WMG Volume 6 • Issue 23 December 18, 2019
Wilton Manors Gazette Facebook.com/groups/WMGazette
community
LGBT Friendly Housing Complex Breaks Ground
Construction underway and moving fast By Denise Royal
The Residences at Equality Park is the 55 and older with a disabling condition first of its kind in Florida — an affordable who need on-site supportive services in housing project with supportive services order to maintain their housing. Fortythree units will be available to residents for LGBT seniors. The 48-unit development is slated earning 60% or less of Broward County’s for completion in 2020. The project Area Median Income (AMI) – which would has broken ground and construction is equate to a maximum annual income of about $35,400 per year for underway. a one-person household, Carrfour Supportive "Our work and about $40,400 per Housing, Florida’s largest year for a two-person nonprofit affordable will decrease household. housing developer is isolation, The remaining five units teaming up with The Pride promote aging will be available to those Center at Equality Park for in place and earning 33% or less of the the new development. The increase the AMI – which would equate Residences at Equality Park to a maximum annual are located at 2040 North overall quality Dixie Highway adjacent to of life for LGBTQ+ income of about $17,700 per year for a one-person the Pride Center. older adults in household, and about The Residences at South Florida." $20,200 per year for a twoEquality Park will provide person household. permanent affordable - Robert Boo Monthly rents will be housing and on-site CEO of The Pride Center based on income, ranging supportive services for from approximately $350 low-income senior adults living with disabling conditions – such to $1,029. Construction is expected to be as physical illnesses or disabilities due to complete in 2020. “There’s not a week that goes by when complications from diseases including HIV/AIDS – with a special focus on I don’t receive multiple phone calls from community members wanting to know members of the LGBT community. The units range in size from studios to when they can get on a wait list,” said two-bedroom apartments – 34 of which Robert Boo, CEO of The Pride Center, will be set aside as permanent supportive in a press release. “The Pride Center housing for low-income seniors ages started this journey seven years ago. The
Progress at the construction site in front of The Pride Center. Photo via The Pride Center, Facebook.
Residences at Equality Park is the culmination of a multi-year process of community assessment and strategic planning in which we’re responding to direct, communityrequested, prioritized need. We have the opportunity to help meet this great need. Our work will decrease isolation, promote aging in place and increase the overall quality of life for LGBTQ+ older adults in South Florida. We have many reasons to celebrate.” Nearly half of LGBT seniors in the U.S. live with a disabling condition, according to the Institute for Multigenerational Health. This is the reality The Pride Center faces every Tuesday morning when 200 seniors gather in their main hall for coffee and conversation. According to both SAGE USA and The Equal Rights Center, older LGBT adults in particular face a variety of unique challenges in securing
housing with higher rates of discrimination and bias and sometimes even hostile treatment from landlords as well as fellow tenants. Last year, more than 35,000 adult and youth attended activities at The Pride Center. The Center hosts more than 65 groups that meet regularly each month. Support, social and educational groups, programs and events focus on HIV, seniors, people with transgender experience, communities of color, recovery, women, young adults, men, health, the arts, athletics, spirituality, games and more. Outreach activities over the past year directly impacted over 250,000 residents and visitors to South Florida. Between one and two thousand people utilize the Equality Park campus daily. WMG
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Opinion
WMG So this is Christmas…
December 18, 2019 • Volume 6 • Issue 23 2520 N. Dixie Highway • Wilton Manors, FL 33305
By Sal Torre
Phone: 954-530-4970 Fax: 954-530-7943
Photo via Adobe.
Now don’t you go and get distracted for just one second, cause you might just miss Christmas as the year races by at a faster and faster pace. I haven’t even gotten rid of Halloween candy and Thanksgiving decorations yet and Christmas is just a week away. Holiday festivities are all around us here in the Island City. Breakfast with Santa, neighborhood holiday parties, concerts and so much more are keeping us all very busy the past few weeks. Hopefully one day in the near future we will see more holiday lights up and down Wilton Drive, transforming our main corridor into a holiday spectacular. Perhaps the Wilton Drive Improvement District and the Wilton Manors Business Association can come up with a strategy to make this dream of many residents more of a reality next holiday season. So, what have we done here in our Island City, another year over with a new one soon to begin? This past year has seen a lot of action throughout our Island city. Much still a work in progress. Hopefully we will begin to see some of the projects finalized and in place before we reach this time next year. Major zoning and Land Use changes for the Andrews Avenue/Oakland Park Blvd corridor, wayfinding signs throughout the city, streetscaping along Wilton Drive, public art installations, Colohatchee Park improvements, Westside drainage projects, and changes in our city’s code will all continue to make our city a better and better place for all of us. Here on the Westside of town, many are grateful for the city’s continued support for our community. The multi-million-dollar redevelopment of Mickel Park a few years back transformed a long unused park facility into a sparkling gem treasured not just by Westside residents but by our entire city! Over the last two to three years we have seen an equal commitment by our city to bring about necessary zoning changes along the vital corridor of Andrews Avenue and Oakland Park Blvd. Such changes do not happen overnight and might take a bit
Publisher • Norm Kent norm.kent@sfgn.com Chief Executive Officer • Pier Angelo Guidugli piero@sfgn.com Associate publisher / Executive Editor • Jason Parsley jason.parsley@sfgn.com Copyeditor • Kerri Covington
Editorial
Art Director • Brendon Lies artwork@sfgn.com News Editor • Sallie James
Correspondents
Sal Torre • James Oaksun
Staff Photographers
J.R. Davis • Carina Mask • Steven Shires
Sales & Marketing longer than most of us would like, however it is still a work in progress that one day soon will start to yield much needed improvements along this vital corridor. The city has also continued with approving the use of certain grant funding sources for much needed drainage projects throughout the Westside to the satisfaction of many residents living within and around such problem areas. Not everything is peachy keen. There are many problems that need to be dealt with. Certain properties consistently offer challenges for the surrounding community with issues such as property upkeep, cleanliness and usage. However, this is not unique to just the Westside of town. Empty storefronts plague Wilton Drive and other areas of our city. Trash bins left overflowing after busy weekend nights in front of popular nightspots. The boarded-up deteriorating church property on the Eastside of town along NE 26th Street as well underutilized shopping plazas in the area are daily nuisances to all driving by each day. Our city is only two square miles and we are all in this together. This does not mean we should just accept these problems, turning a blind eye as we drive past them every day. No, we must be vigilant and demand action, but we must do it together as concerned residents of our Island City. Pointing fingers, creating hatred and stoking fear seems to be the norm in the
Our city is only two square miles and we are all in this together.
world we live in today. Keeping such behavior from penetrating the borders of our island city might be just the greatest gift we can give ourselves this holiday season. There is nothing wrong in demanding attention or answers to your questions, but please do it respectfully of others around you, of hardworking city staff, and without pointing accusatory fingers at others. We can continue to create the most spectacular Island City together as a community that works together, not always in agreement but always respectful and understanding of one another and the process we call democracy. So, don’t hesitate to complain and report problems in our community such as code violations, suspected criminal activity, illegal door to door solicitors, and illegal rental properties. Join your neighborhood association, attend city meetings, contact your elected officials, call city management, and especially talk with your neighbors. At a time in world history that we are faced with global challenges such as climate change, concentration of wealth in the hands of just a few, global expansion of powerful corporations, and costly healthcare issues, we find ourselves living in a more fractured world of Brexit, trade wars, powerful oligarchs, and the demise of global cooperation, full of hate driven rhetoric and false news. We have our work cut out for us- but in the end, only by working together respectfully can we continue to make life just better here…… So…. A very Merry Christmas, And a happy New Year, Let’s Hope it’s a good one, without any fear….. Happy Holidays. WMG
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Sales Manager • Justin Wyse justin.wyse@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Edwin Neimann edwin.neimann@sfgn.com Advertising Sales Associate • Clark Rogers clark.rogers@sfgn.com Accounting Services by CG Bookkeeping South Florida Gay News is published weekly. The opinions expressed in columns, stories, and letters to the editor do not represent the opinions of SFGN, or the Publisher. You should not presume the sexual orientation of individuals based on their names or pictorial representations. Furthermore the word “gay” in SFGN should be interpreted to be inclusive of the entire LGBT community. All of the material/columns that appears in print and online, including articles used in conjunction with the AP, is protected under federal copyright and intellectual property laws, and is jealously guarded by the newspaper. Nothing published may be reprinted in whole or part without getting written consent from the Publisher, at his law office, at Norm@NormKent.com. SFGN, as a private corporation, reserves the right to enforce its own standards regarding the suitability of advertising copy, illustrations and photographs. MEMBER
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‘Tis the season... when Floridians improvise!
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Politics
Photos
New Presbyterian Church
FALL Festival
On November 16 in Wilton Manors, the New Presbyterian Church’s Fall Festival saw residents and guests from around Wilton Manors gather for food, games and even a hay ride!
Julie Carson Announces Bid for Re-Election Photo via Julie Carson, Facebook.
WMG Staff
By Carina Mask
Wilton Manors City Commissioner Julie Carson will run for re-election in 2020. In her announcement she promises in focus on diversifying the city’s economic base in and incentivizing the business community. One of Carson’s goals is to to bring a small hotel to the city. The re-election announcement notes Carson has never missed a regular city commission meeting during her tenure. WMG
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community
First Time Home Buyer Program Off to Slow Start By Denise Royal The city is offering first-time homebuyer for buyers to get into Wilton Manors. I assistance to those who qualify, but so far, the applaud the members of the Wilton Manors Commission for doing this. Most of these program has received few nibbles. “We have not had a lot of people programs have an income cap of 80 percent of applying,” said Suzanne Weiss, manager the area’s median income,” Weiss said. “They moved that up to 140 percent of the of the HomeOwnership & Repair Section of the Broward County Housing Finance & media income. It means funds are available for higher income people.” Community Redevelopment Weiss said the income Division. parameters were adjusted The city initially “This interest-free because the home values in earmarked $100,00 from its loan assistance Wilton Manors are so high. Affordable Housing Trust Under the revised income Fund for the initiative, is perfectly guidelines, a household of one but later upped that sum designed to person could earn a maximum to $161,000, according to a of $82,000 annually and report from Assistant City provide financial qualify; a household of two, Manager Pamela Landi. Of incentive so that $94,350; a household of that amount, $24,000 will be the dream of home three, $106,120; a household paid to Broward County to of four, $117,880; a household administer the program. ownership can of five, $127,400; a household The city estimates it become a reality.” of six, $136,780; a household can assist approximately of seven, $146,300; and a five eligible, first-time - Julie Carson household of eight, $155,680. homebuyers by providing a Commissioner Buying a home in Wilton maximum deferred payment Manors requires a lot of loan of $40,000 per eligible homebuyer. According to a city memo, eligible money. According to the Broward County costs include direct purchase assistance, Property Appraiser’s website, the average down payment, closing costs, mortgage price of a home in Wilton Manors is $432,604. principal reduction, interest rate buy down A brief review of recent home sales in the city showed homes selling anywhere from and housing rehabilitation. “I think it’s an extraordinary opportunity $297,000 to more than $800,000.
Photo via Adobe.
Commissioner Julie Carson said she’s happy the funds will be put to good use. “Over the years, I have advocated for implementing a program which utilizes the Affordable Housing Trust Funds in a way that benefits those who want to live in Wilton Manors. The Homebuyers Purchase Assistance Program is a meaningful way for a new homebuyer to purchase a principle residence in the Island City,” Carson said, “This interest-free loan assistance is perfectly designed to provide financial incentive so that the dream of home ownership can become a reality.” • Potential homeowners must qualify and obtain a first mortgage that meets County guidelines • Homeowner may not have owned a home in the previous three years
• Buyer most complete a homebuyer education class from a HUD-approved counseling agency • Property may be a single family home, townhome, villa, or condominium in Wilton Manors “We have not had a lot of people applying,” Weiss said. “We have had a number of applications that have come in and fallen through. For one reason or another the sellers are reluctant. The sale is contingent upon getting funds from the City of Wilton Manors. Sellers are reluctant when they can get a cash deal from someone else. “It is a great program but I think we just haven’t been able to pierce the market for people at a higher price point. Some people who are in middle management this would be the ideal for,” Weiss said. WMG
To find out if you qualify, contact Patrick Parker Graham at pgraham@broward.org.
Wilton Manors City Hall. Photo via the City of Wilton Manors, Facebook.
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community
Souls’ Epi copal Church
Jazz at the Center All Are Welcome! Hosts Jesse Jones SERVICES SUNDAY AT 8 A.M. & 10:30 A.M. Junior Quartet All
By Denise Royal
Souls’ Epi copal All
Church
4025 PINE TREE DRIVE, MIAMI BEACH 305-520-5410 Jesse Jones Jr. Photo courtesy of The Pride Center.
| ALLSOULSMB.ORG
CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOR, MCC 2011 S. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach, FL 33435
Christ Lutheran Church 1955 East Oakland Park Blvd. Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33306 www.christlutheranfl.org
Sunday Service @ 10am
Wherever You Are On God’s LGBTQIA Rainbow, You Are Welcome...
Fellowship after Service
SUNDAY SERVICE 10 A.M. Rev. Rick Rhen-Sosbe, Pastor
561-733-4000
www.ChurchOfOurSaviorMCC.org MCC, Transforming Ourselves as We Transform The World
“Love without judgement” Holy Angels National Catholic Church
With ticket prices for live entertainment getting higher each year, the opportunity to enjoy music performed by a local musical legend at a fair price is rare. You’ll have that chance next week. Saxophonist extraordinaire Jesse Jones Jr. will play his toe-tapping music at The Pride Center. Expect to hear your favorite jazz tunes during the December 21 performance of the Jesse Jones Jr. Quartet at the Pride Center. “I’m excited for this performance,” Jones said. “People can expect a great show of entertaining.” Jones is an international star and South Florida Jazz royalty. He’s traveled around the world and played with some of the biggest names in jazz including Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, and Joe Williams. He’s traveled all over the world—Germany, Italy, Israel— you name it and he’s been there. “I recently played in Russia,” he said. “14 cities in 20 days.” WMG
2917 NE 6th Ave Wilton Manors, FL 33334 Facebook.com/HolyAngelsFL www.HolyAngelsFL.org
Jones is an international star and South Florida Jazz royalty. He’s traveled around the world and played with some of the biggest names in jazz.
The Jesse Jones Jr. Quartet performs at the Pride Center on December 21 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. You can purchase them at Eventbrite.
954-633-2987
A home for your spirit. Mass Schedule: Sabado 6:00 PM misa en español • Sunday 11:00 AM mass in English • All are welcome!
Join us for Shabbat service Every Friday night at 8pm Saturday, December 14th
$15 Door includes 7 games Specials 3 cards for $1 Food available for purchase: Hot dogs, drinks, chips Doors open 6:30pm/Play starts 7pm Cash only please
Learn more about our many programs & events www.EtzChaimFlorida.org
Congregation Etz Chaim
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2038 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors, FL 33305, on the Pride Center campus For more information: www.EtzChaimFlorida.org or 954Ͳ564Ͳ9232
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