Homeless Trust secures senior living with purchase of Mia Casa
After Karen Walkin was evicted from her Miami home a few months ago, she was faced with a question that once crossed the minds of Miami-Dade County’s more than 1,000 unsheltered individuals: “Where will I live?”
“My brother used to help me with my rent. I was paying $900 for an efficiency but I fell behind and they said I had to leave,” Walkin told The Miami Times. “But I didn’t know where I was going … I just grabbed what I could because they were coming to evict me but being in such a rush, I left my driver’s license and all my other forms of identification.”
Left with no choice, Walkin took a neighbor’s advice and turned to temporary shelters within the Miami-Dade County Continuum of Care. And now she has a roof over her head at Mia Casa, an assisted living facility acquired by the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust thanks to local and state dollars.
“This is just like being home,” said Walkin. “I have a nice bed and a nice roommate. They feed us three square meals a day and though it may not be what you want, at least you have food on your table. You can shower whenever you want and leave and go for a walk.”
Walkin said she is also pleased that stores such as Presidente Supermarket are within walking distance for residents.
Three years ago, the Trust began leasing Mia Casa to operate a quarantine and isolation site during the pandemic for seniors 65 and older, who were at high risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus.
The property is now owned by the Trust and houses 120 seniors, aged 65 and up, who would have otherwise been forced onto Miami’s streets. The Trust purchased the building, which has 65 rooms, in January.
“We are here to house 120 senior citizens,” said Ron Book, the Trust’s chairman, at a ceremony last Friday celebrating the acquisition and Mia Casa’s official opening. “An 80-year-old homeless woman sexually assaulted on the streets, an 86-year-old living in a unit deemed unfit for human habitation. A 70-year-old woman with severe health conditions who had her home foreclosed on her ... (These) are examples of the people that are housed here.”
The ceremony also included the unveiling of a “Tree of Life” mural on the building that features the handprints of every Mia Casa resident. Dignitaries in attendance added their handprints to the mural, too.
According to the Trust, the fastest-growing subpopulation of homeless individuals in the county are individuals 60 and older, making up 25% of the homeless population here.
In 2021, Book appeared before the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners (BCC) to urge support for a resolution that would help the agency realize Project Silver, an initiative to house homeless seniors over the age of 65.
The resolution, sponsored by former Commissioners Jean Monestime and Sally Heyman, and current District 13 Commissioner René Garcia, authorized a designee from the county mayor’s office to negotiate and finalize the purchase of the Mia Casa property, in addition to identifying funding sources.
The Trust received a $5 million grant from Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development and $1.75 million from the state, which Republican Sen. Illeana Garcia requested on behalf of the agency. The building itself cost in excess of $6 million, according to Book.
Mia Casa is only the first of at least four property acquisitions planned by the Trust to address homelessness in the county. One of the other confirmed sites is located at 18201 SW 12th St.
“Mia Casa is full but we know that there [are] another 400 senior citizens out there now looking for housing,” said Book, who is determined to secure more funding in the future.
“When you care about something, you dedicate resources to it,” said District 1 County Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, BCC chair, on Friday. “You don’t just say it’s important, you treat it like it’s important with funding. I’m excited because I know this isn’t our last stop. We’ll be doing this again because we care.”
“What we’ve learned in 28 years is if we do not have an inventory of housing ... a place to move people – and we’re in the toughest rent market in America – if we do not have our own housing that we control, that we set a price on, we will never end homelessness in this community,” said Book.
Rent in Miami has increased by 5.6% in the past 12 months, with the median rent at $1,948, according to Apartment List, an online marketplace for apartment listings. A Moody’s Analytics report released in January shows households now have to spend 30% of their income on rent, reaching a 20-year high.
“We’re in a housing crisis right now,” said Walkin. “The cheapest one bedroom you can find is like $1,200 and more ... Soon, no one is going to be able to pay their rent.”
Despite her circumstance, Walkin remains optimistic and says she is thankful for the acquisition.
“I’m in a nice place and things are slowly looking up,” she said. “I try to look at the bright side because it could have been worse. I’ve just been grateful ever since.”
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