Homeless Awareness Day 2021 set the stage to express thanks to hundreds of homeless outreach workers and shelter employees who tirelessly worked through the pandemic to keep individuals experiencing homelessness healthy and safe.
HAD is the largest single-day community event of its kind in the nation. Held in Miami-Dade County every November, it unifies schools, faith-based communities, thought leaders, government entities, and non-profits in a full day of programming to raise awareness and build compassion for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
The M Network has been advocating for The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust since 2009 as the agency of record, working tirelessly to raise awareness for homelessness in our community on Homeless Awareness Day, The M Network made it its mission to continue encouraging our community to make their voices heard on homelessness. During HAD, we increased visibility to The Homeless Trust social by 298%, reaching 11,219 impressions.
On November 4th, our day started with a surprise thank you breakfast at Hard Rock Café Bayside for over 100 Miami Dade County Homeless Trust Outreach Teams and Green Shirts.
Gratitude Brigades rolled from North Miami to Homestead, visiting with Homeless Trust partners and providers from Mia Casa to The Salvation Army and Miami Rescue Mission to Camillus House, and Chapman Partnership North, and South, to Lotus House. Trust teams visited the shelters with cafecito from La Cafetera, live music from Mariachi Sol De Oro, and cookies from Cindy Lou’s in tow to celebrate the unfailing service of these local heroes.
Our nine pop-up events set the stage for the Homeless Trust’s Chairman Ron Book and Executive Director Vicki Mallette to meet one-on-one with more than 400 employees for a moment of personal thanks and reflection.
The Trust partnered with Project UP-START and Miami- Dade County Public Schools for a St. Thomas University High School Homeless Education event. We welcomed 18 schools and nearly 500 students from across the community for an inspirational and educational pep rally, intending to give students ways to participate in educational class discussions and even get hands-on experience collecting much-needed items for the unhoused.
From food drives to sock drives, South Florida students studying at Rockway Middle School, Hialeah Miami Lakes Senior High School, Lawton Chiles Middle School, Michael M. Krop Senior High, American Senior High School, and Joella C. Good Elementary collected over 1,500 socks and cans!