By: Community Newspapers

Miami-Dade Commissioners Daniella Levine Cava and Dennis Moss recently hosted the first South Dade Solutions Summit.

Community leaders came together to discuss some of South Dade’s most pressing challenges. The three main topics discussed at the summit were: fueling the South Dade economy, transportation connectivity and parks and the environment. U.S. Department of Transportion Assistant Secretary Carlos Monje was the keynote speaker.

“The goal of the summit was to channel the knowledge and experiences of the South Dade community to implement efficient and effective solutions to some of our region’s challenges. We want to build on the area’s unique assets,” explained Commissioner Levine Cava. “South Dade is a very special part of the county, with its own needs and opportunities.”

In order to encourage creativity and innovation, the summit was structured following a conversation methodology known as World Café.

More than 170 participants discussed the topics in small group sessions and rotated around the room in order to hear different viewpoints as the day continued. Ideas and suggestions shared throughout the summit were consolidated and will form the basis for a South Dade action plan that will be developed by a team comprised of local elected leaders led by Commissioners Levine Cava and Moss.

“The input of the community is going to be key in getting us where we want to go,” Commissioner Moss said. “If you have a plan that the community buys into, when resources come available, you have a plan to funnel those resources into.”

U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo introduced Assistant Secretary Monje, who spoke about the uniqueness of the summit, explaining that he had “never seen anything quite like it…this is truly community organizing at its best.”

Monje spoke about the resources and support available at the federal level, including TIGER and New Start/Small Start grants.

“There are lots of different ways the federal government can help,” he said. “It takes a lot of leadership at the local level, and hopefully we’ll be there with the funding when a plan is ready.”

Commissioner Levine Cava and Commissioner Moss presented Assistant Secretary Monje with the Key to Miami- Dade County.

“I would like to thank Assistant Secretary Monje for coming to South Dade and speaking to our community about how we can work with the federal government on our transit issues,” Commissioner Levine Cava said. “It is imperative that we use all the resources available to us so that we can bring real solutions to the gridlock experienced by so many South Dade residents.

“I would also like to thank the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Miami Foundation for sponsoring the summit, Catalyst Miami for facilitating and the Economic Development Council for partnering with us on this community dialogue.”

The ideas discussed at the summit will be converted into strategies with a timeline of expected goals and outcomes for the short and long term. Updates will be available through the offices of Commissioner Levine Cava and Commissioner Moss.

http://communitynewspapers.com/palmetto-bay/commissioners-levine-cava-moss-host-south-dade-solutions-summit/

By: Daniel Chang

The ulcer on Vincent Adderly’s right foot started as a small lesion on the tip of his big toe — a minor injury for many but a serious medical risk for a diabetic.

For Adderly, 46 and uninsured, the lesion meant trips to the emergency room and hours-long waits for a doctor to scrape the wound, bandage it and send him home with a prescription for antibiotics that Adderly said he could not afford.

But two trips to the ER later, the foot ulcer hadn’t healed and had become more painful. In late May, he went to a different ER. This time, doctors at Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines gave him a grim choice: have the toe partially amputated to prevent a bone infection from spreading, or treat the wound with extended antibiotic therapy and hope for the best.

Adderly chose the amputation, a decision that put him on the front lines of a fight raging in Tallahassee this week over Medicaid expansion. If Medicaid were expanded in Florida — as provided for in the Affordable Care Act, but opposed by many Republicans — Adderly would likely qualify. And if he’d had the regular medical care Medicaid can provide, he and some of his doctors believe he might have avoided the amputation.

“I’m evidence of time wasted,” said Adderly, who falls into a healthcare no-man’s-land that policy analysts call the coverage gap. “This could have been avoided.”

Unemployed since 2008, the Miami Gardens man said chronic back pain from a car accident and spinal fusion, along with diabetes-related complications, have left him unable to work. He earns no income and does not qualify for financial aid to buy health insurance under the ACA, or Obamacare. Because he has no dependent children and is not legally disabled, Adderly also is ineligible for Medicaid in Florida — one of 21 states that have not adopted an expansion plan.

Adderly is among an estimated 850,000 Florida adults, including about 140,000 in Miami-Dade and 80,000 in Broward, who would be newly eligible for Medicaid if the state were to adopt an expansion plan, according to the Urban Institute, a health policy research nonprofit group.

Caught in the coverage gap, Adderly said he has applied for Social Security Disability, which would make him eligible for Medicaid. But he also wants to commit his energies to advocating for Medicaid expansion — a choice that Florida’s Legislature has turned down twice already, in 2013 and 2014. The Legislature reconvened Monday in a special, 20-day session to pass a budget. The process broke down this spring over the issue of Medicaid expansion: the Senate offered a plan to help the uninsured that House leaders and Gov. Rick Scott oppose.

“This special session needs to be a session where they address people who have problems, like myself,” said Adderly, who has enrolled in civic engagement courses through a nonprofit group that advocates for Medicaid expansion, Catalyst Miami. “Why should I have to wait on special sessions when it should have been done the first time? If I was afforded the opportunity with Medicaid, or some type of insurance that Obamacare provides, I would have been able to go to a doctor.”

Kissinger Goldman, the emergency room doctor who first saw Adderly at Memorial Hospital West in late May, said there’s plenty of medical evidence that diabetics have better health outcomes when they receive regular care.

“The only way to do that,’’ he said, “is to see a primary doctor who is on top of you, who reminds you to take your medicine, who reminds you to take care of your feet, who reminds you to eat properly.’’

He said that preventive care, the kind emphasized under the ACA, could have helped a patient like Adderly avoid amputation.

“I see what happens when you don’t get preventive care,’’ he said. “You come to me in the emergency room.’’

Florida Rep. Carlos Trujillo, a Miami Republican, said there is no question that Adderly would have benefited from regular visits with a physician.

Trujillo, who opposes healthcare expansion under the ACA, said he also agrees that Adderly would have been better off with Medicaid than being uninsured. But he says those aren’t the questions dividing the Legislature.

“The question we’re debating in Tallahassee,’’ he said, “is whether Medicaid is the solution, and is it the responsibility of the state to offer insurance to individuals who have never been subsidized for insurance? … And if we do, where do we take the money from? Do we take it from education? Do we take it from transportation?

“There is a cost,’’ he said.

Under the ACA, Medicaid expansion was supposed to bridge the gap between the poorest Americans and those who make enough to qualify for government-subsidized plans. But the Supreme Court’s decision to make Medicaid expansion optional meant that Florida and 20 other mostly Republican-led states chose not to expand the state-federal insurance program for the poor.

For states that chose to expand eligibility for Medicaid, the health law requires the federal government to pay 100 percent of the cost of the newly eligible population through 2016, and never less than 90 percent thereafter.

According to advocacy groups and some state legislators, including Sen. Rene Garcia, a Hialeah Republican, Florida would receive an estimated $50 billion in federal funding to expand Medicaid.

Trujillo, however, argues that Florida’s Medicaid costs have grown dramatically over the years, and that the program now accounts for “34 percent” of the state budget. But that percentage includes both federal and state dollars. In 2014, that broke down to about $14 billion from the federal government and and about $9.5 billion from the state.

Still, Trujillo said, uninsured Floridians such as Adderly need access to healthcare — but not necessarily Medicaid.

“What’s the best way to get him access? For us, it’s fighting — for transparency, for expansion of scope, for reduced costs — so Vincent can buy good, quality, affordable healthcare rather than end up on Medicaid,’’ he said. “Or is the solution to expand Medicaid and put people on these programs that not you or I could tell them if they would have a better outcome? It’s 100 percent speculation.”

For Adderly, though, there is no guesswork about his need for regular medical care. There is only uncertainty about how to get there, and an urgency to act while there’s still a chance in the Legislature.

“I’m feeling concerned,” Adderly said of the chances for Medicaid expansion in Florida. “But I’m even more determined to make this happen in Florida because there’s no more time to waste. ... I’m an example of what happens when you wait.”

By: Nancy Dahlberg

Catalyst Miami and Digital Grass Innovation & Technology (DGIT) convened 100 residents, service providers, and technologists to discuss and plan how technology can be utilized to drive social change in Miami 

On Friday, May 15, Catalyst Miami and Digital Grass Innovation & Technology (DGIT) hosted Imagine Miami: Tech & Community Edition at the Miami Dade College Idea Center in Miami. In an effort to bridge the gap between Miami’s vibrant tech scene and the greater community, this free Imagine Miami conference featured five panels of thought leaders sharing their insight and ideas on how to address concerns in our communities through civic engagement, innovation and technology.

Speakers included Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert, III, T. Willard Fair of the Urban League, Maxeme Tuchman of Teach for America, and representatives from Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Launch Code, Collaborative Development Corporation, New Tropic, Awesome Foundation and more.

Oshun Marcella, moderator of the Health & Wellness for the TechSoul Panel, said, “For me today the experience was phenomenal. I had no idea what to expect at all. The information I got prior to my session was valuable—so valuable!—and allowing me to speak to the panelists and actually have some interaction for action… it felt like not just another whiteboard meeting. Also, the diversity of the audience here and the participation of the audience… made me think that they really want to see change.”

At the end of the day, participants shared their tech-centered solutions, which focused on history & tourism, health, conflict resolution, civic action and work ethic. Digital Grass and Catalyst Miami will work with the teams to ensure that the ideas are realized through collaboration with other local startups and community organizations. Selected community solutions will also compete for Awesome Foundation Micro-grants.

LaToya Stirrup, co-founder of Digital Grass and moderator of the History & Tourism: The Story of Miami panel, said, "This experience proved that through collaboration and inclusion, people from all backgrounds, ages and neighborhoods can work together to solve problems. Now the real work begins as we partner with Catalyst Miami and other organizations to turn these great ideas into viable solutions."

Participant Amir Youssef said the Imagine Miami event was “inspiring, informative, [and] it’s good to see a group of people get together to solve problems rather than just talking about it.”

Imagine Miami is a community effort to connect people, organizations, and businesses improve quality of life in Miami-Dade County. Through the Imagine Miami conferences, we connect people to ideas and tools for action, and build hope with true stories of people who are making a difference.

By: Jessica Weiss

Laura Rollins didn't used to worry so much about making ends meet. With a factory job at pencil maker Atlas Pen & Pencil Co., the $11.75 per hour she brought in was enough to cover basic essentials like health care and car insurance.

When Atlas' Hollywood, Florida facility closed in 2007, Rollins was invited to work at the company's new headquarters in Shelbyville, Tennessee. But when Atlas didn't do well in Tennessee either, Rollins came back to Florida. She sold her car and began looking for a job accessible by bus from her Fort Lauderdale home. She found one at McDonald’s, in Miramar, where she’s been working for the past five years.

Now 63 years old and a great-grandmother, Rollins takes two buses to work and two buses home. She likes her colleagues and the job. The only problem: She can barely afford to get by. Making $8.45 per hour, she's had to cut back on basic household items, often having to make tough decisions about what to buy and what she can do without. She has no insurance.

"I pay $880 a month for rent, so I have to save up my money every week just to pay that," Rollins says. "After I get that covered, I worry about my electric, water bill, whatever else. It's just not enough to get by.”

So today, Tax Day, Rollins will join hundreds of other Florida fast-food workers in a strike called the "Fight for $15" movement, which has a simple demand: $15 an hour and union rights for all workers.

Since hundreds of cooks and cashiers walked off their jobs in New York City two and a half years ago, demanding $15 an hour and union rights, workers in a range of industries have joined the Fight for $15 movement across the nation and the world.

In today's Miami events — organized by by SEIU Florida and partners such as Unite Here Local 355, Florida New Majority, St. John's Baptist Church, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Catalyst Miami, and AFL-CIO — the fast-food workers will be joined by adjunct professors and home-care, childcare, airport, industrial laundry, and Walmart workers.

SEIU is coordinating bus transportation for protesters, who will march and rally beginning at 6 a.m. at the Miami Shores McDonald's and then move to the Fort Lauderdale airport outside Terminal 3. The day will finish in Miami at Greater Bethel AME Church (245 NW Eighth St.), where organizers hope a crowd into the thousands will gather at 5:30 p.m.

Bishop James Dean Adams of Overtown's historic St. John’s Baptist Church will mobilize congregants for the afternoon march. In a show of opposition, the marchers will pass the Miami Worldcenter project in Overtown — the site of the proposed second-largest development in the nation.

“Developers are seeking $100 million to build [the Miami Worldcenter] right next to one of Miami's most storied and neglected African American communities," SEIU says in a release. "Despite seeking public funds, this project doesn't guarantee any permanent living wage jobs to any of the local residents."

Though McDonald's hasn't responded directly to Miami's protest plans, nationally the company has addressed the movement by recently announcing raises to an average of $10 per hour for workers and increasing benefits. But those bumps affect only about 90,000 workers at locations directly owned by McDonald's — not the vast majority of McDonald's workers who are employed by franchises.

Rollins is looking forward to an historic day. She rounded up ten co-workers from her McDonald's store to strike with her, as well as her two teenage granddaughters, who are also fast-food workers.

"I told my managers straight up I'm missing work," she says. "I am not hiding anything — I said to them: 'Do what you got to do, and I’m gonna do what I got to do.'"

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-fast-food-workers-strike-today-to-demand-15-per-hour-7570918

By: Kathleen McGrory

Gail Jones has the same thought whenever she gets into a car: “Please, Lord, don’t let me crash. I don’t have health insurance.”

Jones, a 51-year old Opa-locka resident who works at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, doesn’t qualify for Medicaid. But the Obamacare marketplace for health insurance is also out of reach. The reason: Her salary is too low to receive tax credits that would make coverage affordable.

Gail Jones, 51, sits outside the Florida Capitol on April 9. She traveled from Opa-locka to Tallahassee to advocate for expanded health care coverage.Kathleen McGrory The Miami Herald

Whether she — and roughly 800,000 other Floridians in the so-called “coverage gap” — will have access to coverage hinges on decisions that will be made in Tallahassee over the next three weeks.

The state Senate is advancing a plan that would let Florida use federal Medicaid expansion money to subsidize a new state-run marketplace for private insurance. It would be available to low-income Floridians who work and pay small monthly premiums.

The proposal has the support of influential business organizations, hospitals and grassroots consumer advocacy groups. But for both political and logistical reasons, it is a long shot in the final weeks of Florida’s legislative session.

Among the strong forces working against it:

▪ Powerful House Appropriations Chairman Richard Corcoran, a Land O’Lakes Republican who controls a large bloc of lawmakers, has repeatedly refused to consider the plan. The conservative House considers it an endorsement of the politically charged Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

▪ Republican Gov. Rick Scott last week said he no longer thinks Florida should accept the federal money because he doesn’t trust the government to keep its promise.

▪ Even if the plan were to win support from the legislative and executive branches, it would still need approval from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services because it is not Medicaid expansion as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act. The agency has rejected plans from other states that included a work requirement.

“The House holds all the cards right now,” Barry University political science professor Sean Foreman said. “There really is no incentive for them to change their minds.”

Still, Jones and other Medicaid expansion advocates plan to keep the pressure on House Republicans as the 60-day session builds to a crescendo. It officially ends May 1.

“Even though they have a super majority, they need to be held accountable to the people,” Jones said from the steps of the Capitol last week.

The federal money — initially $51 billion over 10 years — was first offered to Florida in 2013 as part of the Affordable Care Act. It was intended to help expand Medicaid coverage to people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

The state Senate advanced a plan to take the money in 2013. But the House refused to go along, saying the Medicaid program was too broken to expand.

In 2014, the legislative conversation was a non-starter. It revved up again this year, however, because the federal government said it would not extend a $2.2 billion hospital funding program known as the Low Income Pool past its June 30 expiration date.

Advocates of expansion were quick to note that the end of the LIP program — which helps hospitals cover the cost of treating uninsured, under-insured and Medicaid patients — would be disastrous to safety-net hospitals such as Jackson Health System in Miami and Tampa General. They pitched expanded coverage as a way to help those hospitals on the front end if the state and federal government could not negotiate a LIP successor.

The business community rallied around the idea, providing the political muscle needed to drive the conversation in Tallahassee.

Enter the Senate. It is billing its 2015 plan as a free-market approach to Medicaid expansion that rewards individuals who work and have “skin in the game,” according to Health Policy Committee Chairman Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach. It has so far won unanimous support among senators.

Hoping to build support for the plan, Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, dispatched two state senators to Washington this month to meet with federal health officials.

But House Republicans have dug in their legislative heels.

“They want us to come dance?” Corcoran said on the House Floor earlier this month. “We’re not dancing. We’re not dancing this session, we’re not dancing next session, we’re not dancing next summer. We’re not dancing.”

And they now have Scott on their side.

“It’s very difficult to trust the same government because of their action on the [LIP] program,” Scott said last week.

In a move best described as political posturing, the Senate is trying to force the governor’s hand — and that of the House — by threatening to hold up the budget process. Gardiner has also said he might have to exclude $690 million in tax cuts that Scott considers a priority.

The gridlock over expansion and the uncertainty over the LIP funding has brought all other legislative proceedings to a virtual halt.

Some leaders are already predicting the need for a special or extended session.

Foreman, the Barry University professor, said it would be virtually impossible for the House to reverse course and save face politically.

“They’ve painted themselves into a corner,” Foreman said, pointing out that Corcoran is scheduled to become the powerful House speaker in 2016. “Corcoran can’t go back on his word now, because he’ll lose credibility for his future leadership.”

Still, the fight is far from over.

A coalition of business groups and individuals known as A Healthy Florida Works has released an online video praising Gardiner and the Senate for “bold leadership,” and has continued pushing the idea that expansion will lower business costs.

Grassroots groups are also ratcheting up their efforts.

Catalyst Miami, a nonprofit advocacy organization, sent 40 members to Tallahassee last week to build support for the Senate plan. The volunteers held a demonstration outside of the Capitol on Thursday morning, and then tried to get meetings with House Republicans.

Jones, who traveled to Tallahassee with the group, said it was important to tell lawmakers her story.

She sometimes has severe allergic reactions but is afraid to go to a doctor. Instead, she treats the condition with home remedies that rarely help.

“I don’t want to be left behind,” she said. “I want them to know that there are 800,000 people out here who need health care.”

• ·       Strengthening their onboarding process and training of staff financial coaches
• ·       Mapping potential partners to help fill gaps in services
• ·       Identifying tools to help inform internal planning process to integrate financial capability and healthcare access services

• ·       Center for Financial Security’s Financial Coaching Training Survey Brief
• ·       CFPB Your Money, Your Goals Toolkit- specifically the community mapping tool
• ·       Planning Guide Community Mapping Tool
• ·       Integration Resources on CFED’s website

• ·       Integrating Financial Capability Services 101 webinar recording
• ·       Integration brief: Meeting clients where they are
• ·       Integration brief: Gaining and retaining employment
• ·       Asset Funders Network Financial Coaching Report
• ·       Planning Guide for Integrating Financial Capability Services- Coming Soon!

A state Senate committee has approved a bill to allow Florida to accept billions of federal dollars to expand Medicaid. The proposal would throw a life preserver to vast numbers of Floridians drowning in medical bills and unable to afford health coverage.

Hallelujah, right? Well, not exactly. SPB 7044 won unanimous approval last week in the Republican-dominated Senate Health Policy Committee, but political ideology has a history of trumping good policy in Florida when it comes to healthcare. The current legislative session might not be any different.

The plan would allow Florida to accept $50 billion in federal dollars to extend coverage to about 800,000 low-income residents by expanding Medicaid. But since expansion is part of the Affordable Care Act, anathema to many Republican legislators, the bill faces a steep uphill climb in the more-conservative House before it can get to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk.

Lawmakers rejected a proposal to expand Medicaid in 2013, and last year it wasn’t even considered.

Senate President Andy Gardiner and his allies deserve credit for trying to overcome their colleagues’ objections. They have added a work requirement to make it more palatable to the House, and they want beneficiaries to pay a small monthly premium for eligibility. The feds are not likely to look kindly on either requirement, but at least this gives the uninsured a glimmer of hope that Florida can join those states where having no private health insurance is not a death sentence.

We have advocated tirelessly in support of Medicaid expansion because it’s extremely frustrating to see the feds’ money go begging when there is such dire need in this state, particularly in Miami-Dade County. And because our federal taxes are used to fund Medicaid expansion in other states. And because there is no good reason to reject the money.

So as this proposal goes forward during the session, we’ll try not to think of the poor odds and focus instead on ways to get it done:

▪ Don’t be misled by efforts to tie Medicaid expansion to other federal programs. Another source of federal healthcare funds called the “low-income pool,” or LIP, is being phased out because of the Affordable Care Act, but Florida is negotiating with Washington to keep it alive.

Already, some legislators say that if LIP funding is restored, the state doesn’t need Medicaid expansion. Wrong. These are two separate pots of money. LIP helps reimburse hospitals beyond regular Medicaid rates and also supplements hospital care for uninsured patients. Medicaid expansion does not replace LIP, nor does having LIP help the army of uninsured Floridians without coverage. Not having either program, of course, puts the state in a healthcare and budget crisis.

▪ Get Gov. Scott involved. The governor said he favored expanding Medicaid in 2013, but didn’t put his political muscle behind the effort. He could make a difference by working with pro-expansion lawmakers to craft a strategy and win critical votes.

▪ Listen to the business community. Tom Feeney, CEO of Associated Industries of Florida, says a statewide business coalition favors the proposal because it provides a free-market, consumer-choice exchange and offers a fiscally responsible, market-based solution to draw down federal dollars.

Could this be the year Medicaid expansion triumphs in Florida? We’ll to curb our enthusiasm, but are encouraged by the story thus far.

By: Chabeli Herrera

For consumers who chose to go without health insurance in 2014, income taxes this year came coupled with a new fee.

Starting Sunday, they’ll have one last opportunity to sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act — and avoid another, higher fee next year — during a special enrollment period that will run through April 30.

The fee for failing to get insurance in 2014 was $95 or 1 percent of household income, whichever is greater. For those who don’t obtain coverage by April 30 this year, the fee will rise: $325 or 2 percent of household income.

This is the first year consumers are being charged for not obtaining health insurance. It is also the first time those who signed up through the marketplace will be expected to fill out one or more of three new healthcare-related tax forms.

Andy Slavitt, principal deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said CMS is focused on making the tax filing and fee process as seamless as possible in its first year.

“Right now this means raising awareness and making sure tax filers know they have to have insurance,” Slavitt said.

He cited a McKinsey & Company study published this week, which reported that about 41 percent of the uninsured population was not aware that there was a penalty for forgoing coverage.

Slavitt said that’s one reason the tax special enrollment period was opened. He said this is the only year it will be offered.

Kevin Counihan, CEO of the ACA marketplace, said consumers who have not enrolled in the 2015 marketplace for coverage will qualify for the special enrollment period if they owe a fee for 2014, did not know about the initial open enrollment period from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15, and were unaware of the individual mandate to get covered. Consumers will have to fulfill all three criteria to qualify.

Those who sign up in this special enrollment period will still have to pay the fee for 2014, Counihan added.

It’s not the first special enrollment period this year. Glitches on the HealthCare.gov site during the last week of open enrollment spurred the creation of a week-long special enrollment period for consumers who experienced technical issues while trying to sign up.

In 2014, a similar period ran from the end of open enrollment on March 31 to April 19.

Milton Vazquez, a spokesman for nonprofit healthcare enrollment organization Get Covered America, said misinformation about penalties was common among consumers whom the organization helped enroll this year.

“Some folks assumed it [the fee] would only be $95,” Vazquez said. “They weren’t aware that it ramped up substantially this year.”

The fee for going without coverage will continue to increase. In 2016, those who are uninsured and do not qualify for an exemption will have to pay $695 or 2.5 percent of their household income, whichever is greater.

Vazquez said reaching people when they file their income taxes will likely decrease the level of healthcare misinformation for next year’s enrollment.

“I can’t imagine a better way to reach out to as many people as possible,” he said. “This way is probably going to have the highest impact of any single outreach method that has been tried thus far.”

FOLLOW @MHHEALTH FOR HEALTH NEWS FROM SOUTH FLORIDA AND AROUND THE NATION.

THIS STORY WAS PRODUCED IN COLLABORATION WITH KAISER HEALTH NEWS, AN EDITORIALLY INDEPENDENT PROGRAM OF THE KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION.

By:Arun Sivasankaran

Lauderhill, which has a sizable number of unbanked and underbanked households, is currently working on a program that will encourage people to depend on mainstream financial institutions, such as banks and credit unions.

About 50 percent of the city's residents either do not have a bank account or have one but continue to depend on costly alternative financial services, such as check-cashing stores, payday loan providers and pawn shops. Mayor Richard Kaplan, who is the driving force behind "Bank on Lauderhill," wants people to stop spending a sizable amount of their net income on unnecessary fees.

"Many people do not know how to bank, how to open an account," said Kaplan. "They do not have the financial knowledge. We need to do something to help them break the chain of paying fees, sometimes outrageous fees. Some banks and credit unions have unique programs that are designed to help such people; all they need to do is take advantage of them."

Among those who attended a recent meeting organized by the city were representatives from Bank of America, We Florida Financial, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Florida Prosperity Partnership, 2-1-1 Broward, Lauderhill Chamber of Commerce, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Broward County Housing Authority, United Way ofBroward County, Urban League, Mount Olive Development Corporation, Broward County Family Success Center, and Catalyst Miami. Another meeting is scheduled for March 19.

The success of the "Bank on San Francisco" program has spurred similar initiatives in other parts of the country, including Florida. With the support of "Bank on Florida," an initiative of the Florida Prosperity Partnership, local "bank on" chapters have opened in such places as Orlando, Tampa Bay, Lee County and Jacksonville.

"What we are trying to do is not brand new for the banks or the nonprofits," said Elijah Wooten, the city economic development manager. "All those who attended the meeting were familiar with the 'bank on' programs in other parts of the state and country. They all are very supportive. At the next meeting, we will come up with concrete ideas on how to implement the program in our community.

"About 30 percent of the people in the city are unbanked," Wooten said. "The underbanked [population] is close to 15 percent. We want the unbanked to open bank accounts and the underbanked to stop depending on alternative financial services, such as check-cashing stores. We want them to start saving money."

Kaplan is expected to talk about the program at the meeting of the Northwest Council of Elected Officials in Lauderhill next month. He intends to present the program at the Broward League of Cities meeting, as well.

"The United Way of Broward County tried to set up 'Bank on South Florida' a couple of years ago, but it never quite took off," said Kaplan. "I am trying to bring it back from the ashes. After introducing this program in Lauderhill, I will try to get other cities to adopt it, as well. The percentage of unbanked and underbanked people in Broward County is way greater than the state and national averages."

The city intends to launch a publicity campaign once the program is launched. "The banks and social agencies that are a part of the program will also spread the word," he said. "My goal is to roll it out by May or June."

Twenty percent of people in the country are underbanked, while 7.7 percent are unbanked, said Bill Mills, vice president of Florida Prosperity Partnership. He expects the proposed program to have a substantial effect on people in Lauderhill.

"In Florida, 6.2 percent of people do not have a bank account, while 19.9 percent have a bank account but still depend on alternative financial services that are costly," Mills said. "According to a study, an unbanked household will spend over $40,000 over a working lifetime on alternative services; that is a lot of money that can be saved. We are in over 60 counties, trying to bring together local financial institutions and community partners to help unbanked and underbanked households."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/lauderhill/fl-sf-lauderhillbank-0311-20150306-story.html

By: Carol Porter

In memory of “Bloody Sunday” on March 7 in Selma, Ala., a huge contingent of people gathered at the Torch of Friendship right outside the stores of Bayside and the towers and condos on the Miami waterfront to march through the streets of Miami to nearby Overtown.

All races and ages, Black, white and Hispanic, gathered to honor those who put their lives on the line 50 years ago at Selma and to renew their own commitment to democracy.

"Selma is Miami," "Selma is now" are some of the phrases on signs carried by the marchers.

Their final destination in Overtown was St. John’s Baptist Church, where they were greeted by a rendition of the “Ballad of Harry Moore,” a Brevard County activist who was killed when his house was firebombed on Christmas Day in 1954, and where they watched PBS’ “Eyes on the Prize” and heard other speakers. More than a dozen civil rights and community organizers had a presence, including the Miami branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Florida New Majority, the Miami-Dade NAACP, the AFL-CIO of South Florida, Catalyst Miami, Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, LIUNA Southeast Laborers Council, Miami Workers Center, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Power U Center for Social Change, SEIU Florida, St. John’s Baptist Church and UNITE Here Local 355.

While the world watched, on Saturday, President Barack Obama gave a solemn address in Selma, a small community best known for the birthplace of the 1965 Selma voting rights movement, the Selma to Montgomery marches, and “Bloody Sunday” when people marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge were bullied, billy-clubbed, tear-gassed and driven back. Other marches took place during 1965, where people fighting for their civil rights were bullied, attacked and some were even murdered. The marches and the resulting coverage by the media led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson and other advances in equal rights but many still feel it has not gone far enough.

While making their way along Biscayne Boulevard through the streets of Miami to Overtown, marchers chanted “We Shall Not Be Moved,” “We Shall Overcome,” and “Ella’s Song,” all songs born during the Civil Rights movement. At one point, kneeling down in the street was a clear reminder of the moment when Dr. Martin Luther King and his followers kneeled down in the street in front of the police officers who had attempted to block their way to Montgomery.

People chanted with bullhorns and music pumped through the speakers of the car in front of them. Members of local law enforcement led them through the street. They marched past the proposed the site of Worldcenter mall, a project that some marchers said needs to hire more locals.

Area residents, hearing the music and the voices of the marchers, came out of their businesses and churches to watch and a few shook hands with the marchers, or gave them the thumbs up while they made their way through the streets. Marchers linked arms together and also pumped their fists in the air.

Among those who took part in the march were Loreal Arscott and Deidrea Belfon, and Arscott’s 4-year-old daughter Leia and her 9-year-old niece Jaliah Nelson. Both women said they grew up watching documentaries and reading about Selma and also had seen the movie with Deidra and Jaliah.

“Jaliah said she was sad that people were being mistreated because they didn’t do anything wrong,” said Arscott.

Ninety-year-old Eufaula Frazier said she was not well enough to travel to Selma but she was glad to watch the proceedings on television, and she had been to every Democratic convention since 1972 including the recent one in Denver, Co. where President Barack Obama was nominated for a second time.

“I’m so glad 50 years later, God spared us to be here,” said Frazier, “so we can celebrate that moment.”

Reverend Gary Johnson, director of the Miami branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, spoke of the historical significance of Selma and how people today must turn out to vote so their deaths would not be in vain and that the future of people’s rights would be secured.

“Fifty years ago, Americans of all ages, risked it all to secure everyone’s right to vote,” said Johnson. “The sacrifices of the past have yielded some great gains, but the fight to ensure that everyone can be a part of those successes still continues, especially here in Miami.”

Gihan Perera, executive director of Florida New Majority, spoke of Selma’s significance and the battle of voting and other rights that still continue to the present day.

“Today we see not just an attack on voting rights, but also battles against gentrification, police brutality, and the school-to-prison pipeline,” said Perera. “This is a chance for people to honor the past and to be inspired to continue the work of making this democracy — and this city — benefit everyone who dreams of a better life for themselves and their families.”

http://miamitimesonline.com/news/2015/mar/11/selma-anniversary-unites-miami/?page=2