For transparency, Members must post Community Project Funding requests, federal nexus documents, and a certification of no financial interest on their house.gov websites at the end of the technical assistance period. The information included:
• The proposed recipient
• The address of the recipient
• The amount of the request
• A short explanation of the request
• Federal Nexus and financial disclosure statement
Projects Requested
The projects Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson has submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations on behalf of her community are listed below.
(The projects are listed in alphabetical order by project name)
Project Name: Aviation Workforce Innovation Center
Proposed Recipient: The Carrie Meek Foundation, Inc
Address of Recipient: 4000 NW 142nd St Opa-Locka, FL 33054
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Project explanation: In collaboration with Experience Aviation, the Carrie Meek Foundation is seeking $4 million in funding for the acquisition and build-out of a Workforce Innovation Center (WIC) for Opa-locka, Liberty City, Miami Gardens, and Hialeah residents who are low-income and those experiencing unemployment or underemployment. The primary purpose of the building is to host technicians across STEM fields and address the shortage of STEM professionals by providing industry-specific workforce skills training, apprenticeships, and job placement opportunities. The funding will be utilized to build a facility accommodating small airplanes, heavy machinery, and training equipment. The facility shall have labs for sheet metal, 3D printing, CNC machining, advanced manufacturing, electrical systems, precision measuring, green technologies, composite materials, and other technical skills. Located near the Miami-Opa-Locka Executive Airport industrial complex, the WIC will connect the local community with a surging economic development location to meet the workforce demands of now and the future.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: Broad Causeway Bridge Replacement
Proposed Recipient: Town of Bay Harbor Islands, FL
Address of Recipient: 9665 Bay Harbor Terrace Bay Harbor Islands, FL 33154
Amount Requested: $12,000,000
Project explanation: This project serves Florida by connecting our thriving barrier island communities to the rest of the city, boosting their economic productivity, and providing a safe evacuation route for my constituents in an emergency. The Broad Causeway Bridge serves many critical functions, and the region has outgrown its 71-year-old features. Additionally, the maintenance cost for the aging bridge is growing, and finding replacement parts is becoming more challenging. The span is a major storm evacuation route with sub-USCG standard clearance over Biscayne Bay. With openings twice an hour to allow ICW boat traffic to pass, increasing vehicle traffic on the span leads to increased delays and unnecessary air pollution.
Conversely, the same is occurring in the waterway. The span also lacks consistent and clear bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure, leading to a high rate of bike-vehicle injury accidents. Although sidewalks do not continue throughout the entire span, existing sidewalks are too narrow for wheelchairs and even some strollers, forcing pedestrians into the travel lanes and medians. There also needs to be more ramps and crosswalks. In short, the existing Broad Causeway bridge fails to meet human needs, contributes negatively to the environment, and has become cost-prohibitive. For these reasons, this Town began the process of replacing the bridge.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: Community-wide Biscayne Bay Restoration, Conservation and Education Program
Proposed Recipient: Florida International University
Address of Recipient: 11200 SW 8 Street Miami, FL 33199
Amount Requested: $7,000,000
Project explanation: The project will address the protection, restoration, and responsible development of South Florida's coastal communities and resources. Successful coastal resilience strategies will need to address freshwater and estuarine water quality, flooding, storm surge, water infrastructure and management, and the role of local industries in supporting the blue economy. We will develop innovative adaptation strategies through cutting-edge research projects and community engagement activities to balance competing demands on the coastal area from residential, recreational, commercial, and industrial uses.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: Florida Memorial University Cyber Innovation Hub
Proposed Recipient: Florida Memorial University
Address of Recipient: 15800 NW 42nd Avenue, Miami Gardens, FL 33054
Amount Requested: $2,000,000
Project explanation: Florida Memorial University’s (FMU) cybersecurity program educates students with the technical proficiency and analytical problem-solving techniques that protect critical organizational systems and infrastructure. Information is the biggest commodity in business today, and corporations must defend it at all costs. It creates an ‘innovation ecosystem’ that builds on perspectives on ‘agglomeration’ and its role in economic geography. FMU’s cybersecurity innovation hub will allow students and faculty opportunities to analyze economic ‚ ‘clusters’ geographical interconnectivity among businesses, suppliers, and associated institutions. The program seeks to develop standards education modules centered on case studies involving quality systems, software development, and cybersecurity for medical devices. The content will include lesson plans, tutorials, case studies, videos, homework assignments, and exercises that can be integrated into introductory engineering courses, senior design capstone courses, and the cyber curriculum.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: Little Haiti Youth Center at Athalie Range Park
Proposed Recipient: City of Miami, Parks & Recreation Department
Address of Recipient: 444 SW 2nd Ave 8th Floor Miami, FL 33150
Amount Requested: $4,863,404.15
Project explanation: The Athalie Range Park New Recreation Building has been conceptually designed to provide local youth and residents a safe space to gather and thrive, with state-of-the-art facilities. The building will be approx. 12,000 sq ft will be ADA compliant and include a large recreational multipurpose room of approx. 3,000 sq ft, computer lab, laptop charging stations, three homework rooms, arts and crafts room, indoor fitness area with exercise equipment and lockers, a warming kitchen, restrooms, and various storage areas. The exterior of the building will include a sizeable exterior plaza with concrete seating space and shade structures for outdoor activities. The many innovative features of the new recreation building will be sure to provide a space for children and families to enrich their lives and stabilize their social development.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: Miami Dade College: Workforce Training Facilities Improvements at the Carrie Meek Entrepreneurial Education Center
Proposed Recipient: Miami Dade College
Address of Recipient: 6300 NW 7th Avenue Miami, FL 33150
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project explanation: The request is for construction funding to support renovating an existing facility to expand and enhance the college’s workforce training services in our community. The funds from this appropriation will be used to replace and upgrade the roofing system, upgrade plumbing, reconfigure walls, install new floors and new energy-efficient systems, lighting, install hurricane-rated windows, reinforce exterior concert as needed, and replace doors as necessary to extend the useful life of this older building.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: Miami Gardens Multipurpose Center
Proposed Recipient: City of Miami Gardens
Address of Recipient: 18605 NW 27th Avenue, Miami Gardens, FL 33056
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Project explanation: This project will construct a Multipurpose Center, with a youth focus, in the City of Miami Gardens. This facility will provide local youth with a space to thrive, with state-of-the-art facilities. This center will provide a space for these children to enrich their lives and stabilize their social development.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: Miramar Youth Center
Proposed Recipient: City of Miramar
Address of Recipient: 2300 Civic Center Place Miramar, FL 33025
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project explanation: This project will construct a youth center in Miramar. This facility will provide local youth with a space to thrive, with state-of-the-art facilities. This center will provide a space for these children to enrich their lives and stabilize their social development.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: NoMi Senior Center
Proposed Recipient: City of North Miami
Address of Recipient: 776 NE 125 Street, North Miami, FL 33167
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Project explanation: The City of North Miami will provide a senior center to engage seniors in the community and promote healthy aging. This center will include an easily accessible kitchen and community gathering spaces to benefit the senior residents of North Miami. This project will help the City of North Miami’s considerable aging population.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: North Beach Living Shoreline Neighborhood Resilience Project
Proposed Recipient: City of Miami Beach
Address of Recipient: 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Amount Requested: $10,410,000
Project explanation: The proposed project will construct living shorelines and rehabilitate seawalls at three locations within the North Beach neighborhood, covering 3,402 feet of shoreline. The result will increase the resiliency of the currently disadvantaged and vulnerable North Beach neighborhood by improving its coastal barriers and mitigating localized flooding and upland damage. The City of Miami Beach requests $10,410,000 for the North Beach Living Shoreline Neighborhood Resilience Project, which will construct three sections of living shorelines together with adjacent seawall restorations and enhancements, to adapt the disadvantaged and vulnerable community of North Beach to sea level rise. The City has $1,154,500 in local matching cash funds available. The anticipated timeline of the project will span from the second quarter of 2025 to the third quarter of 2026. The request is for construction activities, including construction, construction administration services, and construction monitoring.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: North Corridor: Reconnecting Communities - Station Area Master Analysis
Proposed Recipient: Miami-Dade County - Transportation & Public Works
Address of Recipient: 701 NW 1st Court, Suite 1700, Miami, FL 33136
Amount Requested: $1,350,000
Project explanation: The stations were chosen not only for the role each plays in the Overtown population displacement saga resulting from the I-95 highway construction but also due to each station‚Äôs unique location and potential to be catalysts for community interaction while serving other public purposes. According to the EPA EJSCREEN (a DOT grant tool), NW 62 Street ranks in the 95-100 percentile for low-income, while NW 215 Street ranks in the 80-90 percentile. However, both stations are in the 95-100 percentile for people of color. The EPA EJSCREEN Tool identifies the census tracts within the Unity Station’s half-mile buffer as food deserts, requiring residents to travel for healthy food. Additionally, the tool determines the two station areas as having the highest concentrations of residents of color below the poverty level in the County.
In contrast, the FHWAs Project Equity Analysis (STEAP) tool identified that 83% of the population within a half mile of the North Corridor spends more than 25% of their income on rent, with 34% of the households along the corridor not having access to the internet. While the MLK Metrorail Station and Unity Station are similar in specific demographics, the proposed Unity Station site ranks in the 80-90 percentile for low-income, while the MLK Station site ranks in the 95-100 percentile for low-income as an indicator. The ability to conduct Station Area Planning is the beginning of implementing equitable opportunities for the communities along this corridor. Hence, the planning effort aims to provide connections and access to healthy food, medical and educational resources, and major employment centers, allowing residents to provide for their families and reducing some of the disparities caused by intentional displacement.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: Parkway Community Hub
Proposed Recipient: Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Address of Recipient: 1450 NE 2nd Ave Miami, FL 33132
Amount Requested: $3,500,000
Project explanation: Renovating and Transforming the Parkway Educational Complex, a vacant middle school, into a vibrant neighborhood and community hub. Built-in 1960, the Parkway Educational Complex would be renovated and retrofitted to extend its useful life as a bustling neighborhood complex. Funds from this appropriations request will be used to replace or upgrade the roofing system, upgrade plumbing, reconfigure walls, install new floors and new energy-efficient systems, lighting, install recent hurricane-rated windows, and reinforce exterior concrete as needed, and replace doors as necessary to turn this old school into a modern community hub.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: Peace & Prosperity: Youth Development and Empowerment
Proposed Recipient: Miami-Dade County
Address of Recipient: 111 NW 1st Street Miami, FL 33128
Amount Requested: $2,625,000
Project explanation: Funds for the Miami-Dade County Peace & Prosperity: Youth Development and Empowerment aims to expand after-school and summer paid internship opportunities and increase post-secondary educational and vocational scholarships for at-risk and justice-involved youth. This project will implement paid internships, character/leadership activities, and experiential learning opportunities; remove barriers to education by expanding post-secondary scholarships to pay for books, tuition, transportation, and other items for youth to attend accredited colleges and vocational programs; and provide best-practice interventions, such as mental wellness and family support services, to justice-involved and at-risk youth. In partnership with Miami-Dade County Parks Recreation and Open Spaces, funds will be used to expand youth-paid after-school and summer internship opportunities (serve 350 additional at-risk and justice-involved youth), and in coordination with the Miami-Dade County Office of Neighborhood Safety, double the number of scholarships for college and vocational training-eligible youth/young adults (150 $2,500 scholarships). Additionally, this project will fund activities for up to 40 students, law enforcement personnel, and five chaperones to travel to Washington, D.C., to support youth and policies activities. Finally, this project support program evaluation with a university partner. This program brings together coordinated expertise from the County’s parks, police, social services, and juvenile justice departments to provide paid internships and comprehensive wraparound services to at-risk youth and members in their households via the PROS Fit2Lead Program.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: The Youth Project: A Miami-Dade County Coalition for Youth Centers
Proposed Recipient: Omega Activity Center Foundation
Address of Recipient: 15600 NW 42nd Ave Opa-Locka, FL 33054
Amount Requested: $6,000,000
Project explanation: This project brings together a coalition of organizations, led by Omega Activity Center Foundation, in Miami-Dade County to aid in the renovation and construction of several micro-one-story existing multi-use commercial buildings to conduct youth mentoring and recreational activities. Many facilities were built in the early 1990s and have yet to undergo upgrades. Renovations are required to ensure the facilities meet state and local use and occupancy guidelines and provide youth with a space to thrive. The design of the floor plans for each of these facilities will be multi-purpose, allowing for easy space conversion to include classrooms, offices, a computer lab, a resource/reading room, a physical fitness area, a storage room, and a warming kitchen.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Project Name: West Coconut Grove Multipurpose Community Center
Proposed Recipient: Thelma Gibson Health Initiative
Address of Recipient: 3640 Grand Avenue, Miami, FL 33133
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project explanation: The West Coconut Grove Multipurpose Community Center will furnish ample space for fostering workforce innovation, entrepreneurship, and small business development. This center’s presence is integral to granting economic opportunities to the residents of West Coconut Grove. In building the West Coconut Grove Multipurpose Community Center, we seek to address community residents' financial hardships. We expect this space to support the overarching mission of creating Miami's future entrepreneurs and small business owners. The West Coconut Grove Multipurpose Community Center will improve our residents’ quality of life and revitalize economic opportunities within the community. In constructing the West Coconut Grove Multipurpose Community Center, we have considered the following components: 1. Land Purchase 2. Design and Construction 3. ADA Compliance 4. Construction Info Our agency has experience in all building process steps, from needs assessments to concept, design, development, and construction.
Federal Nexus and Financial Disclosure Letter:
Link to the letter
Congresswoman
Frederica S. Wilson
Proudly Representing FL-24