Sawt Falasteen - In US swing state Pennsylvania, inflation means 'rent or eating'

In Dauphin county, home to the state capital Harrisburg, skyrocketing inflation, soaring rents and spiralling real estate prices have made it difficult to balance the budget every month.

Retiree Sonia Perez says her 35-year-old son Xavier, who works full-time as an elevator operator, faces a tough choice most of the time.

"This is what you're looking at, rent or eating," said the 72-year-old Perez, who was a teacher and herself receives a low-income housing voucher.

"Last time I was at his place, I opened the fridge, and there was only water."

According to the latest data from the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, some 16 percent of renters in Dauphin county are facing the threat of eviction. That is one of the highest rates in the state.

Perez herself doesn't have a huge financial cushion.

Three years ago, she lost her house due to a fire from a short-circuit, a disaster that forced her to live temporarily in emergency housing provided by local charity Christian Churches United.

Unable to afford significant repairs, because she was not insured for the damages, she ended up selling her property for only $30,000. That money is now long gone.

"I'm struggling to pay rent," Perez said of the monthly $275 she owes after her voucher, for a two-bedroom apartment in Harrisburg.

Xzavia, a supervisor in a mental institution who lives in Harrisburg, was recently threatened with eviction after she had to switch to part-time work when the youngest of her three sons was diagnosed with autism.

"I'm a single mom, everything comes from my pockets, so by the time you pay the rent and the bills, there's really not much left," she told AFP, declining to give her last name.

Xzavia, 33, faced issues getting aid, as her salary was considered too high for certain programs.

Thanks to the Beahive Affordable Housing Outreach group, which provided her with $500, she avoided the eviction.

The program is "what we call needs-based and not income-based," Beahive founder Samara Scott said.

Xzavia had sought to break her lease, which ends in April, but her landlord threatened to sue her for the remaining rent that would have been owed, she told AFP.

- 'Hidden valley' discovered -

Finding a new place will also probably be difficult.

Perez says she had to submit about 50 applications before finding her current spot.

"There are just not enough homes," said Scott. "I have people calling me every day asking me, 'Do you know of a house?'"

Ryan Colquhoun, a broker at Harrisburg Property Management Group, said houses in the Harrisburg area used to sell for $100,000 or $125,000, while rents were once just a few hundred dollars a month.

"It sort of was like this hidden valley of affordability," said Colquhoun, whose company manages about 2,000 rental properties. "It's like the secret of the affordability of central Pennsylvania got out."

Rents have shot up as much as 50 percent in the last three years, Colquhoun said.

"Some landlords that used to be a little more forgiving because the demand wasn't there are now taking a hard line on going to eviction court," said Michelle Miduri of the nonprofit Love In The Name of Christ of Greater Hershey.

Love INC provides money to financially stressed renters but also owns some emergency housing that can be used for up to a year.

Scott is working with Beahive to refurbish a house that can be rented to an especially needy family. She hopes to one day be able to create a "hive" -- buy land and install container homes that could be rented and eventually owned.

Scott supports Harris, who has proposed a number of steps to boost the housing supply and make home purchases more affordable.

Trump has not proposed a comparable policy but says housing will become more available through deregulation and by curbing an influx of migrants.

Not everyone in Pennsylvania is sold -- on either candidate.

"My husband is like, 'Yeah, I'm just not going to vote. I don't like either one of them,'" Scott recounted. "And I'm like, that's not really an option."

S.AbuJamous--SF-PST