After working as an equity analyst, Marguerite Cassandra Toroian launched Bell Rock Capital, an investment firm based in Rehoboth, Delaware. Aside from her professional work, Marguerite Cassandra Toroian serves on the board of the Immanuel Shelter, a homeless shelter.
Delaware is facing an affordable housing problem, with many residents unable to afford high rents, and homelessness a reality. Like many areas around the country, wages trail housing affordability in the state.
Agencies use the 30 percent rule (30 percent or less of income spent on housing) to determine whether housing is affordable. On average, Delaware residents make about $17 an hour, but to make their rent (on average $1,136 for a two-bedroom), a person or family would have to make just under $45,500 a year (a monthly income of roughly $3,700), which translates to almost $22 per hour. Those making the minimum wage of $8.25 per hour would have to work at least 87 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment.
Many Delaware residents are extremely low-income, while others struggle with housing due to disability or being on Social Security. To address this issue, advocates say the state should expand the voucher and rental assistance programs, raise the minimum wage, and expand zoning to allow families to house seniors nearby, among other strategies.
