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Camillus House News
Emmaus Place to provide a safety net for former foster children
by Janet Rice
Rendering of West elevation.
Camillus House has begun to renovate a home for seven young men ages 18 to 23 who have “aged out” of the state foster care system but who have not yet developed the skills they will need to live on their own.
Emmaus Place, as the facility will be called, is an eight-unit 1930s era apartment building located in the Lummus Park historic district of downtown Miami. It will be restored into a seven-apartment facility with a common area. The name Emmaus is described in the New Testament as a village near Jerusalem where Jesus appeared after His resurrection.
To qualify for a space in Emmaus Place, the young men who live there must be enrolled in school. They will receive some funding from the state of Florida, a portion of which they pay to Camillus House for rent. Camillus will provide not just housing but also health care through the Camillus Health Concern medical clinic.
Rendering of East elevation. Other services will be coordinated by Our Kids, a non-profit agency created in response to the need for local control and leadership of Miami’s child welfare system. Our Kids subcontracts with local agencies to provide direct services to at-risk youth such as those who live at Emmaus Place.
Biscayne Housing Group (BHG) is developing the facility on a pro-bono basis. BHG is a Miami-based housing development company founded in 2004 that builds affordable residences for families, the elderly, children aging out of foster care and the formerly homeless. BHG’s goal is to strengthen communities through its development practices. BHG is also working with Carlisle Development Group to develop Labre Place, a planned 90-unit high-rise residential building for 50 formerly homeless Camillus clients and 40 federally qualified low-income residents, to be located at 350 Northwest Fourth Street in Overtown.
Rendering of North elevation. The construction of Emmaus Place is funded by a special demonstration loan through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, as well as a Miami-Dade County Surtax grant.
For this program, Camillus House will be looking at helping young adults who are being turned out on their own before they are ready. These are kids who have had difficult lives and as a result are dealing with a lot of issues. For a number of reason, they aren’t prepared to be on their own. They are young men who run the risk of becoming chronically homeless – a condition Camillus House is working to end in Miami within a decade.
Emmaus Place isn’t a magic wand that will wave away the years of trauma these kids have been through, but it will help Camillus House ensure that these young men can finish school and be prepared to survive and thrive in the real world.
Rendering of South elevation.
