Homeless Trust Solutions Surface as Virginia Key plan Sinks

Out of sight and out of mind. That’s the approach city of Miami politicians are taking when it comes to moving unhoused people off the streets.

For more than six months, Miami officials have ignored an overture from the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust to partner and buy multifamily buildings, among other measures, to put temporary roofs over the heads of the chronically homeless, utilizing $12.7 million in COVID-19 federal relief funds the city received.

“There was no response then and there has been no response now,” Homeless Trust Chairman Ron Book told The Miami Times. “Why they chose not to respond, I don’t have the answer. I am sure we have some really good ideas to continue our partnership with the city to address homelessness.”

Instead, a slim majority of Miami commissioners, based on the recommendation of City Manager Art Noriega and other top administrators, marshaled through a universally reviled proposal to create a tiny homes encampment on Virginia Key Beach in July, where 50 to 100 homeless people would be relocated from densely populated neighborhoods like downtown Miami, Overtown, Little Havana and Wynwood.

Following the 3-2 vote at the city commission’s July 28 meeting, the Virginia Key proposal’s main supporter, Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, and Mayor Francis Suarez held a press conference in early August announcing the city would delay the tiny homes plan for six months.

The postponement still must be approved by another Miami City Commission vote, which is expected to take place at a September meeting. During the pause, the city expects Miami-Dade County to

make more homeless shelter beds available, identify other publicly owned properties for temporary housing and stop releasing homeless people from county jails within city limits, Suarez and Carollo said at the press conference.

“We feel that it’s an unfair burden for the city to have to take care of all the homeless without any help, or without more help, from Miami-Dade County,” Suarez told reporters. “Again, [we] call upon the county to match or exceed our contribution.”

Yet Suarez hasn’t followed up with him about the Homeless Trust’s proposal since bringing it to the mayor’s attention again a week after the press conference, Book said. It’s the second time the Homeless Trust chairman, who makes a living as one of the most powerfully influential lobbyists in Florida, is getting the brushoff.

On March 22, Book sent Suarez a letter, carbon copied to Noriega, that states the Homeless Trust “has already identified several viable

properties for acquisition and renovation and we are open to any recommendations from your administration in identifying additional properties.”

“A lot of mail comes into the mayor’s and commissioners’ offices,” Book said coyly in a phone interview. “Maybe it got past them.”

The Homeless Trust is against placing an encampment on Virginia Key but does support the concept of creating a community of homeless residents within existing buildings that can be bought to quickly house people on the streets, he said.

When asked about specific properties, Book said “we have a number of options in sight.”

“All I need is money,” he added. “Just so you understand, we have been trying for a year to get the money. That is what the letter to Suarez was about.”

According to a June 30 city report on how Miami has spent funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, zero dollars from the $12.7 million has been used to address homelessness.

Of the three city commissioners who voted for the Virginia Key proposal, Commissioner Christine King is aware of the Homeless Trust’s offer, Book said. He’s also trying to schedule sit-downs with Carollo and Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla to make his pitch.

“Commissioner King reached out to us,” Book said. “I expect meetings with Commissioner Carollo and Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla will take place in the not-too-distant future.”

Suarez did not respond to a voice message left on his cellphone or a request through the city’s communications office to comment for this story. Carollo, Diaz de la Portilla, King and Noriega also did not respond to requests for comment. City spokesperson Maria Garcia would only say that Noriega and staff are “awaiting further instructions” until the six-month pause is up.

Homeless not welcome in the Magic City

Despite having among the smallest homeless populations in major metropolitan cities in the U.S., Miami city government has taken a draconian approach in recent years against its residents sheltering in the streets.

According to Book's March letter, the city of Miami had 591 people living on the streets as of January, the lowest number of unsheltered individuals in eight years. That head count has since increased to 640 based on an Aug. 19 canvass by The Homeless Trust; Miami-Dade County has seen an 11% increase in homeless individuals overall since August of last year.

Since 2020, Miami workers and police officers have regularly conducted street sweeps of homeless encampments around the city, drawing sharp rebukes from homeless advocates and the Homeless Trust for the callous nature of disposing of people’s belongings. Around the same time the sweeps began, the Miami City Commission adopted an ordinance that requires a city permit to feed groups of 25 or more people and limits food distribution to unhoused individuals to five sites designated by the city.

In October, four Miami commissioners approved a resolution that made homeless encampments illegal. Four months later, the city commission authorized spending $3.1 million in federal funding for Suarez’s “functional zero” homelessness plan. The pot of money was divided among four nonprofits that work with the homeless. The Chapman Partnership and Lotus House each received $200,000 for job training, the Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery received $750,000, and $2 million was doled out to the Camillus House homeless shelter.

Contracts for those awards are just now being executed. An oversized check was delivered to Lotus House during an Aug. 30 news conference attended by Suarez and Commissioners Manolo Reyes, Ken Russell, King and Carollo.

However, homeless advocates claim the funding doesn’t do enough to help unhoused people get off the streets, who are still being targeted by the city. Jeff Weinberger, a Fort Lauderdale-based homeless advocate, said the city of Miami has systematically harassed homeless people and destroyed their property over the last two years.

“We don’t have anybody who is leading in a progressive direction,” Weinberger said. “Commissioner Ken Russell deserves some kudos because he opposes these bad ideas. But he’s gone in a few months. It’s about terminating the conditions that create homelessness. It’s not happening.”

A foolhardy plan marches forward

Miami officials kept the Virginia Key plan under wraps until the agenda for the July 28 city commission meeting was published, prompting various stakeholders – from homeless advocates to environmentalists to historians to park users – to pack City Hall the day of the vote.

The decision to move forward with the Virginia Key location was met with swift backlash from every corner of Miami-Dade County and garnered national media attention.

In addition to social justice and environmental concerns surrounding the tiny homes plan, opponents also expressed outrage that Miami leaders would even consider placing a homeless encampment near the city’s first “colored” beach, now an important cultural heritage site.

Carollo referred to opposition by the Black community as “playing the race card.”

Homeless advocates prep for September clash

While a city commission vote on the Virginia Key plan postponement has not yet been scheduled, several homeless advocacy and social justice groups are planning a protest and rally at City Hall in Coconut Grove Sept. 8, when commissioners reconvene after the August break.

David Peery, president of the Coalition to Advance Racial Equality, is skeptical that city officials will take a wait and see approach.

“I’m very suspicious that the proposed delay is just the city buying time to let the opposition dissipate and die down,” he said. “It is very clear that they are not proposing to kill the plan, and that is what they need to do.”

Weinberger agreed.

“Putting this plan on hold is not sufficient,” he said. “They need to drown this damn proposal in Biscayne Bay so that it never resurfaces.”

Peery and Annie Lord, executive director of Miami Homes For All, told The Miami Times that the Homeless Trust’s offer to partner with the city on buying existing multifamily buildings is a step in the right direction.

“We would support that,” Peery said. “It’s a productive way to go rather than wasting resources banishing homeless people to an isolated island. That is absolutely insane.”

Lord said she is aware that the Homeless Trust has identified specific properties to acquire that would be used to temporarily house and provide social services to people living on the streets.

“It seems like the logical thing to do,” she said. “It’s a solution that has evidence-based results. It ends up being less expensive for taxpayers and prevents people from sliding back into homelessness.”

The Homeless Trust is ready, but just needs the city’s cooperation, Book said.

“I can buy a vertical building tomorrow and take 100-plus people off the street overnight,” he said. “Why would we not choose that approach?”