'Rent is too damn high.' Interfaith group demands action from Miami-Dade leaders

Miami Herald

09-04-2025

One of Miami-Dade's most politically engaged interfaith groups held their annual assembly to press elected leaders to make housing more affordable and reducing evictions in Miami-Dade County.
After hearing testimonies from renters facing impossible housing predicaments, high rent prices and risks of becoming homeless, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava agreed to commit $3 million to an eviction diversion program during the Monday night gathering.
The soon-to-be interim director of public housing and community development, Nathan Kogon, also committed to hold meetings with public housing tenants during redevelopment planning.
The housing proposals were drawn up by People Acting for Community Together, or PACT, a nonprofit interfaith group made up of some 40 churches, synagogues and mosques in Miami-Dade that advocates for solutions to some of the county's most pressing social issues. Over 800 congregants — many of whom also happen to be voters — showed up to Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church in Cutler Bay to watch elected officials answer questions about their commitment to plans addressing the group's number one issue this year: staggering rent prices that have forced locals out of Miami-Dade County.
'PACT congregations held listening sessions across the county, and the top concern that we heard over and over again was high cost of rent and gentrification,' said Khalilah Abdullah of Masjid al Ansar, a mosque in Liberty City.
The commitment from the mayor came after members of PACT laid out some facts about renting and evictions in Miami-Dade County. Last year alone, 19,000 evictions were filed, and there are probably more that went undocumented, according to PACT members.
'The group most disproportionately impacted by evictions are Black mothers … mothers and children with no options of where to go,' said Philip Cardella of Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ.
Renters in Miami-Dade are the second most 'cost-burdened' (a Department of Housing and Urban Development term for people who spend at least 30 percent of their monthly income on housing) in the country, surpassing notoriously expensive cities like New York City and Los Angeles, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.
READ MORE: Miamians are the most rent-burdened people in America — and they're stressed about it
Cardella then asked the crowd to raise their hand if they or someone they know has struggled with housing. A large majority of the crowd's hands shot up.
Huge shortage of affordable housing
PACT members noted that there's a shortage of 90,000 affordable housing units in Dade, according to their research. PACT conducted meetings with 12 housing experts and organizations including Miami Workers Center, Miami Homes for All and Legal Services of Greater Miami to seek out solutions. They came to the conclusion that the Eviction Diversion Program — a pilot program funded by the county in 2023 — was essential to curbing evictions.
Brian Douglas of the Miami Workers Center, who was first homeless when he came to Miami from New York, found himself facing an unexpected eviction notice last year.
Douglas — who was 65 years old at the time — was on the waiting list for affordable senior housing when his landlord informed him that the building he lived in was sold and to be condemned. Tenants were told they had to move immediately and were threatened with eviction.
'The residents were given no notice whatsoever,' Douglas said. 'The very thought of being out on the street last year with a heat index of over 100 degrees was a very stressful situation.'
Douglas said that the combination of stress and his underlying health conditions, high blood pressure and diabetes, landed him in the hospital. The vast majority of the residents were minority, elderly or disabled and many, like himself, were never behind on the rent. Some became ill and one person passed away due to the stress, Douglas said.
One day, Douglas got an out-of-the-blue visit from someone from the Miami Workers Center, a nonprofit that works to expand tenants rights and protections across the county. The organizer offered him free legal counsel provided by Legal Services of Greater Miami and information about the Eviction Diversion Program. With help from the nonprofits, Douglas was able to land multiple extensions on his lease until he found a new place to live. He called the program 'essential and lifesaving.'
The pilot program was funded by the county commission in 2023, and was designed to assist at-risk tenants and their families through free legal assistance and eviction diversion programs. The program conducted door-to-door canvassing to households and people — like Douglas — who were struggling to navigate an eviction process. It also allowed the nonprofits involved to share data on how evictions impact housing stability, and identify ways to improve plans and processes for the future.
'We need the eviction diversion program to be sustained, to be expanded and made permanent for the protection of tenants, especially those of us who are members of vulnerable populations,' Douglas said.
Levine Cava acknowledged the group's concerns. 'We know the rent is too damn high. We have stabilized renting prices but they are still too damn high'
After Levine Cava's agreed to the request, the congregation gave PACT's signature response in unison, 'Let justice roll!' The mayor was then given just two minutes to outline the challenges.
'We are entering a very difficult budget season,' she said. 'We need your voice at county hall. I do not pass a budget, the county commission passes a budget. They need to hear from you.'
Levine Cava later told the Miami Herald that the county government has a 'freeze' on hiring and is working to improve 'efficiencies' and 'accountability' but that at the end of the day, is still going to have to make 'significant cuts' in the next fiscal budget. She said the evictions program is still a priority, regardless.
'For me personally it is a priority, but it has to be voted on by the commission,' Levine Cava said.
READ MORE: 'Let Justice Roll!' How a group of many faiths takes on Miami's big social problems
PACT members also advocated for the use of Community Benefits Agreements, which are legal agreements between community groups, government, and developers that seek to ensure that residents have a say in how development impacts their communities.
Rev. Ana Jackson of Sellers Memorial United Methodist Church explained how important residents' input is in her community in West Little River.
'My adult children live with me because of the high cost of rent, and the area around my church has been actively changing for years,' she said. 'Through Community Benefit Agreements, we can negotiate benefits for our communities that we know we need, like affordable housing.'
The absences of two county commissioners who were invited, Commissioner Vice Chair Kionne McGhee and Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, was noted by group leaders.
'We are extremely disappointed that County Commission Vice Chair McGhee decided to not show up this evening,' said Quanda Dupree of St. Peters Missionary Baptist Church. 'He is missing not only the opportunity to listen to his constituents but to also be accountable to the community.'
McGhee's office did not respond to a request from The Herald for comment. In an email to the Herald, Commissioner Gilbert said while he hoped to attend that his office never confirmed his attendance.
'I appreciate the very valuable work that People Acting for Community Together, PACT, has done in our community for years,' Commissioner Gilbert said in an email. 'While I have attended the Nehemiah Action Assembly in the past, I was not able to attend last night's assembly in Cutler Bay.'
This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.