Faith-based affordable housing. How religious groups are helping ease Miami’s housing crisis

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The past two years have been rough for Christopher Saunders.

Saunders, originally from Ohio, moved to North Miami Beach in 2023 seeking a warmer climate to relieve his arthritis. Things were going fine, until costly car and rental bills forced him into chapter 13 bankruptcy. Around the same time, the rent on the 43-year-old’s less-than-luxury condo was about to get even more expensive — jumping from $1,900 per month to nearly $2,300.

“As soon as you get a little bit of money, they raise the rent,” Saunders said, adding that the attitude of condo owners and landlords is generally “deal with it, or move out.”

On a tip from a co-worker, Sanders applied to live at Wenski Groves, an affordable housing complex founded by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami and named after Miami’s top Catholic leader, Archbishop Thomas Wenski. Saunders was the first resident when it opened last year.

The complex of 30 units — 24 studio apartments and 6 one-bedrooms — is designed for people, like Saunders, who work full-time jobs and earn less than $79,400 a year ($90,800 for a two person household) and are still struggling to make ends meet. That range covers a huge percentage of people working in Miami-Dade, who often struggle to find affordable housing.

Located at 2130 NW 37th Street in Miami, Wenski Groves is the second affordable housing project sponsored by Catholic Charities in recent years with the intent to help ease an affordable housing crisis that extends across much of South Florida. Earlier this year, Wenski blessed the apartments at St. Bede’s Village in Key West, a complex of 10 affordable apartments for people with disabilities. Those aren’t the only faith-based housing projects. A group of churches is planning to build micro condos in West Coconut Grove, a community under intense gentrification pressure.

‘Tremendous challenge for Miami’

Wenski Groves took nearly eight years of planning, according to Peter Routsis-Arroyo, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami.

“It’s a tremendous challenge for Miami,” he said. “How are we going to maintain our working class here given that people are paying upwards of $3,000 a month for a one bedroom?“

The apartments were built in part with the help of entrepreneur Phillip Sylvester, who was interested in buying a family homeless shelter owned by Catholic Charities a few blocks East of Wenski Groves, according to Routsis-Arroyo. Sylvester owned the lot that Wenski Groves sits now and constructed the 30 units in a deal with Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities purchased the Allapattah lots for $3,800,000 in 2023 according to Miami-Dade property records.

The skyrocketing rent prices in Miami is something Catholic Charities has been keeping their eye on for the last decade, Routsis-Arroyo said.

“Catholic Charities and the Catholic Church, for over 100 years now we’ve been a part of the community,” Routsis-Arroyo said. “As we see needs that arise, we’re flexible enough to try and make those changes that are needed.”

The apartment rents are based on the income of the renters — small families with up to three people are allowed — with rents ranging from $993 to $2129 a month, based on a formula from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Catholic Church is often known for helping the poor but Wenski Groves is aimed at people who have good steady jobs but are squeezed by South Florida’s staggeringly high rents and housing costs. That’s a big group.

More than three-quarters of South Floridians (76 percent) report difficulty paying for usual household expenses, according to reporting from the Miami Herald. Nearly a third of renters in the Miami area are severely cost-burdened, meaning they spend at least half of their monthly income on housing, making Miami one of the most rent-burdened cities in the country.

“The housing crisis is real,” said Anthony Pinto, senior director of community based services at Catholic Charities,. “Is this for the poorest of the poor? No. But rents are so out of control everywhere, that if you’re making $50,000, $40,000 a year, what’s the answer? That’s why we’re here to fill those gaps.”

Wenski Groves still has around a dozen units available for renters who fit in a category that some 4 million Florida households fall into. They’re people that have a steady income, but typically earn too much to qualify for state benefits like food or childcare assistance — and they’re living paycheck to paycheck.

While the location is central to many, Pinto notes that there isn’t much foot traffic and many drive by without ever noticing the complex is there. The staff behind Wenski Groves said they are working with real estate groups and nonprofits to help get the word out.

Other religious groups also are heeding the call for more affordable housing in Miami.

A new affordable housing project in the West Coconut Grove, Grand Bahamas Place, is backed by Collective Empowerment Group, a faith-based nonprofit representing more than 40 churches, and Believers of Authority Ministries, a local church with ties to the Little Bahamas community. The joint venture, which also includes Prospera Real Estate Collective, was approved to receive $4.2 million in funding from the the city of Miami earlier this year, according to WLRN.

The 56-micro condominium project is designed for families earning 80 percent or less of Miami-Dade County’s area median income, which, as of April 2024, was $79,400. But, this project goes beyond rental affordability.

Part of the project’s funding will help low-income buyers with down payment assistance, providing families living in the historically Black neighborhood of West Grove with home ownership opportunities.

‘Everybody’s getting affected.’

In recent years Zully Mar Vidal, another resident of Wenski Groves, went through all-too-common financial squeeze Before the COVID pandemic, she was paying around $1,700 for her apartment in Doral, where she lived with her daughter at the time. As rents climbed to nearly $2,400, Vidal’s salary stayed the same and she was forced to look elsewhere for housing.

A devout Catholic and single mother, Vidal was facing severe financial hardship, and the stress of looking for a more affordable place to live in the Miami area was causing panic attacks.

“I needed to breathe because I felt like I was drowning,” she said.

A member and employee of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Vidal was one of the early residents at Wenski Groves, and has lived in her one bedroom apartment for about a year. She said she feels more stable and happy that she’s able to depend more on herself without outside help.

“When we were applying for Wenski Grove, we were looking for stability. Something that we could afford, but continue living in Miami,” she said. “I feel that in Miami now, if you’re not making $6,000 plus, you are living check to check.”

She enjoys her neighbors, who she says reflect Miami’s diverse culture. The move, she said, has made more empathetic to the situations of others who are going through the same struggle.

“There’s a lot of people who go quiet when they go through hardship, which was happening to me until I finally said ‘No, I have to do something. I have to say something, because this is getting bad in Miami,” Vidal said. “Everybody’s getting affected.”

Both Vidal and Saunders appreciate rents they consider realistic for everyday workers.

Saunders, a store manager at Rent-A-Wheel in Cutler Bay, said he pays around $1,300 for his studio apartment in Wenski Groves. The lower rent has been somewhat of a relief for him financially, still he said, he hasn’t completely exhaled.

“The money I make now, back then was a lot. Now the money I make yearly is .. ‘oh, you just barely making it. It’s crazy.”

Saunders points out that living in a complex operated by the Catholic Charities doesn’t mean there are requirements about religion or beliefs. Saunders, who is gay, said he was a little concerned when he found out he would be living in a community complex essentially owned by the Catholic Church. But, his worries were ameliorated after he met his landlord, “Miss Jackie.”

“I’m super gay,” he said. “And I met Miss Jackie, she didn’t blink when she saw me, didn’t do anything, didn’t say, ‘Oh, we’re not going to have that out here. Some people … are strict in culture, but I haven’t had a problem out here.”

Saunders said he enjoys the quiet atmosphere of the gated complex, which includes a courtyard, pleasant greenery and a shared laundry area. Though it’s near I-95, Saunders said it’s often quiet and neighbors are respectful of one another.

“I’m glad the Archdiocese turned the light bulb on and say, ‘hey, let’s show people we can have affordable housing.”

Wenski Groves accepts rental applications which can be submitted to Wenskigroves@ccadm.org.

This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.