Through Faith And Cash Incentive, Church Leaders Aim To Build Affordable Housing In South Florida

HALLANDALE BEACH (CBSMiami)  As South Florida's affordable housing crisis has grown, cities,counties, and activists have been scrambling to find workable solutions.  Now a faith-based initiative has entered the mix to provide relief.

On Thursday, Enterprise Community partners explained to a roomful of church leaders that $1.3 million in grant money from Wells Fargo is available to help them get the process started

The goal is to use available church property to build new housing.  It's estimated there are over 1000 available church lots for use in Miami Dade, Broward and Monroe counties.

Pastor Carol Nash-Lester of the Bethel Apostolic Temple in Miami attended the meeting.

She would like to build affordable housing for seniors on the three acres of open space she has on her church property.

"Would I would like to see is housing for seniors 50 and up.  A condo with multiple wrap around services," she explained would meet the needs of her congregation.

Miami-Dade has already partnered with churches to renovate apartments in Overtown and build a mid-rise in Liberty City.

For information on the grant process go to enterprisecommunity.org

The grant process will be completed by the end of the year.