HomeMy WebLinkAboutM-81-0718�019 IS# 1981
Ms. Dena Spillman, Director
Community Development
City of Miami
Miami, Florida
Dear Ms. Spillman:
As was stated in a series of meetings held by the Steering Committee,
which is comprised of Representatives of the City of Miami, Department
of Community Development, Dade County HUD Planning Department and the
Wynwood Community Development Task Force's elected officials, the need
for an emergency housing project is eminent; and as I indicated to you
in my letter of May 29, 1981, today, emergency housing is still the
cry of our community.
We are requesting the City of Miami to donate the land located at
209 N.W. 30th Street to the Wynwood Housing Resource Corp., recently
organized for the purpose of building an emergency housing center.
We realize that there are quite a few agencies within the City and the
County dealing with housing problems, however, no one has taken the task
of utilizing the community resources to bring about the results that
will really be appreciated and are needed by'the surrounding neighbor-
hoods.
This project that I am proposing is not new to South and Central American
Communities; and even closer than that, one might go to Puerto Rico and
find that many villages have been built on this same concept, which in
the -islands is known as "Ayuda Mutua" (Self -Help).
I realize that from the start, many people in the City of Miami will
think that this is a very ambitious project, and some people will even
dare to say that it cannot be accomplished. But then my question will be,
has anyone ever tried a project like this in the City of Miami? I will
even provide the answer, which is "No".
Everyone in the neighborhood, because of their involvement in the project
will feel that this project is very much their own, because of the
approach to be used to accomplish our goal. We will ask everyone in our
neighborhood, to give us a helping hand in whatever way possible.
We will have a tele-a-thou and a radio -thou appeal to the general
community for project support. In that appeal, we will ask the community
at large to give donations, such as materials, monies and their skills,
realizing that the bulk of the total price of the project will go to
labor.