GreenLight Fund Miami has announced a $600,000 investment to bring Housing Connector, a tech-powered nonprofit focused on expanding access to stable housing, to Miami-Dade County.<\/p>\n
The investment will support Housing Connector\u2019s expansion into Miami-Dade, where the organization plans to help house 2,400 people over the next four years, according to a press release. The effort will rely on partnerships with local organizations and landlords and aims to reduce barriers that prevent residents from securing housing.<\/p>\n
Housing Connector operates a technology platform that connects landlords, community partners and residents through what the organization describes as a \u201cstate of the art marketplace.\u201d The nonprofit provides financial guarantees and dedicated landlord support to reduce perceived risks for property owners renting to individuals with barriers such as low credit scores, prior evictions or reliance on housing vouchers.<\/p>\n
GreenLight Fund Miami said the expansion comes as housing stability remains a critical issue locally. Citing the 2025 United Way ALICE report, the press release states that Miami-Dade County is the most rent-burdened area in the nation, with nearly 60 percent of residents spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Additionally, nearly 90,000 eviction notices have been filed in the Miami area since 2020, according to data from Eviction Lab referenced in the release.<\/p>\n
GreenLight Fund Miami launched in January 2025, and this marks its first investment. The organization describes itself as a national nonprofit with a local focus that works with communities to identify pressing barriers to inclusive prosperity and match them with proven solutions operating in other cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiami is home to extraordinary organizations and leaders working every day to help residents find stable housing, but the process is often harder and slower than it should be,\u201d said Valeria Perez-Ferreiro, founding executive director of GreenLight Fund Miami, in the press release.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur investment in Housing Connector will bring a proven solution to accelerate and streamline the great work our nonprofits are doing \u2014 making it easier for case managers to connect people to available homes and for landlords to say yes,\u201d Perez-Ferreiro said. \u201cThis investment brings us closer to a future where more Miami-Dade residents can quickly find not just housing, but the stability, dignity, and opportunity everyone deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Housing Connector has previously operated in cities including Austin, Dallas, Denver, Orlando, Portland, Sacramento, Newark and Seattle. Nationally, the organization reports that it has housed more than 12,000 people, working with 3,500 property partners and 350 community-based organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see Miami as a community that shares our belief and conviction that homelessness can be solved,\u201d said Shk\u00eblqim Kelmendi, founder and CEO of Housing Connector.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy transforming how the private market engages with public need, we\u2019ve shown that solving homelessness requires innovation, accountability, and courage to do things differently,\u201d Kelmendi said. \u201cWe\u2019re not just building a platform, we\u2019re building a movement where housing is treated as infrastructure, not crisis response.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beginning in May, Housing Connector plans to hire a local manager in Miami-Dade and partner with local organizations to reach residents facing the greatest challenges in accessing safe and stable housing. By 2029, the organization expects to have 30,000 units listed on its platform locally and to have housed 2,400 people, with 90 percent remaining housed after one year.<\/p>\n
Local housing advocates said they see the initiative as a complement to existing efforts.<\/p>\n
Annie Lord, CEO of Miami Homes For All and a member of GreenLight Miami\u2019s Selection Advisory Council, said in the release that Housing Connector\u2019s landlord supports, and experience working in multiple cities will help attract more affordable units to house people exiting shelter. \u201cWe will also work with Housing Connector to help at-risk residents remain stably housed,\u201d Lord said.<\/p>\n
Zelalem Adefris, CEO of Catalyst Miami and also a member of the Selection Advisory Council, said housing assistance is the top request her organization receives. \u201cWe recently surveyed hundreds of our clients, and housing services were identified as the top service gap,\u201d Adefris said in a statement. She added that Housing Connector\u2019s contribution \u201cwill be a game changer.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the multi-year startup funding, GreenLight Fund Miami said it will provide strategic on-the-ground support to help ensure measurable impact and long-term sustainability.<\/p>\n
GreenLight Fund was founded in Boston in 2004 and now operates in multiple cities nationwide. GreenLight Miami was launched in 2025 with support from more than 90 founding investors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GreenLight Fund Miami has announced a $600,000 investment to bring Housing Connector, a tech-powered nonprofit focused on expanding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[83998,84010,83999,84016,76498,84005,65017,84013,84011,84018,83997,84003,84001,84019,83996,225,227,226,1192,83995,84015,84000,84006,84022,84002,373,84020,84009,84021,84023,84017,84008,84024,84004,84014,84007,84012],"class_list":["post-177630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-83998","tag-000-eviction-notices-filed-since-2020-miami","tag-000-housing-investment-miami","tag-000-units-platform-goal","tag-76498","tag-400-people-housed-in-miami-by-2029","tag-65017","tag-affordable-housing-partnerships-with-local-landlords","tag-annie-lord-miami-homes-for-all-support","tag-community-based-organizations-housing-collaboration-model","tag-eviction-crisis","tag-eviction-lab-miami-eviction-filings-data","tag-greenlight-fund-first-investment-2025","tag-greenlight-fund-founded-boston-2004-expansion","tag-greenlight-fund-miami","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-homelessness","tag-housing-connector","tag-housing-connector-30","tag-housing-connector-expansion-to-miami-dade","tag-landlord-financial-guarantees-housing-vouchers-program","tag-long-term-housing-retention-90-percent-one-year","tag-miami-rent-burden-united-way-alice-report","tag-miami-dade-county","tag-miami-dade-housing-stability-initiative-2026","tag-miami-dade-most-rent-burdened-county-in-nation","tag-nonprofit-marketplace-connecting-landlords-and-residents","tag-public-private-partnership-to-address-homelessness-miami","tag-reducing-barriers-low-credit-prior-evictions-renters","tag-shklqim-kelmendi-housing-connector-ceo-comments","tag-strategic-startup-funding-for-housing-nonprofits","tag-tech-powered-nonprofit-housing-platform-launch","tag-united-way-alice-report-2025-miami-data","tag-valeria-perez-ferreiro-greenlight-fund-miami-statement","tag-zelalem-adefris-catalyst-miami-housing-gap-survey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}