A pilot program aimed at building a community on Virginia Key for the city of Miami’s homeless population is causing a stir.
One city commissioner who first voted against the City of Miami Human Services Department Transformation and Transition Zone report flipped his vote at the last minute and helped it to pass.
We spoke to several community stakeholders from those who take families and children on eco-tours on Virginia Key to an expert in the field of homeless outreach. Everyone said they have plenty of questions ranging from services to security.
Adrian Mesa is a psychiatric nurse practitioner with experience and a lot of questions about the city’s plan to build 50 to 100 tiny homes for the homeless on Virginia Key.
“If someone is withdrawing from drugs and alcohol is there going to be support? What kind of supportive treatment is going to be offered?” Mesa wondered.
Miami commissioner Ken Russell rejects not just the proposed location but the overall idea of isolating a vulnerable population.
“What you are going to have is homeless individuals who get dropped here by the dozen who are just wandering around Virginia Key with no services and no future,” Russell said.
Miami commissioner Joe Carollo who suggested the idea that won approval in a 3-2 vote said they will bring trailers to the site to offer services.
“I don’t know on the average how long people will be here for – whether it’s a day or two days or more but at least we’re helping them from a situation that’s deplorable on the streets,” he said.
He said they will bring trailers to the site to offer services and he said there will be security.
The site is flanked by biking trails popular with families that Bernard “Frenchie” Riviére designed and built with the help of volunteers.
“Most other cities would love to build parks, our city has a park and they want to build buildings to put people who live under bridges,” Riviére said.
Esther Alonso is worried for her staff. She runs Virginia Key Outdoor Center which offers eco-adventures to locals, children and visitors. The homeless encampment, she said, creates a public safety concern and she worries about potential environmental impacts.
“There are habitat concerns. This is an area in recovery,” Alonso said.
Commissioner Manolo Reyes who voted against the proposal said he was surprised by his colleagues who voted for the proposal because they haven’t seen a full economic impact analysis.
Carollo said his staff is creating a report that includes an economic analysis of not just the Virginia Key site, but other proposed sites. That report is expected to go before the city commission in September.
Historic Virginia Key
Patrick Range, the chairman of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust says that the Trust was not contacted in advance nor were they consulted about the Transformation and Transition Zone proposal.
Range issued a statement that, in part said, “Virginia Key is the home to the Historic Miami Marine Stadium and Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, a Cultural and Environmental gem; both sites are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Historic Beach Park is governed by a community trust and approved master plan. For two decades the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust has worked to transform the 82-acre Historic Beach Park from an abandoned beach, full of history, to paradise renewed on Virginia Key. The park reopened in 2008, the community and Virginia Key stakeholders developed a master plan for the island in 2010. It’s very disappointing that the City of Miami Commission would move a discussion item of this magnitude and importance into an action item without consulting the Trust and other stakeholders. I’m sure the communities that neighbor Virginia Key and the thousands of families and tourists that visit the island daily would believe there are other more appropriate locations in the City of Miami to provide transitional services for Miami’s homeless population. "
(See the complete report below)
Continue reading...
One city commissioner who first voted against the City of Miami Human Services Department Transformation and Transition Zone report flipped his vote at the last minute and helped it to pass.
We spoke to several community stakeholders from those who take families and children on eco-tours on Virginia Key to an expert in the field of homeless outreach. Everyone said they have plenty of questions ranging from services to security.
Adrian Mesa is a psychiatric nurse practitioner with experience and a lot of questions about the city’s plan to build 50 to 100 tiny homes for the homeless on Virginia Key.
“If someone is withdrawing from drugs and alcohol is there going to be support? What kind of supportive treatment is going to be offered?” Mesa wondered.
Miami commissioner Ken Russell rejects not just the proposed location but the overall idea of isolating a vulnerable population.
“What you are going to have is homeless individuals who get dropped here by the dozen who are just wandering around Virginia Key with no services and no future,” Russell said.
Miami commissioner Joe Carollo who suggested the idea that won approval in a 3-2 vote said they will bring trailers to the site to offer services.
“I don’t know on the average how long people will be here for – whether it’s a day or two days or more but at least we’re helping them from a situation that’s deplorable on the streets,” he said.
He said they will bring trailers to the site to offer services and he said there will be security.
The site is flanked by biking trails popular with families that Bernard “Frenchie” Riviére designed and built with the help of volunteers.
“Most other cities would love to build parks, our city has a park and they want to build buildings to put people who live under bridges,” Riviére said.
Esther Alonso is worried for her staff. She runs Virginia Key Outdoor Center which offers eco-adventures to locals, children and visitors. The homeless encampment, she said, creates a public safety concern and she worries about potential environmental impacts.
“There are habitat concerns. This is an area in recovery,” Alonso said.
Commissioner Manolo Reyes who voted against the proposal said he was surprised by his colleagues who voted for the proposal because they haven’t seen a full economic impact analysis.
Carollo said his staff is creating a report that includes an economic analysis of not just the Virginia Key site, but other proposed sites. That report is expected to go before the city commission in September.
Historic Virginia Key
Patrick Range, the chairman of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust says that the Trust was not contacted in advance nor were they consulted about the Transformation and Transition Zone proposal.
Range issued a statement that, in part said, “Virginia Key is the home to the Historic Miami Marine Stadium and Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, a Cultural and Environmental gem; both sites are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Historic Beach Park is governed by a community trust and approved master plan. For two decades the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust has worked to transform the 82-acre Historic Beach Park from an abandoned beach, full of history, to paradise renewed on Virginia Key. The park reopened in 2008, the community and Virginia Key stakeholders developed a master plan for the island in 2010. It’s very disappointing that the City of Miami Commission would move a discussion item of this magnitude and importance into an action item without consulting the Trust and other stakeholders. I’m sure the communities that neighbor Virginia Key and the thousands of families and tourists that visit the island daily would believe there are other more appropriate locations in the City of Miami to provide transitional services for Miami’s homeless population. "
(See the complete report below)
Continue reading...