During pandemic, homeless camps near proposed $2M pedestrian bridge have grown

Joggers out for fresh air along Miami Springs’ lush bike path may catch a whiff of excrement as they approach the Florida East Coast Railway tracks off Ludlam Road.

Since the start of the pandemic, homeless camps have grown near the site of a proposed $2 million pedestrian bridge that would connect Miami Springs with the Metrorail station, located at 2005 W. Okeechobee Rd.

Under the FEC bridge, which links Miami Springs and Hialeah, indigent people have erected makeshift tents. The area lies about a block from Miami Springs’ affluent Bird Section and is littered with shopping carts, bicycles, mattresses and buckets of human waste.

The tents are along canals managed by the South Florida Water Management District, whose mission is “managing and protecting the water resources.” The Miami River draws water from the Everglades and runs through portions of Miami by way of canals.

“We are not law enforcement,” said Randy Smith, an SFWD spokesperson. “When we receive complaints, we notify our partners at the sheriff’s department.”

The makeshift shelters border the river cities of Miami Springs, Medley, and Hialeah, as well as parts of unincorporated Miami-Dade County. They also abut FEC property, and railroads enjoy the right-of-way through the public lands, according to the General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875.

“All trespassers located on railroad property are generally provided a trespass warning when first encountered, as opposed to an arrest, and the encounter is utilized as a ‘teaching moment’ to educate them about the hazards of traversing railroad property,” said FEC Police Chief John Young. “When appropriate, we inform them of the various social services provided in the area, food, shelter, counseling, etc.”

Young added that such actions are necessary to keep homeless persons from “being injured by engaging in risky criminal behavior.”

Three bodies of homeless persons have been found in area canals since 2019.

Two weeks ago, police issued a media alert after a man was pistol-whipped and robbed at noon while walking along the Ludlam Drive bike path that parallels the canal. Three suspects remain at large, police said.

Rising homeless population in Miami Springs

Miami Springs ― a bedroom community with a population of 14,000, just west of Miami International Airport ― has seen its homeless population rise since the pandemic began.

Last fall, the city housed 89 homeless persons in an emergency shelter program at one hotel due to the pandemic, up from zero the prior year. As of March 8, there are also 21 unsheltered homeless people in Miami Springs and Virginia Gardens, according to the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. (The Trust tracts Miami Springs and Virginia Gardens together.) Unsheltered homeless persons include those residing in cars or on the street.

“Five homeless people in our city is too many,” Miami Springs Mayor Billy Bain said last fall at council meeting. “Legally, we have to figure out a way that this can’t happen again.”

Hialeah, Hialeah Gardens, Doral, Medley

Neighboring cities have managed to keep their homeless populations in check. For example, Hialeah, population 233,339, has only nine unsheltered homeless persons, the Homeless Trust said. Hialeah Gardens, Doral and Medley have a total of 27 unsheltered homeless persons.

The industrial town of Medley, population 1,000, just west of Miami Springs, had two homeless persons, but police eventually went an extra 900 miles to reunite one man living in squalor with his family in Nashville, officials said.

“He didn’t talk to me for about six months,” said Medley Police Chief Said-Jinette. “But we brought him coffee and food anyway.”

The unkempt man, dressed in Army fatigues and later diagnosed with schizophrenia, stood out, police said, because he never held a sign, panhandled, or expressed any emotions.

Said-Jinette credited her officers, notably Danny Cisar, colleagues at other police agencies, the county’s crisis intervention team, and court officials, including county Judge Steven Leifman, who oversees the court’s Criminal Mental Health Project.

Nearly 10 percent of Miami-Dade County’s adult population suffers from serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the highest such percentage of any urban area in the nation, according to the project. Symptoms experienced by many homeless include social isolation, thought disturbances, and poor hygiene.

Inspired by Philip Kocisko’s Starfish poem, Said-Jinette says her crew has a duty to help those in need.

“Sometimes, we are all like starfish who just need a little push to get back out to sea,” Said-Jinnette said. “We can all make a difference by helping one at a time.”

If you or someone you know needs shelter, call the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust’s homeless helpline at (305) 375-2273.