The Daily Signal - Miami Aims for ‘Functional Zero’ Homeless Population. Is It Working?

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

The mayor of Miami has an ambitious goal—to reach a “functional zero” homeless population within his bustling city.  “We reached functional zero veteran homeless, and I realized … that we could, we should, take it a step further and get to a functional zero,” says Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican who leads Florida’s second-biggest city. Miami is partnering with several organizations—including Hermanos de la Calle, Lotus House, and Camillus House—to meet the varied needs of the homeless and create a model that other cities could duplicate to tackle their own homelessness crises.  But Suarez says addressing homelessness extends beyond meeting the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the homeless—cities must also create an economic environment that allows all citizens to thrive.  If city leaders want to effectively address homelessness, Suarez argues, they also must consider a “broader macroeconomic reality” that plays a role in creating or alleviating the problem. To this end, the mayor says Miami’s government has followed three rules: “We've kept taxes low; we've kept people safe; and we've leaned into innovation.”  Suarez joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain how Miami is advancing toward a “functional zero” homeless population and to share the exciting results of a recent event toward reaching that goal.  Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the Nissan Black Friday event where you can... Wait, wait. Isn't it like a month long now? Nissan Black Friday Month? Does that work? It's the Nissan Black Fry Month event. On remaining 2025 Rogan Centra, get 0% financing. Plus, get $1,000 Nissan bonus on kicks models.

This Black Friday, you've got a whole month to catch all the exclusive offers waiting for you. See your local Nissan dealer or nissan.ca for details. Conditions apply. Welcome to the Daily Signal podcast for Thursday, June 6th. I'm Virginia Allen. The mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, is on a mission to reach functional zero homeless population in his city. He joins us on today's show to explain exactly how the city is going about tackling their homeless situation. He discusses the tools that they're using and how they're getting the whole community involved within Miami to be a part of the solution.

to meet homeless people right where they're at, to empower them, to retake control of their lives, and to improve the community as a whole as they watch that homeless population shrink and shrink and shrink. Stay tuned for our conversation after this. It was 10 years ago that the Daily Signal officially launched as an alternative to the establishment press. We believed then that major newspapers and broadcast networks were leaving a massive audience of conservatives and independent-minded Americans unserved. We set out on June 3, 2014, to inject competition into the market. Well, our hypothesis was correct.

To all the patriotic Americans and supporters of our work, thank you for making the past 10 years possible. Going forward, you can expect the same insightful reporting and thoughtful commentary from the Daily Signal as you've come to rely on for the past decade. Just as our name implies, we will continue to be your signal that cuts through the noise to transmit the news quickly and simply. More importantly, we will always tell you the truth.

That is our promise. We believe that by focusing on quality journalism, the unbatched knowledge of our contributors, and insider intel, thanks to our access to policymakers, the Daily Signal's future is bright. But we can't do it without your help. You can support our work by visiting dailysingle.com slash donate. For those who have made a financial contribution

in the past or are considering making a gift today, thanks for making the daily signal your trusted source of news. It is my privilege today to welcome to the podcast, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. Mayor Suarez, thank you so much for being here. It's great to be with you. Well, during your time in office, one of your priorities has been tackling the homeless situation in Miami. Why is that such a priority for you?

You use the term called functional zero that you're trying to get to functional zero among the homeless population in Miami. Why is that a top priority? It's a top priority in part because of how I grew up. I grew up believing that, you know, great city, people are defined in part on what you do for those that have the greatest need. And there are, you know, there's not a category of people in my city that have a greater need than those that are sleeping unsheltered in our streets. As a community, and a lot of this predates me, we've done a great. job of dealing with the homeless issue in a comprehensive way. We created something called a homeless trust, which is based on a consumption tax and a variety of other funding sources. And

we took homelessness from a high of about 10,000 as an MSA to about 1,000. In the city proper, as of the last census, we have approximately 630 unsheltered homeless. So for a city that's a relatively large city, top 40 city and population in the country, you know, I really believe that we have the ability and the compassion to help the 630 people, find housing, find shelter, and find a way to be happy and productive in our city and in our country. And I think that's a model that can be exported nationally. I think a lot of cities are struggling with a homeless epidemic that is significantly greater than ours. And there's a lot of reasons that we can get into. as to why that's happening and why I think we've done so well and why I think we're going to get

to that functional zero goal. And functional zero is just a term, right? I mean, it's a term of our we reach functional zero veteran homeless. And I realized, as certified by the federal government, I realized that we could, we should take it a step further and get to functional zero, which basically means there's, you know, maybe one person here, one person there on a given day, but you're essentially at zero. There's a really neat nonprofit that's a small organization in Miami, you all saw their model and you thought, hey, I think we can expand this. This seems really practical. Tell us a little bit about Admonos and what they're doing, what their model is, and how it's working in Miami. Like I said before, there are a lot of organizations that are in

the space, they're great organizations, a homeless trust, Camilla's House, Lotus House, Christie House. I mean, great organizations that are helping people that are in different categories of homelessness. or experiencing different things in their life and need help and services. Edmanos was a faith-based organization that began with volunteers out of a church, initially feeding the homeless. And they very quickly realized that all they were doing was kind of putting a band-aid, a very temporary band-aid on the situation by giving the homeless person a meal, which is great, made them feel good, start their week, feeling good about what they did.

However, it didn't really solve the problem. They realized the same people were on the street. every time they would go out. So they sort of evolved into an organization that could find housing. And they did that in a very unique way. They did it by going out into the supply of houses and renting homes for the homeless, which they would otherwise not be able to rent. Obviously, they wouldn't have the credit. They wouldn't have the down payment, et cetera, et cetera. So they went out there. They did that. They acted as a guarantor. And then they helped the homeless either tap into untapped benefits or work, you know, find work.

so that they could actually pay rent themselves. And so they collect right now with about 120 people in housing, you know, using their model, about $600,000 a month in rent. So they're collecting a significant amount of rent. The people who are formerly homeless have skin in the game, are contributing to their housing. And so it becomes a unique model because all of these other larger organizations want to build housing. And there's nothing wrong with it. I think it's great.

I think it has a very high percentage chance of success. The problem is it takes. you know, 36 to 48 months, assuming you're funded, right, which is also a big assumption. In this case, we went out there, we raised money in a gala to get them, the seed funding, to really expand their capacity. And we're going to start right away putting people in housing. Tell me a little bit more about that gala, because that was just took place on Saturday. And this was really like, okay, let's hit the ground running. Let's get the resources that we need to back this nonprofit so that we can continue to move

towards that zero population of homeless. How did that turn out on Saturday at the gala? It turned out magnificent. And as you said, we were trying to find an organization that could do it fast and that we could get the most return on our donated dollar. And so that's what we did. And that's why we found it models. About 90% of the proceeds of the net proceeds go directly to the rental program part.

About 10% goes to the administration part. So they're a multi-year. I think there are almost 10 years in existence, about a $3 million budget and close to 20 employees. And so we are, that money that we raised, which was over $1.3 million gross as of last Saturday in about two months that we started this endeavor, is going to go directly to the needy in our community. And so this Friday, we're going to have our first major event with Admonos to try to convince people to go into housing and begin the process of getting that number from $630 down to zero. That's so exciting. What are some of the other tools that you all are using within Miami to say, okay, we can really strategically fight the issue of homelessness in this way? There is no tool in the toolbox that we don't use. Let's put it that way.

We, you know, we are, first and foremost, we recognize that people who are in a state of homelessness maybe are there because they can't find a job. We have the lowest unemployment in America, so you should be able to find a job in our city. Sometimes you need vocational training. So we have vocational training programs in some of our larger industries, such as cooking and culinary, which we have a very robust hospitality and tourism industry. And, of course, construction.

We're building like crazy. We were 14% last year. So we're getting people certified and trained in those areas so that they can work in the event that they're not, that work is the impediment. In other cases, it may be a mental health issue. So we try to get the mental health counseling and even medicines that they may need to take to get them in a productive state.

Sometimes it's alcohol or drug abuse. Sometimes it's a combination of all four, you know, of those things. So we have the resources comprehensively to deal with all those issues, whether they be health issues, whether they be mental health issues, or whether they be vocational issues or whether they be some such abuse issues. So there is no service that we don't provide. and another thing that we do is sometimes we do things like try to re-unite people with their families. Sometimes it's as simple as reuniting people with their families.

They have loved ones that care about them, that miss them, that want to reconnect with them, and that want to take care of them. That drug issue is something that affects all cities that are trying to tackle the issue of homelessness. It's going to be really challenging because it obviously is something that keeps people in that bondage. And often even if you give them housing with those addiction, can results in people still reverting back to the streets. If you would, speak a little bit more to that issue of how you all are tackling the drug addiction and alcohol addiction issue in Miami. We do something really interesting that we call the Lazarus Project, where we actually go into the street and will even administer medicine to the homeless in the streets.

Because like you said, sometimes they don't want to leave the streets because they have access to these drugs and they know that if they go into shelter, there's not going to be access to those drugs. So, you know, we have to begin the process of rehabilitation, sometimes on the streets, before we can even convince them to be housed. Obviously, some of the drugs that we're seeing are extremely powerful. We're very lucky that we're seeing opioid and opioid-like fentanyl-like epidemics throughout the country. Miami, I don't want to overstate it, but we've, we've We've avoided that at least in the current, you know, currently we're not in that sort of crazy phase where I hear about it every day. We did have, I think we were an early adopter, if you will, of the fentanyl crisis initially.

And we lost a lot of homeless that overdosed because of how powerful fentanyl is and how it was being mixed and used in ways that were so much more powerful than the regular opiates that they were that they were using. So, you know, it's a function of love that we want to be on the streets connecting and understanding the unique set of challenges that a particular person may be going through and tailoring a program to help them with their unique set of challenges. What have the results been in the broader community within Miami as business owners, as residents, see you all tackling this issue? What's the response been? overwhelming. I did not expect when I got up there and spoke at the gala on Saturday that so many

people would come up to me say, I want to sleep on, because one of the challenges that I issued was I want to spend the night with the homeless and as a mayor. I don't think anyone's ever done that. And then challenged citizens to do the same because, you know, it's sort of the old adage of you never really know someone until you walk a mile on their shoes. And I don't want to overstate that spending one night on the streets is the equivalent of a year or 10 years that some of the people on our streets have spent. But I do think it takes you to another level, right? It's one thing to conceptualize homelessness. It's even another thing to go and feed the homeless or to spend time talking to the homeless in a way to connect. But it's a whole other thing,

at least to spend a day being homeless and understanding what it's like, what are the challenges, you know, what it's like to sleep on a pavement floor or or in one of the, um, makeshift beds that they create for themselves. So that's a challenge. I didn't expect so many people to come up to say, hey, I want to do it with you. And I didn't expect, I'm not so sure what I expected from the broader community in terms of fundraising and supporting the event, which was phenomenal. Wow.

When you are out there on the streets and you're talking to the homeless, what are their stories? You know, it's one of the most interesting parts, to be honest with you, because they have such a variety of stories. and I think people would be shocked at how interesting they are and how interesting those stories are. And frankly, how coherent they deliver those stories and how articulate they are. So, you know, I think we oftentimes objectify people as homeless, you know, and I put that in commas because it's a category of people. But these are all individual human beings. They all got there somehow.

And they all have a journey that led them there. And so we all have lived our own lives, and we all know that our own lives are a journey, right? You know, moments of success, moments of failure, et cetera. And so I think they're no different. And I think that would be at some level surprising to many people because maybe they think, oh, they must fall into this category, that category. And I think one of the biggest takeaways for me has been surprised that it's not a one-size-fits-all story. The model that your office has created to fight homelessness in Miami, is that a model that could be duplicated in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, other cities that are really facing a major homeless crisis?

I believe so. But I also think that it goes beyond just dealing with the homeless. I think there's a broader macroeconomic reality that some of these cities have to face and they're reluctant to face them. What do I mean by that? you know, we have the lowest unemployment in America. We have the highest wage growth in America. We grew 14% last year. Why is that? Well, because we followed three simple rules. We've kept taxes low. We've kept people safe, and we've leaned into innovation. We don't, you know, we don't believe that government is the answer to all problems. You know, we don't believe that, you know, that we can have lawlessness like we're seeing in a lot of American cities where, you know, what they consider petty crimes or some crimes are not prosecuted. We believe in law and order because we think that that creates a framework for a city where there's peace. You know, we see some of things that are happening, the vilification of the Jewish community. That's not something that we stand for in Miami.

So I think we've created the conditions for a city where people, and it's been ranked, we're ranked the happiest city in America and the healthiest city in America. So we think if people are happy and they're healthy and they're working, then there's a much, much lower probability that they're going to become homeless. So then your homeless population is much, much more controllable. And then you can be much more nuanced and focused on an individual case-by-case basis as opposed to if I had 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 homeless, you know, it would be very overwhelming to figure out how to deal with things on an ad hoc basis.

So, yes, I do think there's a model here. I think there's a macroeconomic model. And I think that there is a model to help the homeless become productive that can both be scaled. Very holistic approach. It's very practical. What are the next steps over the next 11 to 12 months? How are you all going to continue moving the ball forward to reach that functional zero? A, we want to make sure that we have the funding necessary, right? And so, you know, like everything else in life, every project is resource limited or resource dependent. So we certainly don't think that the money that we raise on Saturday is enough.

We want to continue to raise money on an ongoing basis. And I think the community that supported us on Saturday is looking to see results. If we can go back in three months or six months to say, look, we've, you know, out of the 630, 270 have been housed. that is a massive, you know, 40% success rate, then I think we're going to be able to go back to a lot of our donors and say, hey, can you ante you up again? So I think that's part of it. I also think that it's going to become progressively more difficult as you get closer to zero, right?

I think, you know, we may have an ability to get a good 30 to 40% off the streets immediately that are people that are in a more transitional state. I think when you start to get down to people like Mona Lisa, for example, who I met a couple of weeks ago, she calls herself Mona Lisa. She's been on the streets for 10 years. So it might be more difficult to convince her to get off the streets. And so that will become a challenge. But I think it starts with having the capacity, right? If we have the capacity and we tell them, hey, we have a bed for you. Hey, we have a house for you. You can live in dignity. You can take a shower. You can eat a good meal that you cook, that you prepare. Right. I think that's a very

compelling argument. Yeah, indeed. For those listening who live in Miami who want to get involved, maybe they vacation in Miami, they want to be a part of sewing into that community. How can they be a part of this? Well, I'm glad my comms directors in the room because I want her to hear this. She's on the other side of the camera. But I'm going to say that look at my social media. We're going to be highly interactive with Enmano de la Caye and we're highly interactive with our partners in the space. And so we're going to be doing activations that we're going to be posting. you know, regularly, in fact, we're going to be posting this Friday's activation soon. So I would tell them, look at my Instagram, look at my Twitter feed, and you'll be able to find all the information you need right there. Excellent. Maris Juarez, thank you so much for your time.

We really appreciate it. Thank you. It was wonderful. And with that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here on the Daily Signal podcast. If you've not had the chance, make sure you check out our evening show where every weekday we bring you the top news of the day. These are the headlines that you don't want to miss.

And if you would, take a minute to leave the Daily Signal podcast a five-star rating and review. We love hearing your feedback. It's so helpful to us and helps us spread the word to more listeners. Thanks again for being with us this morning. We'll see you right back here around 5 p.m. for top news. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Bluey and Kate Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Mary Margaret O'Lehann, and Tyler O'Neill.

Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geiney, and John Pop. To learn more or support our work, please visit DailySignal.com.