-income tax credit communities for ages 6-plus. There are 72 units here, and just as many people waiting for one.

“And I'm really happy here because there are a lot of stores, a lot of everything that's close,” Diane said.

Prior to Whitestone Commons, Diane bounced between renting rooms, staying on relatives’ couches, and even moving to outside areas that were more affordable. She added, “I’ve moved to Susquehanna County, Lackawanna County, all of them, to find cheap rent. Once the rents would get too high, I’d have to move.”

Mary Knueppel is another Whitestone Commons resident who started as number 66 on the waitlist. For years, Mary and her husband, Fred, tried moving to the Stroudsburg area to be closer to their kids, but couldn’t.

Mary recalled, “when I looked online for low income senior housing, they were $1,000 dollars and more. My husband and I couldn't swing that kind of money.”

By the time Whitestone Commons called with good news, Mary's husband had passed away. “So, he never got to move up here,” she said.

Not enough affordable places but so many faces, facing a critical housing need.