South Dade Is My Home. We Have New Investment to Celebrate and Grow Together.

I love South Dade. It’s where I grew up when I arrived from Puerto Rico, where I am raising my boys, and as part of my work and passion for this region, I’ve spent years visiting South Dade’s nonprofit leaders. I’ve been to the cramped offices, to our churches, and community centers across Homestead to Naranja to Goulds, these are organizations I have worked alongside, leaned on, and watched change lives up close. They changed mine when we made the long food distribution lines back in 2003. They saw us. So, when Amazon committed $1 million to 13 South Dade nonprofits, my tears were genuine.

When The Miami Foundation released the results of a two-year landscape study of South Dade nonprofits, I applauded the $94 million in grants invested into the region. But I also paused at what else that study showed us: 77% came from public dollars, and a striking 66% concentrated in just Homestead and Florida City. That leaves places like Richmond Heights, West Perrine, Naranja, and Leisure City, unincorporated communities I know well, consistently on the outside looking in. Only 4% of all that funding was flexible, meaning that our South Dade nonprofit leaders had virtually no ability to adapt their finances to the moment. Meanwhile, the community leaders and individuals interviewed in the study pointed to the urgent needs for affordable housing, access to mental health and specialty care, reliable public transportation, and real pathways into the workforce. Their accounts came from lived experiences, and that made the report tangible, real, and actionable.

It’s easy to get lost in that kind of data, when you think about the fact that South Dade is one of the fastest growing regions in Miami-Dade County and home to more than 600,000 people – about one-quarter of the County – and the needs are rising. But instead, the team at Amazon looked at the data and decided it was their call to action. They said, not under our watch, will these needs be swept under the rug.

Back in August, Amazon announced it is putting $1 million directly into the hands of 13 nonprofits doing the work on the ground focused in mentorship, education, upskilling, and workforce development this community: Be Strong International, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami, Bridge To Hope, Chapman Partnership, Children’s Home Society of Florida, Genesis Hopeful Haven, Mexican American Council, Miami EdTech, Miami-Dade College’s School of Aviation, South Dade Connections, South Dade Women’s Veterans Alliance, Touching Miami with Love, and Uplift Literacy.

I have partnered with some of these organizations directly through my own work in community engagement and workforce development. Those programs that teach resume writing and interview skills mean someone walks into a job interview with their shoulders back for the first time. Others I know because I grew up in this community, and watched neighbors, friends, and family walk through their doors when they needed a hand up, not a handout.

Aside from their generosity, what makes Amazon’s investment stand out is how they truly listened to what the community shared through the data. All of Amazon’s $1 million commitment will be flexible, so that organizations can make decisions based on what they know is needed to support this community. These leaders are experts, and Amazon is standing with them. That’s what trust looks like.

This is progress, and I want to celebrate it loudly. But $1 million doesn’t close the gap built over decades of underinvestment in unincorporated South Dade. The need is still there in Goulds, in West Perrine, in every pocket of this region that has been overlooked for too long. All donations help and Give Miami Day is just around the corner, taking place on November 19!

So, here’s what I’ll say as someone who calls South Dade home, and who has watched these nonprofits pour themselves into this community year after year: thank you, Amazon, for listening to the data and to the people who live in it, and for taking BOLD action. And to everyone reading this, please get to know these organizations. Volunteer. Support. Tell their stories. And show up for them because they truly deserve it. These organizations take care of us day in and day out, not asking why, but how. Not judging but standing right next to us.

To every organization in South Dade that once lifted up my family, saw our humanity, and opened doors of hope, thank you. Today, it is my absolute honor to lift you up in return. I will proudly use my voice to celebrate your work, amplify your impact that transforms lives because your belief in our community changed mine forever.

And if you know an organization that wants to give boldly like Amazon, please find me – I am @miamis_communitygal on Instagram or outside, where my soul belongs.