The Backstory
In 2024, the Florida legislature passed into law House Bill 1365 which bans overnight sleeping and camping in public places. The new law effectively obligates Florida's counties and municipalities to prevent homeless Floridians from sleeping on public land.
Why it Matters
While Miami-Dade already has some of the lowest unsheltered homeless numbers per capita in the United States, as of January 2024’s census, there are still approximately 1033 unsheltered individuals living on streets and sidewalks.
Strategy and Successes
As of the passing of the law, Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust (the Trust) immediately created a comprehensive housing-focused action plan to enhance on-the-street engagement, scale up short- and long-term housing capacity, advocate for new resources and legislation, with the goal of reducing unsheltered homelessness while also preventing the criminalization of homelessness. Among the goals, creating no less than 1,000 new units of extremely affordable permanent housing dedicated to those experiencing homelessness. New units are coming online, but as anyone who has bought, built or rehabbed housing knows, getting properties move-in ready is often met with a myriad of obstacles. The Trust team continues to move with urgency.
Our Commitment
Our focus remains on advocating for those on our streets and offering a menu of housing and service options to meet their unique needs. We are standing up new facilities to accommodate hundreds of people, including a hotel-to-housing conversion in south Miami-Dade, an 80-bed low barrier navigation center in central Miami-Dade Dade, a 45-bed expanded residential facility in north Miami-Dade, an adaptive reuse project in creating 120+ single room occupancy units in west Miami-Dade, and a tiny home pilot.
While we wait for these project and others to come online, the Trust is continuing to work with local jurisdictions across Miami-Dade to ensure we are responsive to all residents and promptly addressing community concerns with compassion.
What’s Next
Our mission remains to end homelessness in Miami-Dade County by quickly connecting people to housing and services. Through leadership, collaboration and coordination among multiple state and local programs, homelessness is a solvable problem.
If you have a housing-focused solution to curb homelessness, including willing property owners and landlords, reach out to rentconnect@miamidade.gov. To contribute to the cause of ending homelessness, contribute to our Ending Homelessness Fund at https://miamifoundation.org/make-a-donation-homeless-trust-fund/ No one sleeps until everyone has a roof over their head.