Homeless Miamians face stricter laws amid rising summer heat
Around noon in Downtown Miami, the county’s homeless outreach workers take their cue from the scorching sun to don red shirts and pass out water while the temperature climbs past 90 degrees.
“Excessive heat alert,” Jarmane S. Bradwell says from beside his tent, reading the words printed on the back of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust’s shirts. “Damn right, because it’s so hot.”
When there is a heat advisory, meaning a heat index of 105 degrees or higher is expected for at least two hours, Bradwell and others living on the streets receive bottled water, cooling towels and electrolytes from heat outreach specialists with the Homeless Trust. The handouts began in June 2023 in hopes of reducing the danger of Miami’s inhospitably hot summer days.
City and county efforts to address heat concerns for the homeless population have intensified this summer, much like the heat itself. The National Weather Service issued 19 heat advisories in July alone, including a 5-day streak. Heat outreach specialists responded to a total of four heat advisory days in June and July 2023.
The summer’s soaring temperatures are just one aspect of the increasingly challenging climate faced by South Florida’s homeless residents, as laws restricting homelessness tighten in local cities and the state amid record-breaking heat.
The Homeless Trust pairs its efforts to bring immediate relief to the county’s homeless population with investments in long-term housing solutions. In Miami Beach, the promise of protecting those on the streets from this season’s heat is enforced as a matter of public safety, accompanied by the threat of arrest.
For the month of August, the city is preventing individuals from living on public property through a new initiative known as Operation Summer Relief. According to city officials, its homeless residents will be connected to social services, including medical care, family reunification and shelter placement. If they’re found sleeping on public property and refuse to go to a shelter, they can be arrested — an increasingly frequent occurrence as the summer wears on.
The enforcement of Miami Beach’s legislation could be a sign of what’s to come under a new state law that will take effect Oct. 1, banning people who are homeless from camping on public property. The law will instead allow counties to designate specific areas for homeless encampments under certain provisions.
Miami-Dade County is home to about 3,800 homeless persons, 1,033 of whom are unsheltered, according to the most recent point-in-time count. Facing a near-constant exposure to the heat from above and from the ground (Miami concrete can reach 130 degrees), this population is among the most vulnerable to heat stress. The effects can include cramps, rashes, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, all triggered when the body is unable to cool down.
To deal with the heat, 57-year-old Marlow Cats said he “sweats it out.” He tries to sit in the shade, he added, and takes a shower at Camillus House on weekdays to stay cool.
The health consequences of heat compound on the already-lowered life expectancy of those on the street, which is 13 to 17 fewer years than people with housing, said Ron Book, chairman of the Homeless Trust. He added that part of the challenge is building awareness around the importance of hydration and heat safety.
In addition to water bottles, cooling towels and electrolytes, the trust provides gaiters, hats, sunscreen and transportation to one of the county’s 53 cooling centers. This summer, it has distributed nearly 12,300 water bottles — 2,600 more than this time last year.
“God bless y’all,” Bradwell said before taking a sip.
Arrests ramp up in Miami Beach
Across the causeways, Miami Beach is tackling the problem with both carrot and stick.
Critics of anti-camping laws like Miami Beach’s argue that the policies unjustly criminalize homelessness, making it harder for those on the streets to obtain permanent housing.
“The criminal justice system is predicated on criminal intent,” said David Peery, executive director of Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity (MCARE). “But the homeless aren’t intending to do anything.”
Police made 114 arrests under the Miami Beach’s new anti-camping law in June and July combined, making up 60% of total arrests since the law went into effect in October. The city is currently home to an estimated 154 homeless residents, though the county’s next point-in-time count will occur near the end of August. While Miami Beach has no shelters within its borders, it hosts a walk-in center and leases 86 beds in homeless shelters like Camillus House.
Officials said the law exists to encourage individuals to accept services. In cases where individuals in need of mental health intervention decline shelter, officers are trained to Baker Act them — providing emergency crisis services through a temporary, involuntary detention — rather than initiate an arrest, according to Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne A. Jones.
While the use of Baker Acts to force care on some individuals has value, Book said, it becomes ineffective if those individuals are released to the streets before receiving extended treatment.
“Thinking we can arrest our way out of [homelessness], thinking we can somehow turn the jail into a shelter is absurd,” Book said.
Anti-camping policies recently received backing from a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to criminalize homeless camping even if no shelter is available.
Though Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner previously said the city “always [has] ample beds,” Book suggested a different reality: “My shelters are bursting at the seams,” he said.
‘If I liked shelters, I wouldn’t be in the streets’
Even when shelter placement is possible, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, homeless advocates like Valerie Navarrete say.
Navarrete runs Favela Miami, a nonprofit in Miami Beach that connects the homeless with government services. Favela is also subcontracted by the city to employ sheltered homeless people.
Navarrete cited examples of homeless veterans with PTSD who might be triggered by crowds and individuals who simply want more privacy than shelter rooms can provide.
Peery added that shelters often strip people of their last remaining possessions, which damages their “sense of autonomy and control over their bodies.”
“If I liked shelters, I wouldn’t be in the streets,” Gerald Dezore told the Miami Herald in Spanish, while sitting on the sidewalk of Downtown Miami’s Government Center.
The 67-year-old has been homeless on and off for 17 years and said he spent a month at Camillus House but left by choice. Though he wants a place to eat, sleep and use the bathroom, he said, “shelter is like a prison.”
Book said he continues to focus on expanding housing access, an approach that Peery and Navarrete both advocate for. “I won’t build new shelters. I won’t buy new shelters,” Book said.
Instead, he awaits a September county commission vote that will determine whether the Homeless Trust can turn a Cutler Bay hotel into subsidized apartments for older homeless individuals. The goal is complemented by a recent effort from City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who helped raise $1.2M for Hermanos de la Calle, a nonprofit that helps provide those on the street with housing.
As the sun beamed on him, Bradwell, 43, expressed his appreciation of how direct the Homeless Trust’s heat outreach services are: “This time, there ain’t no excuse — [they’re] coming to us.”
Bradwell had previously accessed “a couple of resources” at Government Center and later learned services were also available at public libraries, but he never followed up, he said. Through the Homeless Trust, he obtained a housing voucher and is waiting to be placed in a unit.
While he’s visited Camillus House for breakfast and a change of clothes before, he has never had an interest in staying there, he said.
Permanent housing is different, he said. “But what they’ve got is a temporary bed.”
