Advocates press trust for formal reporting slot for people with lived experience as debate grows over Miami Beach navigation center

Community advocates and people with lived experience urged the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust to create a mandatory reporting slot at meetings for people who are directly impacted by the trust’s policies.

David Perry, identified himself as executive director of the Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity (MCARE), said the board’s published reports include slots for the executive director, the Chapman Partnership and a public-relations firm but not a specific, recurring report from people with lived experience. “The people impacted by the trust policies occupy a very special place apart from the general public,” Perry said, and asked the board to add a mandatory reporting slot under the “reports” item so impacted people would have regular, formal access to the board.

Trust staff responded that the trust already supports a lived-experience work group and embeds people with lived experience on boards and committees. A staff presenter said, “we have that work group … and we also have people with lived experience embedded on all of our boards and committees including this body and we’ll continue to try to amplify the voices.” Members of the lived-experience work group present at the meeting — including Pauline and Iona Sawyer, co-chair of the lived-experience work group and a Lotus House representative — said they already participate in committees and urged the board to create the specific reporting slot to ensure symbolic and substantive representation.

The discussion occurred against the backdrop of ongoing community conversations about the Bikini Hostel navigation site in Miami Beach. Trust staff briefed the board that the trust is operating a low-barrier navigation model at the Bikini Hostel under a partnership with the city of Miami Beach and service providers; staff said there have been no major incidents and that case management and other partner services are on site. The chair said the county was “down to 858 unsheltered individuals, on the streets,” and described efforts to stand up more shelter beds, navigation centers and adaptive reuse projects while acknowledging funding and federal uncertainty.

Why it matters: advocates said a standing reporting slot would ensure that people with lived experience — including those who are unhoused — participate in policy development and oversight. Trust staff said the lived-experience work group is active and that policies typically pass through that group for vetting, and they identified ongoing efforts to expand outreach and navigation capacity.

Next steps: staff told the board they will continue to embed lived-experience participants in committees and to work with the lived-experience work group. Several advocates urged the board to formalize the reporting slot under the reports section; staff encouraged direct contact rather than waiting for monthly board meetings.

Limitations: the board did not adopt a formal change to the reports structure during the meeting; advocates requested the change and staff responded about existing participation mechanisms.