Homeless mat program
Downtown Miami serves as both Miami-Dade’s largest employment center and home to most of our community’s homeless population. Combined, it means that the time to provide immediate assistance to our homeless population is now.
Miami’s Shelter Program provides over 100 extra temporary beds per night, but it expires at the end of the month. Without support from the county, these homeless individuals will return to the street without access to food, bathrooms or other critical services.
Rejecting all but permanent solutions proves the old adage right: The perfect is the enemy of the good. Funding only macro-level solutions will mean that, in a few weeks, over 100 homeless individuals will return to dismal conditions and that small business owners will face the same seemingly intractable problems.
The time for a true county-city collaboration on this longstanding problem is now.
Ralph Rosado, Miami
This story was originally published July 25, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Homeless mat program."