Florida nonprofit secures $53 million to turn unused land into 100 affordable homes

A South Florida nonprofit that already supports families through after-school programs and job training is taking on a new role: building homes.

Touching Miami with Love has secured funding for a $53 million project in Homestead that would transform unused land behind its building into a five-story complex with 100 affordable apartments.

Here's what to know

The development is expected to break ground in 2027, according to NBC Miami. The organization views the project as a response to housing costs that are putting pressure on the South Miami-Dade families it already serves.

Trina Harris, who leads Touching Miami with Love, said rising rents have affected both the people who rely on the nonprofit and its staff. The organization offers free after-school activities and summer camp, along with job training and family services, and a survey of the families it served identified housing as a top concern.

The countywide shortage is substantial. Annie Lord of Miami Homes For All, a nonprofit focused on the county's housing issues, said, "We have a 90,000-unit gap of affordable housing across Miami-Dade."

Faced with that reality, Harris chose not to wait for another builder to take the lead and instead looked into whether a community-based nonprofit could develop housing itself.

More background

Touching Miami with Love was not created to develop housing. But its leadership saw escalating rents as a force undermining the same neighborhood it tried to support through programs for young people and families.

Across Miami-Dade County, the proposal reflects a wider affordability crunch. Too few lower-cost homes are available, leaving residents to compete for limited options and driving many farther from their communities, workplaces, schools, and support systems.

Harris said the effects of the crisis are visible all around the community: "We've seen residents that have had to move out of the community. We've seen our staff members who struggled to afford the rents in the community where they grew up, and it's disheartening."

The 100-unit plan would turn previously unused land into housing as local institutions with deep community ties try to preserve stability in places where displacement has become increasingly common.

What's being done?

With help from groups like the Greater Miami Housing Funders Collaborative, the nonprofit better understood the development process, according to NBC Miami. That support also helped the organization understand financing and move the project toward completion.

Policy changes are also part of the response. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the county has worked to speed up affordable housing projects by reducing delays in the approval process: "Well, we move very aggressively with the ability that we have. We've streamlined the permitting process. You get first up in line if you're building this kind of housing. The city of Miami now with a new mayor as well who came from the county as a commissioner and who stood for these same principles as incorporating those things into the city process. So, within the existing framework we're cutting red tape facilitating the development."

Miami-Dade County also permits accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, in some areas. These smaller residences can add rental options on properties with an existing main house, potentially giving homeowners extra income while gradually increasing the local housing supply.

Where can I learn more?

Here are a few more stories on how communities in Florida and beyond are tackling affordable housing and neighborhood stability. They cover repurposing vacant buildings, nonprofit housing grants, debates over new funding, and broader anti-poverty efforts.

• In Florida, leaders are eyeing vacant public buildings to house 38 homeless families.

• A Florida nonprofit used a $600,000 grant to add supportive housing for six residents.

• In Florida, new housing funds are leaving older homeowners questioning who can afford them.

• Massachusetts directed $18.2 million to two Cambridge projects that could add 162 affordable units.

• Florida leaders launched a one-stop push on childcare, housing, and jobs to cut child poverty.

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.