FAITH BASED INITIATIVES   

Mayor Manny Diaz’s Faith-Based Initiative strives to enhance the quality of life for Miami’s residents by working closely with Miami’s Faith-Based community. Throughout history, churches and Faith-Based organizations have been the chief institutions concerned with helping the poor and needy. Mayor Diaz believes that by working closely with Faith-Based organizations, local government can involve itself effectively with the direct involvement that religious institutions enjoy in communities. Components of the Faith-Based Initiative include: the Quarterly Pastoral Roundtable, Capacity Building Workshops, Working Groups, and Prevent Gun Violence Sundays

YOUTH AND FAMILY INITIATIVES   

The mission of the Mayor’s Youth and Family Initiative is to unite community resources to strengthen the efforts made by the Miami-Dade County Public School System, with an emphasis on improving student achievement, family involvement, and the student’s learning environment. These initiatives include: mentoring, college scholarships, internships, youth civic engagement programs, after-school programs and many more.

Miami Youth Council   

The City of Miami Office of the Mayor established the Miami Youth Council during the 2005-2006 school year with funding from The Children’s Trust. The Miami Youth Council combines community service, civic engagement, and leadership development for high school students attending Booker T. Washington, Miami Edison, Miami Jackson, Miami Northwestern and Miami Senior High Schools. From each of these schools a Youth Council has been developed. Each of these Youth Councils is receiving training through the school-based “Project Citizen” curriculum which is a program that focuses on education for democratic citizenship. Students are working in groups to identify and study a public policy problem, propose a solution, and develop an action plan for implementing their policy. The program is focused on increasing youth civic engagement and cultural competency and will directly impact over 700 children and parents. Furthermore, each of the Youth Councils will organize a Community Showcase Event highlighting their culture and their community. Students, teachers, business leaders and families from other schools and communities will be invited to participate in these events. If you are interested in participating in the Miami Youth Council, complete the Registration Packet and fax it to Vivianne Bohorques at (305) 854-4001 or email to vbohorques@miamigov.com.

City Of Miami Conprehensive Drug Strategy   

On January 10th, 2006, Mayor Manny Diaz along with the National Drug Czar announced the City of Miami Drug Strategy Plan. The comprehensive plan treads new ground in coordinating the work of all interrelated agencies. The City of Miami presents this strategic plan to address the multi-dimensional issues related to substance abuse with a coordinated effort involving public and private initiatives. Applying the lessons learned from local efforts over the past 20 years that have changed our City from the Miami Vice days of the 1980s to its leadership position today in reducing drug problems, the following City-wide strategic plan is presented as a blueprint for action in the decade ahead.