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As the Councilwoman for Seat 3, I take great pride in our home improvement programs. We’ve created a model for seniors to make their homes more attractive and energy efficient. The Weatherization Assistance Program focuses on hurricane safety and energy efficiency measures — like insulated roofs, impact windows and doors, efficient air conditioning, and so on — for homes in my district, Bunche Park and Rainbow Park. In the Senior Home Beautification Program, houses that are 40, 50, and 60 years old were painted, driveways were revived, and homes were brought back to life. These are grants offered by the City through an application process. It is fantastic to see how pleased our seniors are with the results.
The Uni-TEA Town Hall series is my mechanism for bringing government to the people and giving my residents a voice. If a complaint or comment comes to my office, I catalog it and take time to reach out to every resident who calls because I believe that their voices should be heard.
UPCOMING INITIATIVES
In 2023, I want to continue to empower women in Miami Gardens economically through my second year of hosting the Women’s Empowerment Conference and my small business workshops, offering spiritual, technical, and economic support.
I’ll be rolling out my second Made in Miami Gardens public-private partnership grant, providing $500 to small businesses to help pay for light, water, a portion of the rent, or whatever they may need. We also offer the technical resources to ensure that their businesses are registered correctly, their websites are up to par, their accounting is appropriately set up, and they have the correct licenses in place.
I believe that health is wealth. I partnered with Live Healthy Miami Gardens on their “Healthy People, Healthy Nation” campaign, and I am one of the faces of that campaign. I invite residents to join the walking club I started last quarter with Chen Medical. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 9:00 a.m., residents enjoy the state-of-the-art indoor walking track at Bunche Park Recreation Center. I’ll be doing more outdoor meetings as well. Scott Park and Rolling Oaks Park are under renovation in my district, so residents are very excited about this development.
Turning 20 in 2023
A quote I always think about is, “We are going to look toward the future, but we cannot forget on whose shoulders we stand.” In Miami Gardens, that’s our seniors. They are West Indians, Anglo, Hispanic — an amazing diversity of people who live, work and worship together, making Miami Gardens a better place. As we move forward into our next 20 years, it’s important for us never to forget where we came from and to build on that foundation.
