Mayor Diaz greets some of the volunteers at the 4th Annual “Miami Cares” event.  Over 700 participants received medical, legal and counseling services, among others. (Photo: Jorge R. Perez/City of Miami)

(Miami, FL)- The City of Miami, with the help from the Homeless Assistance Program successfully celebrated Miami Cares IV.  Over 700 homeless individuals received care during this one day event. Among the services provided included warm meals, showers, haircuts, medical and legal care and replacement identification cards, including HIV testing and etc.

For the fourth year in a row, Miami Cares Day has been observed in an effort to provide services to hundreds of homeless individuals with the goal of engaging them in the continuum of care in an effort to end homelessness in the City of Miami. In one day, over 250 volunteers, community sponsors and partners joined in the efforts and expertise to assist homeless individuals that are often forgotten.

Miami Cares is a day we set aside to show that the City of Miami cares for the homeless population through catering to the participants and providing the tools to get them off the streets all in one place,” says Sergio Torres, Administrator for the City of Miami’s Homeless Assistance Program.

Miami Cares IV helped over 700 homeless individuals receive hot meals and have access to services such as: medical, mental health and substance abuse treatments, shelters, long distance telephone service to connect to loved ones outside of Miami, replacement identification cards, sealing and expungement of records, hygiene packages and other services designed to engage the Homeless into the continuum of care. Over 250 volunteers worked on this event to make it a success. Services provided to assist homeless participants were as follows:

•   92 – Shelter Placements
•   47 – Haircuts
• 136 – Showers and change of clothes
•   18 – Long Distance phone calls to families
•   14 – Family re-unifications
•   12 – Substance Abuse Treatment Placements
•   59 – Medical Services
•   40 – Mental Health Screenings
•   15 – Veteran Affairs Counseling
•   33 – Legal Service Consultations
•   38 – Permanent Housing Applications
•   49 – Food Stamps Applications
• 513 – Meals
• 396 – Gift hygiene bags
•   86 – HIV/Hepatitis Testing
•   81 – Optical Services
•   80 – State of Florida Issued I.D.(s)
• 118 – Homeless individuals were taken off the streets in a single day. (Shelter, Residential Treatment and relocation)

The Miami Homeless Assistance Program is part of Mayor Manny Diaz initiative to break the chronic homelessness cycle the City faces.  His ten year plan includes providing services to hundreds of homeless individuals with the goal of engaging them in the continuum of care and help break the cycle of chronic homelessness in the city. Miami Cares is different in that it allows the homeless individual to provide his or her own diagnosis of needs.  By allowing people to make their own decisions, it is the hope of the City of Miami to connect with homeless persons that may be resistant to accepting services.

Miami Cares is modeled after the City of San Francisco’s highly effective Project Homeless Connect, which has reduced their street population by 30% in one year.  Miami Cares Day is celebrated around the National Homeless Connect Day, a project whose purpose is to assist homeless individuals in the hopes that they will accept the resources that will prepare them to be self-sufficient.

Miami Cares IV is organized by the City of Miami’s Homeless Assistance Program, which aims to identify and engage homeless individuals, and to place them into appropriate housing; facilitate employability skills, create a work history and instill life management responsibilities to our formerly homeless employees, thereby strengthening their ties to the community.

Partners of the Miami Cares IV include City of Miami NET, with Miami Rescue Mission as host of the event, Miami Dade Homeless Trust, Miami Coalition for the Homeless, Inc., National Project Homeless Connect, among others.

For more information about Miami’s Homeless Assistance program and its services, please call 305-576-9900 or visit http://www.miamigov.com/NETS/pages/AboutNET/mhap.asp.