Miami-Dade approves 10 million dollars to prevent families from losing their homes

Miami-Dade CountyPhoto © Miami-Dade City

The Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners approved on October 20 the resolution R-888-26, which authorizes the allocation of 10 million dollars to prevent at-risk households from losing their homes before they are faced with eviction.

The measure, spearheaded by Commissioner Marleine Bastien, combines two sources of funding: seven million dollars from Destination: Home SV, an organization affiliated with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and an additional three million from the local tax on food and beverages.

Funds will be channeled through the national initiative Right at Home Homeless Prevention Initiative during the fiscal years 2026-2027 to 2028-2029.

The grant agreement, signed between the county and Destination: Home SV, sets as a guiding goal to assist at least 1,000 households at imminent risk of losing their homes over the course of three years.

The document itself clarifies that these are ambitious learning objectives, not binding requirements for approval or rejection.

Miami-Dade is one of only 10 communities in the country selected by invitation to participate in Right at Home, a national program funded with 77 million dollars that aims to prevent homelessness before it occurs. The county formally joined the initiative in February 2026, after receiving a planning grant of 325,000 dollars through Resolution R-235-26.

The seven million from Destination: Home SV will not be disbursed all at once: it will be released in six installments conditioned on progress reports, with an initial payment of up to 1,150,000 dollars upon receiving the signed agreement. The duration of the agreement is from October 1, 2026, to September 30, 2029.

Among the recommended service providers to receive the funds are MDG Associates LLC ($5,658,626), the Department of Community Services of the county itself ($1,446,188), Chapman Partnership ($1,157,076), Legal Services of Greater Miami ($945,000), and the Fundación Hermanos de la Calle ($793,110).

The selection was the result of a competitive call published in June 2026; it is not an open call for residents.

The approval comes at a time of acute housing pressure. A Homeless Trust count from August 2026 recorded 3,748 homeless individuals in the county, a 5% increase from the previous year, with the southern part of the county showing a 123.4% rise in individuals without shelter.

The affordable housing deficit exceeds 118,000 units for households with incomes up to 80% of the area's median income, and the median rent hovers around 2,900 dollars per month.

The profile of those facing the greatest risk has also changed. "Many of them do have jobs, but not enough to pay rent," noted Katherine Martínez, representative of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, to Telemundo 51. "We are seeing more elderly individuals. We are seeing more women," she added.

The resolution does not yet imply the opening of applications for individual residents. The funds are in the contracting phase with service providers, and the Homeless Trust indicated in the file that it seeks to formalize those agreements "in the coming weeks."

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CiberCuba Editorial Team

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