Displaced and struggling families need a hand this season. Here’s how you can help

Miami Gardens sizzled on a hot July day, like most South Florida summer days, but on this one a landlord informed a young father of two little girls that his lease would not be renewed. As a result, Breon Williams’ family had to split up.

Williams, 27, who grew up as a child of an incarcerated father, lives with a family member in Pembroke Pines. The children — Da’ Nashia, 2, and Da’ Nayvia, 10 months — and their mother, Darneisha Barnes, 27, and her son Rondell, 9, live in a homeless shelter in Overtown, according to Williams.

Williams, a graduate of Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School, wants to be a hands-on father and the primary provider for the blended family, he says. When they were evicted Williams was out of work. Today, he’s working maintenance for 7-Eleven. But without a car, transportation is “rough” and there never seems to be enough time. Dad has to work nearly every day. Mom has to take care of the kids and see that the oldest gets schooling.

“I’m slowly but surely kind of working my way to get back on my feet, but it takes time,” Williams said in a phone interview with the Miami Herald. Getting the family together in a neighborhood where the children can have Mom and Dad at home and a place to play outdoors would be ideal, Williams says.

Lela Lombardo and Shellie Solomon of Children of Inmates, a South Florida organization that gets funding from The Children’s Trust and provides case management and family reunification services for children with incarcerated parents, nominated Williams for the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald’s Wish Book holiday series for 2023.

“As a teen, he knew he wanted to be a father as he was instrumental in raising his younger siblings. As a parent, he is struggling with being separated from his children and trying to find a way to set up a household where he can be with them. Even though he has a good job, without a base of familial support, he has struggled to be the dad he desires to be — one who is there with the children daily,” Lombardo wrote.

“I didn’t have my Dad growing up, really. But I did have father-like figures in my life,” Williams said, citing the help of Children of Inmates as one example. “Being a dad to me means, like, you’re the head of the house type of thing. The financials is all on me. But when everything comes crumbling down I’m supposed to be the one to hold everything up. I want to be the biggest support.”

Williams’ story is one of 180 submitted by charitable organizations to Miami Herald Charities this year for Wish Book consideration. Wish Book opens its 42nd season on Thanksgiving Thursday and, through year’s end, Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald journalists, along with Florida International University student contributors, aim to share as many of these stories of South Florida families in need as possible.

Williams’ story resonates because it echoes a challenge so many have struggled with in 2022 and 2023 in South Florida: securing affordable housing.

Housing help

“This year, we understand many of the families chosen to be featured in Wish Book face a similar challenge: They have been displaced and have had their lives upended by the affordable housing shortage in Miami-Dade, which as we all know, is largely punishing low-income families,” says Alex Mena, Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald executive editor and McClatchy Florida regional editor. “We hope some of the families featured will find housing with the help of our readers. It would be great if Wish Book could be a vehicle to get a family’s life back on track.”

According to reporting in the Miami Herald, Metro Miami has one of the highest rates of economic inequality in the country. Poverty is up as wages lag and rents and home prices soar, so that even those who are working, like Williams, can’t afford a place to live.

City of Miami residents could expect to spend about 80% of their monthly income on housing expenses, Miami-Dade Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera, who represents District 6 and areas including Miami, Hialeah, Virginia Gardens, Miami Springs and West Miami, wrote in an editorial published in the Herald in July.

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“This year many double income families holding multiple jobs are still being outplaced in the housing market. Some have been evicted when an illness hits a family. Many are one paycheck away from losing stability. Landlords raising rates have made many families move into downsized locations, sharing space with other families and some are forced into homelessness and are living in vehicles with their children,” said Roberta DiPietro, Wish Book coordinator for Miami Herald Charities.

Families in need of assistance

Among the nominees for Wish Book help this season are single moms and single dads struggling to support children who need medical equipment to manage disabilities. Others are recovering from serious injuries.

Take the story of Brenda Brigite Ardaya Valverde, for example. She was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, 24 years ago, lives with her mother, the family’s main provider, and a brother and a minor sister in Hialeah. Last year, Valverde lost a third of her left arm to amputation after her limb got crushed in a meat grinder while she was cleaning the machine.

“The glove got hooked and I couldn’t take it out quickly,” she said through S.T.E.P.S. in the Right Direction, a Miami Lakes organization that assists individuals with health and human services.

“My spirit got crushed and so did my self-esteem. I became home bound,” she said.

Valverde needs a prosthetic hand, something her mom, who was a nurse in Bolivia, can not afford, according to Michael Salem from S.T.E.P.S. Salem nominated Valverde for Wish Book consideration.

“I know this donation will help me pick up the pieces, overcome sadness and depression, and jump start my life for the better so I can become more independent and begin living a normal life. This may also enable me to make a difference in the lives of others,” she said through Salem.

Wish Book could also introduce readers to Linda Joseph who wants to find a place to live for herself and her two boys, ages 3 and 5. According to Gemma Carrillo, an education specialist with the Miami-Dade Public Schools Police Department, which nominated Joseph for Wish Book, Joseph has been living in parks and on bus benches with her two children.

“They need clothes, food and some academic support, especially since they have lost a lot of schooling,” Carrillo told the Miami Herald in an email. They also need a permanent home. The children have stayed nights with their dad in North Miami; during the day Joseph, who had aged out of the foster care system, takes them to school while seeking a job.

“The Department of Children and Families has been trying to help Joseph find a place to live ever since she left her boyfriend because they had a real toxic relationship,” Carrillo said in the nominating letter. “Her holiday wish is to be able to see her two boys enjoy a happy holiday with a roof over their heads and warm food in their tummies.”

Then there is the Jules family, which lives in Miami’s Upper East Side neighborhood east of Little Haiti. Dad, Barry Jules, is raising three children ages 12-7 and he could use some help securing clothes, shoes, hair care products and shoes and other household essentials.

Jules, 40, has PTSD after serving in the military. The children’s mother is in a facility under treatment for mental health concerns, according to Michelle Prescott of The Center for Family and Child Enrichment, who nominated the Jules family for Wish Book.

“Of all the stories the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald tell each year, the Wish Book stories are often the most poignant,” says Mena. “They are about our neighbors, they are about real people in the community who might be struggling. By sharing their story with our readers, we all connect to offer them a helping hand during the holidays.”

Previous years’ donations

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, donations of gifts and money have fluctuated. The 2020 campaign brought a record $496,000 in donations to the 173 nominations that year. The figure was an anomaly. Donors who might have spent money on travel and dining out gave some of that money to the Wish Book program.

In 2021, the total dipped to $384,000 for 174 nominees.

But in 2022, the value of donated goods and services rose again, to $425,000 for 189 nominated recipients.

During Give Miami Day’s 2023 campaign earlier this month, Wish Book raised more than $13,600. The funds “will be an important initial investment to support our mission to help the less fortunate in our community,” DiPietro said.

“During its long history, our Wish Book program has helped thousands of underprivileged people in our community,” Mena said. “This year, we suspect the need is deeper and greater and we hope our readers will embrace the reward of helping those less fortunate in the community — it’s what we do in South Florida. So let’s show our generosity through Wish Book.”

“With insurance and Medicaid limited funding for much needed medical equipment, we are hoping to raise the funds to help these families. Many of these are young children in need of items like special bath chairs and car seats, wheelchairs, and lifts. Several of our aging seniors and veterans are asking for recliners to help them enjoy their days; some need scooters to get around. The need this year that stands out compared to past years is the families that are looking for food and clothing and simple items like school supplies,” DiPietro said.

“Readers of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald have always stepped up at this time of year to assist their neighbors that are in dire straits. We fully expect that it will be the case again this year,” DiPietro said. “The generosity of our community continues to render support for our needy nominees. This outpouring of empathy for a neighbor is truly an inspiration and especially in this holiday season.”

How to help

To help the more than 180 other nominees who are in need this year:

▪ To donate, use the coupon found in the newspaper or pay securely online through www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook

▪ For more information, call 305-376-2906 or emailWishbook@MiamiHerald.com

▪ The most requested items are often laptops and tablets for school, furniture, and accessible vans

▪ Read all Wish Book stories on www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook