Community Wealth City: Miami, Florida

In the 2000 census, Miami had a population of 362,470 residents. While judging by its population, Miami might be regarded as a mid-sized city, it forms the center of a much larger metropolitan region of more than 2.25-million, known as Miami-Dade County. The city's racial composition is 65.8% Hispanic, 22.3% African American, 11.8 % Non-Hispanic White, and the remainder Asian. Roughly 60 percent of Miami's population is foreign-born, giving Miami the highest concentration of foreign-born residents among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Cuba is one obvious source of immigrants, but immigrants come from all over the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Miami is widely regarded as the gateway city to Latin America in terms of trade and business. Yet Miami also suffers from some unique challenges. Although located right across the causeway from the resort town of Miami Beach, the city of Miami itself is one of the nation's poorest – ranking fifth in the most recent (2006) census survey. Not surprisingly, perhaps, this gap between rich and poor is reflected in census figures: Dade County has the tenth highest degree of income inequality among 244 ranked counties. The city's median household income ranked last among the 100 largest cities in the United States in 2000. The community development group Living Cities also reports that Miami has the fifth lowest home ownership rate and that only 16 percent of its adult residents have a bachelor's degree.

Faced with these formidable obstacles, community wealth building institutions in Miami have played a significant role. Miami has a productive group of community development corporations that in 2002 alone produced 450 units of housing. Some Miami-based CDCs have also branched out into commercial and community facilities development. Other community wealth building efforts are also growing. For instance, the Prosperity Campaign, an earned income tax credit outreach effort led by the Human Services Coalition of Dade County, generated an additional $62 million in revenue in the first year. The group estimates that due to the “multiplier” effect the money claimed through this program help generate $250 million in new spending for the local economy.

Anchor Institution strategies

Miami 21
www.miami21.org
Launched by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz in 2005, Miami 21 aims to develop a comprehensive development plan for the City of Miami, in cooperation with the University of Miami and other anchor institutions. The plan is centered on a new zoning code emphasizing smart growth and mixed-use design. In addition, the effort aims to develop strategies in five other areas: economic development, transportation, parks and public space, arts & culture, and historic preservation.

Community Development Corporations

BAME Community Development Corporation
www.bamedevelopment.org
Established in 1992, BAME is an affiliate of the Greater Bethel A.M.E. Church, the oldest Black Church in Miami. BAME has been at the forefront in providing housing and economic opportunities primarily in Miami's historic Overtown community. BAME has completed 545 affordable housing units. Its newest project is a 160-unit project in Little Haiti. Through its work, BAME aims to serve as an anchor institution in previously neglected neighborhoods.

Carrfour Supportive Housing
www.carrfour.org
Carrfour Corporation is the non-profit, community based, supportive housing development organization established by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce to combat homelessness. Carrfour serves the formerly homeless and those at risk of homelessness, including Miami-Dade's special needs and very low-income populations. Carrfour projects have not only proven to be real assets in assisting their residents in becoming self sufficient and productive; but have contributed to the vitality of the neighborhoods in which they are located as well.

East Little Havana CDC
www.eastlittlehavanacdc.com
The East Little Havana Community Development Corporation (ELHCDC) was incorporated in 1984 and began operations in 1986 to revitalize the East Little Havana neighborhood. To date, the organization has developed over 300 units of affordable housing. The group also is increasingly working to support local business creation, including through its work in Latin Quarter Specialty Center project, a mixed-use development that will include 14,000 square feet of Hispanic-oriented retail space on the ground floor along with 45 moderate-income housing units.

Little Haiti Housing Association, Inc.
www.littlehaitihousing.org
Little Haiti Housing Association, Inc. (LHHA), a non-profit community development corporation serving the low-income residents of the Little Haiti community of Miami, has been committed to the improvement of the quality of life for its residents since its incorporation in 1987. LHHA provides service in five major areas: 1) housing rehabilitation and new construction; 2) homeownership education and support services, including individual budget and credit counseling, home ownership preparations classes (all of which are taught in Haitian Creole), individual support for below market rate mortgage applications, and home owner follow-up and support; 3) tenant services and education (in Haitian Creole), landlord/tenant mediation and client referrals to needed social services; 4) rental project development; and 5) community building initiatives.

Miami Beach Community Development Corporation
www.miamibeachcdc.org
Founded in 1981, the Miami Beach Community Development Corporation seeks to enhance the quality and diversity of community life and achieve neighborhood revitalization. They pursue and balance historic preservation and urban design, affordable housing and economic vitality and increasing job opportunity, and support for a diverse, eclectic and successful neighborhood social fabric. The Miami Beach CDC works in collaboration with its Community Partner Organizations in a comprehensive community development program that embraces the values of revitalization, historic preservation, community empowerment and ombudsmanship.

Miami-Dade Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc.
www.mdnhs.org
Organized in 1978, Miami-Dade Neighborhood Housing Services' homeownership resources are available countywide, including homebuyer education and counseling, and access to funds for first mortgages, second mortgages, and owner-occupied rehab loans. MDNHS is one of three partners in the 79th Street Corridor Initiative to revitalize the 79th Street commercial corridor. MDNHS roots are in the West Little River Neighborhood where it has been the leader in arresting deterioration through its extensive community lending program for housing rehabilitation efforts, the new construction of affordable homeownership units, homeownership education, and the direct rehabilitation of over 100 units.

St. John Community Development Corporation
www.stjohncdc.org
St. John Community Development Corporation, Inc. (SJCDC) is a not-for-profit community based organization founded in 1985 by the pastor and a group of concerned and dedicated members from St. John Institutional Missionary Baptist Church in Overtown. It was established to respond to the physical deterioration and social distress of Overtown, Miami-Dade County's poorest community and to take a lead role in its revitalization. The mission of SJCDC is to energize the vitality and positive image of Overtown through partnerships that build and rehabilitate housing, strengthen the economic base, and enhance the quality of life in Overtown.

Community Development Financial Institutions

BAC Funding Corporation & Affiliates
www.bacfunding.com
BAC (originally known as the Business Assistance Center) extends commercial credit to African-American owned businesses through revolving credit lines and joint venture agreements. Formed in 1982 to encourage reinvestment in Miami's “Liberty City” neighborhood, to date BAC has disbursed over $40 million in loans or equity funds, making over 500 investments, of which 40 percent have been in Enterprise Zones. In 2005 alone, BAC disbursed $1.6 million, funding over fifty businesses, ten of which are owned by women. BAC has also help build wealth in South Florida's African-American community by developing and managing the $33.5 million MLK Transit Station Development Complex. This project represents additional revenues streams for minority businesses of approximately $2 million per year over the next thirty years.

Camacol Loan Fund
www.corocomp.com/camacol/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=130&Itemid=131
An affiliate of the Latin Chamber of Commerce (Camacol—Cámara de Comercio Latina) Camacol Loan Fund (CLF) was founded in January 2000 to provide financial and technical assistance to small businesses in Miami-Dade County. Since its inception CLF has assisted a wide variety of businesses and disbursed over $1 million dollars in loans. In addition, CLF has assisted businesses by providing financial assistance, loan packaging and preparing business plans to obtain loans from other sources.

Cooperatives and Credit Unions

Dade County Federal Credit Union
www.dcfcu.org
Founded in May 1939 through the efforts of ten county employees who used a cigar box to collect deposits, the member-owned financial cooperative grown to be a multi-million dollar, professionally managed financial institution. Today, Dade County Federal Credit Union has over 88,000 members and more than $420-million in assets.

University Credit Union
www.ucumiami.org
Founded in 1947, University Credit Union is a not-for-profit, full service financial institution, owned by its members and operated exclusively for their benefit, with over $170 million in assets, over 25,000 members and 50 full time employees.

Employee Ownership

Southern Gear & Machine
www.southerngear.net
Southern Gear has been producing gears for aerospace and other industries since 1957. The company converted to employ ownership in 1987. From its beginnings as a small, one bay operation with just a few employees, the firm has grown to have 75 employee-owners.

Foundations

Dade Community Foundation
www.dadecommunityfoundation.org
Founded in 1967, Dade Community Foundation manages funds to support the emerging charitable needs of Miami-Dade County. The Foundation approaches its grantmaking with a focus on community building and aims to bring together diverse groups in Miami-Dade County to build a more cohesive community. The Foundation supports local nonprofit organizations with grants and technical assistance and makes grants in the broad program areas of education, health, human services, arts and culture, environment, community and economic development.

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
www.knightfdn.org
The Knight Foundation's twin missions are to seed and inspire great journalism everywhere, and to build strong communities in the cities and towns where their founders operated newspapers. As a national foundation with local roots, they seek opportunities that can transform both communities and journalism, and help them reach their highest potential. The foundation's Community Partners Program has the goal of providing all residents with access to affordable and decent housing in safe, drug-free neighborhoods. The Miami-Dade County program provides support across a continuum that includes everything from services for the homeless to affordable opportunities for home ownership.

Individual Wealth Building

Miami-Dade Prosperity Campaign
www.prosperitycampaign.com
Started in Miami in 2003, the Prosperity Campaign has rapidly expanded statewide, linking to existing outreach efforts and inspiring new campaigns, providing tax and benefit counseling to low-income Florida families to help them claim benefits and begin to build household savings and wealth. The money at stake is substantial. The federal Earned Income Tax Credit, for example, is a refundable tax credit of up to $4,300 for low-income working families and individuals; the average family receives nearly $2,000 — but many fail to claim the money they are owed. In Miami-Dade County, the Prosperity Campaign tax outreach effort generated an additional $62 million in revenue in the first year, with the “multiplier” effect of local spending producing an impact of a quarter-billion dollars on the local economy.

Policy Advocacy

ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Miami
www.acorn.org/?7894
ACORN's Miami office has led campaigns to fight for fair immigration reform, funding for human services, affordable housing and foreclosure prevention. ACORN also participates directly in community wealth building efforts, both by assisting people to properly claim their earned income tax credit refund and assisting people to avoid predatory lending practices through its financial education programs.

Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
www.fiacfla.org
Founded in 1996, FIAC not only provides legal representation for immigrants , but also aims to influence policy decisions and challenge patterns and practices of abuse. In the eight years since its founding, FIAC has closed nearly 47,000 cases and has become a national trendsetter in the immigration field. Over the years, FIAC has grown from ten employees and a $400,000 budget to over forty employees with a $2.4 million budget.

Human Services Coalition
www.hscdade.org
The Human Services Coalition, founded in 1995, promotes economic empowerment through its Prosperity Campaign (see above) and promotes civic empowerment through its Civic Life Academy and PolicyWorks components. Constituents and organizations are trained in civic engagement, advocacy, social change, and on a range of economic and social justice topics. HSC provides policy research and consultation to these efforts and produces an electronic alert, policy briefings and community forums to explore a range of topics from tax reform to healthcare access to immigrant access to government supports. HSC adopts innovative strategies to engage community residents across divides of race, class, nationality and geography, such as “study circles”, leadership development (Public Allies and Parent Leadership Training Institute) and networking across the range of civic activities (Imagine Miami and Connect Miami).

People Acting for Community Together
www.miamipact.org
PACT is a community organizing coalition of 38 churches, synagogues, mosques, schools and community groups in Miami-Dade County working together to fight for social and economic justice. Founded in 1988, PACT is the largest grassroots organization in South Florida, representing more than 100,000 individuals.

The Miami Workers Center
www.theworkerscenter.org
The Miami Workers Center is based in the Liberty City area and was founded as a volunteer organization in 1999 by former union organizers. The Center helps working class people build grassroots organizations and develop their leadership capacity through aggressive community organizing campaigns and education programs. The Center also actively builds coalitions and enters alliances to amplify progressive power and win racial, community, social, and economic justice.

Unite for Dignity
www.unitefordignity.org
Unite for Dignity was originally formed in 1997 out of the movement to organize nursing home workers, and in 2001 was converted into a non-profit organization to better represent immigrant workers and build stronger community ties. Unite for Dignity is an immigrant workers' rights organization dedicated to building new leaders to fight for improved conditions in workplaces and in immigrant communities in South Florida, creating positive change in issues confronting immigrant workers, their families and communities, such as healthcare and immigrant rights.

Transit Oriented Development

Miami-Dade County Transit Joint Development
www.miamidade.gov/transit/joint1.asp
Miami recognized the importance of joint development as early as 1978, six years before the opening of its Metrorail transit system. Miami's first “joint development” project, known as the Datran, was a mixed-use project that included three office buildings, a hotel, and a shared-used parking garage. Miami has continued to pursue additional TOD projects since, including a mixed-use project at the Martin Luther King Plaza station, in which the transit agency partnered with a local community development corporation to develop a 5-story, 172,000 square-foot office building housing County agencies, including 13,500 square feet of ground floor retail.

79th Street Corridor Initiative
www.floridacdc.org/79th
Led by three local nonprofit groups—the Urban League of Greater Miami, Miami-Dade Neighborhood Housing Services, Dade Employment and Economic Development Corporation — along with the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology, the Initiative, begun in 1999, aims to develop a mixed-use project, with transit-oriented housing, retail and office development with supporting transit facilities including dedicated bus facilities, kiss-and-ride drop-off areas and transit-user parking. Amtrak is also planning to relocate adjacent to the transit station in order to create a multimodal hub.

University-Community Partnerships

Florida International University, Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy
www.risep-fiu.org
The mission of the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy is to examining issues of concern to low- and moderate-income workers and their families in Southeast Florida. The site contains research reports on Florida's workers, their working conditions, low wage workers, working poverty, the effect of living wage laws and ordinances, and the like.

Knight Program in Community Building, University of Miami, School of Architecture
www.arc.miami.edu/knight
The Knight Program in Community Building aims to advance the knowledge and practice of effective community wealth building through interdisciplinary initiatives including fellowships, scholarships, conferences, charrettes, and publications. Led by Dean Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, the School of Architecture has achieved national distinction. Dean Plater-Zyberk has also been a leading participant in the “Miami 21” project, which seeks to implement “smart growth” principles citywide.

Miami-Dade College Center for Community Involvement
www.mdc.edu/cci
The Center for Community Involvement functions as a coordinator of Miami-Dade College's service-learning academic programs. It also serves as s volunteer clearinghouse for students, staff, and faculty who wish to get involved in community service, with full-service centers and outreach programs on three campuses.

University of Miami Office of Undergraduate Research and Community Outreach www6.miami.edu/ugr
The University of Miami Office of Undergraduate Research and Community Outreach aims to support the University of Miami's outreach in the community through support of programs operating in partnership with Miami's community college and K-12 school systems, with a focus in the areas of science and ecology education.