Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust Addresses Heat Season with New Protective Measures Against Excessive Heat Events

Miami, FL – May 15, 2024 – The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust is addressing the extreme heat season with new protective measures to help people experiencing homelessness manage excessive heat events. In partnership with Miami-Dade County’s Office of Resilience and Miami-Dade’s Department of Emergency Management, the following activities are in place:

• Homeless outreach teams are wearing Red Heat Alert T-shirts as a visual cue to unsheltered persons that temperatures have reached dangerous levels.
• Continuum of Care providers are trained by Miami-Dade County to recognize the signs of heat-related illnesses and access emergency services if clients exhibit symptoms of heat-related illnesses.
• Outreach teams are engaging with people experiencing homelessness with extreme heat supplies in hand and seeking to meet their immediate heat-related needs. Supplies include water, gaiters, cooling towels, ice packs and other relief supplies.
• Vulnerable individuals are being directed to cooling center locations like libraries, community centers and parks. Homeless Trust-contracted providers Camillus House and Miami Rescue Mission will also extend hours at their day center and indoor feeding locations, respectively, to provide additional cooling center locations.

“We saw the heat’s impact last summer and we know unsheltered individuals are particularly vulnerable to the elements,” said Ron Book, Chair, Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. “With the help of our partners and generous donors, combined with new policies and procedures, the unhoused have options to stay cool and ride out these events in the safest way possible. We are determined to make sure our efforts save lives.”

Around the country, heat contributes to some 1,500 deaths annually and advocates estimate about half of those people are homeless. Further, it has been suggested that people experiencing homelessness are 200 times more likely to die from heat-related causes than sheltered individuals.

While more than 8,000 people are housed in the Trust’s Continuum of Care, the 1,030 unsheltered/unhoused remain the focus of the Trust’s coordinated response.

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