TAMPA, Fla. — Some Floridians choose to live where most people vacation.
But others say they don't have a choice and the price of living in the Sunshine State comes with real consequences.
"It's just not an option," Amanda Adriani said.
Adriani has been in Tampa Bay since the age of 2 and staying here is a must, she said. Her husband and daughter rely on treatment from the Moffitt Cancer Center due to a rare, genetic form of colon cancer.
10 Tampa Bay spoke with Adriani in February. She had until May 1 to find a new place to live within her budget.
Adriani has since been able to find a new apartment in Citrus Park but it's still not quite within her budget. She worries she won't be able to pay for rent and her family's medical expenses.
CBS News recently reported Florida is the least affordable state in the U.S. to live. According to the news outlet, people flocked to the state during the pandemic thanks to "low taxes and an anti-regulation agenda."
Finding a place that accepted her application was also no easy task. Adriani said she applied to 15 different locations.
"We got turned down for several places simply because people would come in behind us and they would make more money or they had better credit," Adriani said.
Adriani is among others stuck in the middle when it comes to affordable housing. She said she makes too much to qualify for assistance offered in some areas, but not enough to afford a home that meets her budget.
While she is relieved to find a new place, it may just be a temporary solution. Adriani said she worries she can't keep up with rent if it increases in the future.
Rent has risen by double digits nationwide but in Florida, the population has grown faster than any other state but Texas, fueling the rise in costs, CBS News reported.
A recent USF survey found about a quarter of Floridians struggle to keep up with rent or their mortgage payments.
"It's time for me to just do everything in my power to make sure that we continue to have a place to stay," Adriani said.
In her years of caring for her family, Adriani said she's never had to ask for financial support until now.
She's since started a GoFundMe in hopes of helping her family.