MIAMI, Fla. – Five local non-profit organizations created to tackle affordable housing, homelessness and education in the South Florida area got a big financial boost to improve their efforts to help empower impoverished people and students seeking to get ahead.

AmeriCorps, a federal agency for national service and volunteerism, announced a total of $4.9 million in grants will be awarded to Lotus House, a women’s shelter in Overtown, Sundari Foundation Inc., Urban Paradise Guild, Breakthrough Miami Inc., City Year Miami, and Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida.

Collectively, the groups, that are AmeriCorps members, will receive $4,982,660 million in state and national funding.

The grants couldn’t have come at a better time as South Florida is experiencing an affordable housing crisis sparking an increase in the homeless population.

U.S. Congresswoman Fredrica Wilson (D-West Park), applauded AmeriCorps for providing much-needed community and volunteer services that help address the nation’s most pressing challenges, especially across South Florida. "Not only do they strengthen our communities and improve lives, but their dedication to fostering civic engagement through service helps our youths gain valuable experience while making an impact,” Wilson said. “Thanks to AmeriCorps’ $4.9 million in grants to these dedicated organizations, the South Florida community receives crucial resources to address housing affordability, educational equity, and economic opportunities. I am proud to support the AmeriCorps mission and applaud their commitment to improving our communities.”

The AmeriCorps state and national grants and new AmeriCorps members will help prepare students for college, revitalize cities, connect veterans to jobs, fight the opioid epidemic, rebuild communities following natural disasters, preserve public lands, strengthen education and foster economic opportunities.

They will join the more than 1.1 million AmeriCorps members who have served since the program’s inception in 1994, earning nearly $4 billion in education awards.

The funding includes up to $1,510,383 million in education awards for AmeriCorps members.

After a full-service term, members can receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of about $6,500 towards tuition at eligible schools and at certain GI Bill-approved educational programs for veterans, or student loan repayment.

Each year, the agency places more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles, and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers.

For the past 15 years, Lotus House has helped improve the lives of homeless and domestic abuse women and their children, most of them minorities, by providing support services including sanctuary, education, and resources to help them get back on their feet.

One of the largest homeless shelters in the United State, Lotus House’s latest project is expanding with an education and playground facility for kids.

The non-profit recently broke ground on the second phase of a 71,000 square feet, five story Children’s Village at Lotus House, at 217 N.W. 15 Street in Overtown, to benefit children being sheltered there.

Lotus Endowment purchased land to build the facility that includes playground and outdoor recreational facilities, a new children services building with expanded educational and therapeutic spaces, a preschool for kids and children living in the nearby Miami area, and a resource center for children and their families.

The facilities also include additional job training for women and resources to connect them with employment opportunities.

Constance Collins, president of Lotus Endowment Fund, said the project cost is $32 million.

The first phase of the project was expanding the residential building to 140-units for a total of 105,000 square feet that houses a new culinary center, a wellness center and arts and activities lab.

Lotus House needed the additional spaces for sheltering over 1,550 women and children and expanding services to help women get back on their feet, while their kids are being educated as well, and having some fun with the new amenities.

"In the Children’s Village, Lotus Endowment continues and deepens its commitment to the important work of Lotus House changing and transforming the trauma of homelessness into a window of opportunity for children to heal, learn, grow and thrive and prevent and end homelessness," said Collins. "Our children need room to play and work… remembering children’s work is play. The new Children’s Village will allow us to more deeply support our neighborhood children at the same time we provide additional space needed by the shelter to operate in the new normal."

The Urban Paradise Guild is a Miami non-profit that promotes sustainable models for healthy living in the urban areas of Miami-Dade County.

The organization’s goal is growing urban gardening including vegetables and fruit trees with the help of volunteers targeting locations such as Oleta River State Park, Amelia Earhart Park, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and Matheson Hammock County Park.

Since 2007, Breakthrough Miami is a non-profit which provides an academic enrichment program that uses a student-teaching-students model to ensure that motivated, under-resourced 5th – 12th grade students have access to excellent educational opportunities, graduate from high school on time, and attend college Breakthrough Miami was recently named 2023 Program of the Year by the Children’s Trust, which funds the program along with the Knight Foundation.

City Year Miami is also a non-profit organization which was created to help underprivileged students who lack access to learning environments and resources they need to thrive in school and life. City Year Miami members serve in schools, preparing students with the social, emotional and academic skills.

For the past 40 years, Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida (NHSSF) has been creating affordable housing opportunities for residents in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties including bringing strategies to assist them to navigate a complex competitive housing market and educating residents to become informed consumers in their housing choices.