MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — South Miami-Dade County is experiencing an increase in the number of neighbors facing housing instability.
The largest jump among those impacted has been young families with minor children.
On Monday, Chapman Partnership leadership explained that they account for half of the folks who need daily assistance. Between two campuses, they care for 300 children, also offering after school programming since many of the parents work.
The partnership said those they are helping are not making enough to cover Miami-Dade’s rising housing costs in addition to high grocery prices and healthcare costs, and that a bigger number of families are struggling to make ends meet.
Another impacted group Chapman Partnership have their eye on are seniors.
“A lot of seniors who lost a spouse and went from two incomes to one,” said Chapman Partnership President and CEO Scott Hansel. “And we have a lot who are here who are employed, they are just not employed at a level that can afford housing in Miami-Dade County. It is not the stereotypically person you see on the street. The chronic person experiencing homelessness, these are just people you would pass in Publix and have no concept of their circumstance.”
Miami-Dade County District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado and her staff were helping with meal prep ahead of a meeting with the mayors of several municipalities in south Miami-Dade County.
“South Dade is seeing episodes of homelessness that it hasn’t seen before,” said Regalado.
The meeting is expected to focus on resources and strategies to help families who are finding it harder to make ends meet.
“We need more resources in the South and that is what is part of what we are going to be talking about,” said Regalado.
During Monday’s event, Regalado presented a check to Chapman Partnership as part of the Give Miami Day initiative, further contributing to the organization’s efforts to provide comprehensive services to families experiencing homelessness.
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