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One Victory at a Time PDF Print E-mail
Dec 10, 2007 at 03:17 PM

Gloria Atkins, long time resident of Wynwood and leader of Miami in Action

After an hour and a half meeting with Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff on the evening of Thursday December 6th, Wynwood residents are claiming victory in their fight to rebuild the Community Center in Roberto Clemente Park and to defend their historic Puerto Rican neighborhood from gentrification.


    Miami in Action, a grassroots community organization of the Miami Workers Center, organized a group of more than 45 Wnywood residents to demand Commissioner Sarnoff rebuild the Dorothy Quintana Community Center with increased resident input and benefits including job opportunities for local residents in the construction process.
    According to Sarai Portillo, Organizer with Miami Workers Center, "Since the Community Center was closed over three years ago, this community has lost important services for our youth. Right now, everyone is trying to sell Wynwood as the next best thing for the artists and hipsters, but what about the needs of the people that already live here?"

Sarai Portillo, organizer with the Miami Workers Center, addresses the residents

    The Dorothy Quintana community Center was closed three years ago because of supposed termite damage. The closing of the Community Center represents a broader loss of public services for low-income communities. This divestment from vulnerable communities while government subsidies supplement the development costs of mega-projects such as Midtowm Miami demonstrates a public-private partnership in the push towards gentrification. With commitments from Commissioner Sarnoff to rebuild the Community Center the residents of Wynwood are making a strong, if small, stand against the 'profit over people' mentality and reality that is the basis for gentrification.
    When Commissioner Sarnoff arrived at the meeting, held at the Wynwood Baptist church, he was greeted by Portillo and two large pieces of paper , one in English the other in Spanish, with the words "Our Demands" boldly printed at the top.
    The gathered group of Wynwood residents then proceeded to present their five major demands, all of which Commissioner Sarnoff agreed to by the end of the meeting. Their demands were as follows:

1. A Community led process with public meetings that allow for community participation in decisions including the following:
    -Facility Design

    -Programs for Youth and adults
    -Community Space
    -Environmentally Sustainable Development

2. Expedite the construction process.

3. Ensure local residents are given opportunity for job training and placement on this project.

4. Continue to meet with Miami in Action after the February 9th Town Hall to address concerns regarding gentrification.

5. Ensure immediate and long term funding for the Community Center and explore funding options from moneys generated from Midtown Miami.  

In addition, Portillo presented the Commissioner with a petition containing signatures from over 1,000 Wynwood residents, requesting that the Community Center be re-opened immediately.     

Commissioner Sarnoff Responds to the community's demands

Portillo then requested Commissioner Sarnoff to address the crowd and state whether he agreed or disagreed with each of the residents' demands. While Sarnoff began with  "Good manners says you don't make demands, you make requests," he quickly followed with, "I don't think there is enough money to give the community a park you deserve, so I am looking for an additional $1.2 million extra for the reconstruction of the community center."
    

The gathered residents

    The Commissioner then specifically addressed each demand. With respect to the first demand for increased community participation, Sarnoff said, "Of course the community should participate in the conception of the new Community Center." Responding to the second demand requesting expedited renovation of the Community Center, Sarnoff said "This is not a yes or no demand. It will take between 24 and 30 months to complete the whole process [of reconstruction]." But when pressed by residents, Sarnoff agreed to push the process as fast as he could.
    When responding to the demand for local hiring, Commissioner Sarnoff said while "I can't legally require contractors to hire particular people. I can make a request of contractors to hire from the neighborhood and usually with city contracts they are willing to do this request."
    Wanda Beniquez, leader of Miami in Action stated, "The meeting went well. The commissioner agreed to our demands and we will move forward with making the community center as it should be and as we want it."

Now Hiring! PDF Print E-mail
Nov 29, 2007 at 01:53 PM
    This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join one of the most exciting, dynamic and innovative racial and economic justice organizations in South Florida, and in the country. Candidates must show initiative, be self-starting, creative, independent problem-solvers, and work well as part of a team. Above all else, the Miami Workers Center is looking for motivated and hard-working individuals with a commitment to racial and economic justice and our mission to join our organizing team. These positions are full time and will require weekend and evening work on a regular basis, and often involve working in the field alone. Salary is commensurate with experience. The Center offers a benefits package that includes medical insurance, sick leave, personal days and paid vacation time.   We seek individuals willing to make a two-year commitment to the organization.
 
POSITIONS AVAILABLE

For full job descriptions go here: Organizer and Lead Organizer
 

Organizer:

The MWC Organizer is responsible for building the strength and power of Center initiated/supported grassroots organizations. This job requires people who are comfortable speaking in public, representing the organization and engaging people through conversation, discussion and building lasting relationships with others. Specific duties include: providing outreach/education to the broader communities in which the Center is active; recruiting community members’ to join our organizations and participate or take leadership in organizational programs, activities and campaigns; developing alliances between Center-led organizations and neighborhood based small-businesses, religious congregations, labor unions, and community organizations; and developing the leadership of grassroots members.  Organizers will be held responsible for reaching a specific number of people per week, recruiting specific numbers of individuals to become members of the organization and evaluated based on the number of people they are able to turn out for meetings and events.



Lead Organizer:

MWC Lead organizers are responsible for providing strategic guidance to Center-based campaigns and the development of neighborhood-based organizing objectives.  Lead organizers oversee the implementation of base-building and campaign plans. Duties include: development of neighborhood research and survey instruments; identifying campaign issues and targets; reaching targeted outreach, recruitment and public education goals; deepening relationships with grassroots members, community residents and neighborhood allies in support of campaign actions and demands; planning, developing and writing training curriculum for staff and members; developing relationships with print, radio and television media representatives; negotiations and action planning; representing the organization locally, nationally and internationally.   Lead organizers also manage other organizing staff, providing leadership to organizers, and manage the work of grassroots interns and volunteers.  Systems management and administrative responsibilities are required, including maintenance of organizing database information, accountability to program budgets and maintaining phone-banking systems. Lead organizers are accountable and report directly to the Center’s Organizing Director.

TO APPLY
Submit resume and cover letter to:  Sha’Wanda Manuel, Director of Operations at:

shawanda (at) theworkerscenter.org (e-mail is preferred).

Or by mail/fax to: Miami Workers Center, 6127 NW 7th Avenue, Miami, FL  33127; Fax:     305-759-8718.
 
The deadline for applications is January 31, 2008. The Miami Workers Center is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Women, people of color, LGBT are strongly encouraged to apply.  
The Right to the City PDF Print E-mail
Nov 26, 2007 at 06:55 PM

You've been waiting for it.

Now it is here!

Be the first kid on your block to get the new Tides publication The Right to the City featuring Gihan Perera, Executive Director of the Miami Workers Center. Check out the video and download a copy here:

http://www.tidesfoundation.org/ideas-action/the-right-to-the-city/index.html

In this 35 page document Gihan Perera is interviewed by Connie Cagampang Heller, a donor activist. The interview takes a conversational tone getting to the theoretical roots of the newly formed national Right to the City Alliance (founded in January of 2007). The conversation flows from discussion of gentrification, the global conditions of the city, building winning alliances, immigration and the impact of urban displacement on electoral politics.

"The Right to the City is a framework to rebuild an urban movement in America's cities. It comes from the basic recognition that our American cities have been under attack."


So move fast to get your copy. They are going fast, and you can't miss an opportunity like this. These 35 pages refines thinking, sparks ideas, and lends vision to a growing national movement fighting against gentrification and urban displacement and demanding for a Right to the City.

ALL IN is SOLD OUT! PDF Print E-mail
Nov 16, 2007 at 11:33 AM
 
That's right the Miami Workers Center 2nd Annual Gala to be held this Saturday November 17th Is sold out. We have over 200 people coming out to support the work of the Miami Workers Center, LIFFT, and Miami in Action. Check back next week for photos and a summary of the exciting times. In the meantime we are throwing an after party for all those who can't make it to the gala. Info is below...
 

Stop Slumlords! PDF Print E-mail
Oct 30, 2007 at 08:20 PM

On Tuesday October 23rd the Miami Sheriff’s Department came to evict me from my apartment but I was able to stay because Miami Workers Center, LIFFT and members of the Liberty City Apartments Tenants Council came to my aid.
    I moved into my apartment in July when I took it over from a friend. The hot water doesn’t work. There are leaks from the roof in my bedroom and the cabinets in the kitchen are peeling. The only time I would see the landlord, Placido Diaz, was at rent time. I told him each time about the problems in my apartment but he never did anything accept collect rent.
    I didn’t pay my rent in September because of the continued problems in the apartment. I wasn’t sure of my rights but I knew what the landlord was doing was wrong and he shouldn’t get paid for it. My rent recently went up from $550/month to $600/month. This rent is high. The cost of living is going up throughout Miami. I live on a fixed income. I can’t afford to move to a different apartment, a better apartment. It shouldn’t cost so much to get basic needs met.
    When the sheriff came to evict me I remembered my friend, Satina Williams,  from the Liberty City Apartments Tenants Association and how they were getting together to protect their rights. I had also met Tony Romano from the Miami Workers Center a few days earlier. Just as the landlords guys were changing my locks Tony called me to see how I was doing and I told home that I was being evicted.
    Suddenly Tony, LIFFT and members of the Liberty City Apartments Tenants Council were there. They talked to the landlord’s guys. We worked out a deal and I got to stay in the apartment.
    I realized we could work together to sop evictions and defend our rights.  It made me feel good. I wasn’t alone.  I know I have unity with these people, with LIFFT and the tenants council. There were people that stood up with me and for me. We aren’t going to let this happen in our community. Stop Slumlords! Stop illegal evictions!

 

-Jermaine Toney 

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