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Residents urge Miami‑Dade Housing Committee to act on homelessness and displacement
Summary
At the Feb. 11 Miami‑Dade County Housing Committee meeting, multiple residents urged the committee to address homelessness and neighborhood displacement during the public‑comment period, sharing personal hardship and a recent family tragedy.
Miami‑Dade County Housing Committee members heard multiple public comments on Feb. 11 pressing the committee to address homelessness and what speakers described as displacement of long‑time Black residents.
Bernadette Andrews said she is currently homeless and asked the committee for assistance with housing. Veronica Hughes said she supports agenda item 3A, which she described as addressing homelessness and urged action because many residents “really can't afford the rental” prices in Miami‑Dade County. Kenneth Brown told the committee the community is being “pushed out” and said areas that were once predominantly Black are no longer affordable to longtime residents. Sharon Frazier, who described herself as a community advocate and a former member of the Community Action and Human Service board, related a recent family tragedy involving a teenager and said lack of life insurance delayed the family's burial.
The speakers gave personal testimony rather than asking the committee to take a specific recorded vote. Bernadette Andrews identified herself as homeless and asked whether the housing authority could help her find housing. Veronica Hughes told the committee she lives in northwest Miami and said she supports the homelessness item on the agenda. Kenneth Brown said repeatedly that displacement is ongoing and that political leaders should address the issue. Sharon Frazier said a young man named Tyler Henderson, who turned 17 in January, was fatally struck by a vehicle; she said the boy’s mother, Marva Williams, had suffered a stroke and the family lacked life insurance, which delayed burial by “almost 3, 4 weeks.” Frazier said county advocates and Deputy Mayor Burgos have worked with families on the ground.
The public remarks occurred during the committee’s advertised “reasonable opportunity for the public to be heard.” The public‑comment period was opened by the committee and closed after the speakers concluded; no formal committee motion or final action on homelessness measures was recorded during the comment period.
