The Rev. Sherlain Stevens, of \u200aEbenezer United Methodist Church in Miami, who also serves as President of Miami PACT, saidys the struggle most of her people suffer from is affordability.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aWhat we do is we gather every year to listen to the conversations in our congregations about the things that keep \u2019em up at night. That\u2019s the best way of explaining it. What are the concerns they have for the community,\u201d Stevens told WLRN.<\/p>\n
Miami PACT had three demands as part of its Nehemiah action for 2026:<\/p>\n
Open the Center for Mental Health & Recovery;\u00a0<\/p>\n
Amend the County Code to define Area Median Income (AMI) by census tract and define \u201cworkforce housing\u201d as housing for individuals and families earning below 100% of AMI. The current AMI for an individual is $68,300 and $123,900 for a household of four people.<\/p>\n
Create a sliding scale of developer incentives based on levels of affordability, ensuring deeper affordability where it is needed most<\/p>\n
Mental Health<\/p>\n
The Center for Mental Health and Recovery is meant to be a diversionary facility where people who are homeless and\/or deal with mental illness can seek treatment when they run afoul of the law, rather than going straight into incarceration.<\/p>\n
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The center was approved as far back as 2004, but the opening has lagged for decades awaiting funding and approval. The facility has been built, but the county hadn\u2019t found funding to make it operational until recently.<\/p>\n
A proposal from Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado would put two nonprofits in charge of running the center and fund operations for a two-year pilot period.<\/p>\n
Miami PACT asked county leaders to support the proposal that would fund the center as a not-for-profit, and Levine Cava pledged her support for the plan.<\/p>\n
Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III said he would request that it be heard at the next meeting in April and vote in favor of it.<\/p>\n
While the City of Miami doesn\u2019t have a role in the Center, Commissioner Rosado said he would push his colleagues at the city to continually contribute funding for its operation because it falls within the city\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n
Area Median Income<\/p>\n
The remaining two demands from Miami PACT relate to a concept in housing development known as \u201cArea Median Income\u201d or \u201cAMI.\u201d AMI refers to the median household income within a specific area, usually a county or city.<\/p>\n
Affordable housing and workforce housing projects will often have carveouts that say a certain number of units will be for people making a certain percentage of the county AMI.<\/p>\n
The median income for a household of two in Miami-Dade County is $99,100 as of\u00a0May 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n As Miami PACT and other affordable housing advocates have pointed out, many of the people most in need of housing make well below the county AMI. Many cannot qualify for workforce units that can charge up to\u00a0140% of AMI<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aUsing a county-wide scale will include other people of higher income, maybe within the same zip code, but in another area which skews that range. So you have someone who may be making $140,000 and that income is going to make a higher average cost for people who are not able to afford it,\u201d Stevens said.<\/p>\n The PACT asked local leaders to amend the definition of workforce housing to make it more affordable for people on the lower end of the income scale, and to define AMI by census tract rather than countywide. That way, the AMI for an area will include people of similar income levels and be less skewed.<\/p>\n They also asked that developers be offered incentives on a sliding scale, so housing projects with more affordable units equal more savings for developers.<\/p>\n Levine Cava pledged to support these initiatives, but Gilbert asked for more time to consider the implications of such changes.<\/p>\n \u201cI need to fully understand what those changes will have as far as unintended consequences,\u201d Gilbert told attendees at the assembly. \u201cChanging AMI which is actually calculated at the federal level might have some consequences that I\u2019m not willing to commit to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami PACT, said Stevens, will continue to follow up with elected leaders over the coming year to ensure they are held accountable for the commitments made this week.<\/p>\n
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