MIAMI, FL.,  There will be a community vote on Friday, March 20 and March 27, 8AM-5PM, at the Overtown NET Office, 1490 NW 3rd Avenue to adopt a Strategic Plan developed by the Overtown Community Oversight Board (OCOB), Overtown residents and stakeholders. We welcome any and all participation from residents, local business owners, community and faith-based organizations. In January, stakeholders came together to formulate a plan to rejuvenate and revitalize Overtown. Saliha Nelson, chairperson of the OCOB, was pleased by the turnout noting, “it was an all-day event, but we walked away unified and prepared to do whatever is necessary to make things happen in Overtown.” A follow up meeting was held in March to finalize the plan’s objectives.

What is the Strategic Plan? It is a working guide developed by the people and for the people of Overtown. It’s democracy at the local level and a necessity to revitalize the neighborhood. Before being ravaged by a concrete structure that divided the community, Overtown was once a vibrant and prosperous African American community. Millionaires lived there. Famous entertainers performed regularly there. Small businesses thrived there. Residents owned homes and invested daily in their livelihood. Only three decades removed from such a wonderful time, that Overtown no longer exists. Today, it is a broken community and it faces many problems, and the biggest is the misnomer perpetuated by the media that the residents don’t care that their neighborhood is lost to crime, poverty and despair.

That’s not true, and the effort of the OCOB to rally its stakeholders and Overtown residents, and have them engage, participate and vote on this plan is the first of many examples. The Strategic Plan focuses on Crime, Business Development, Civic Engagement, Education, Employment, Housing and Youth. Committees meet monthly to implement solutions to breathe life into these plans. We need your vote of confidence to make Overtown the best place to live, work, play, and learn.

For more details, contact the Overtown NET Office at 305-372-4550, Tuesday-Friday, 9AM-2PM.