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–Located right in the middle of a neighborhood, The Open Awareness Buddhist Center has been open and aware for about 15 years.
-Run by Lama Karma Chotso, the center is located in a house in El Portal.
-For dozens of members, it is a place of real refuge.
-It is located right on the banks of The Little River.
-The center started in 1996, when it was located in a Hollywood bungalow.
-A patron gave the group money to purchase the property from a fellow member in 2003.
-According to Lama Chotso, there was some controversy at the time about having a Buddhist Songha in the middle of a residential street- but she was able to win over the neighbors.
-The center offers yoga sessions as well as other Buddhist related activities- including Sunday services.
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This Miami Beach Synagogue Is About To Make History
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These Miami-Area Trailer Park Residents Are Being Kicked Out With Nowhere To Go
Nearly 350 residents face eviction from the Little Farm Mobile Home trailer park in El Portal, FL and many of them don’t know where to go.
The trailer park was sold for $14 million to Wealthy Delight, a Coral Gables-based company, potentially leaving residents homeless.
“I am very angry. I bought this place to live and now I don’t know where I’m going. I have kids that go to school and I don’t work because I am sick, only my husband works,” Sophia Alexandre, who’s lived in the trailer park for over four years said. “I don’t know what is going to happen to us.”
The new owners gave residents until February of 2016 to move out and offered $2,000 for compensation, when the initial notice of eviction came earlier this year.
El Portal is a small community located about 15 minutes north of downtown Miami.
Now, a group of residents are fighting for their homes and have sued the property’s current and former owners, holding demonstrations and storming Village Council meetings.
The lawsuit alleges that the village of El Portal unlawfully forgave more than $8 million in liens, in exchange for assurances that the new owner would close down the mobile home park.
“Mobile homes are the last form of nonsubsidized affordable housing in Miami Dade County,” Kian White, an attorney who represented the individuals in court told RISE NEWS. “That money they offered doesn’t even get you a first month, last month security.”
The case was dismissed before going to trial but after White’s appeal, the case was put on an expedited track and will be heard on January 6.
“While everyone else gets ahead, these people lose everything,” Frederick said. “It all comes down to the settlement.”
In Florida, according to White, there’s a state law that deals with mobile home parks, which prohibits government action to close or relocate residents of a park without alternative housing.
“The park’s owner has a right to sell the land but they’ve got to do it right,” White said. “The village just didn’t do that.”
In a Miami Herald article, Alejandro E. Jordan, general counsel and real estate advisor to Wealthy Delight, refused to comment on the matter.
“As a matter of firm’s policy, unfortunately we cannot comment on ongoing litigation,” he told the Herald.
A construction crew works on taking down a mobile home in the Little Farm Trailer park in El Portal, FL. Photo Credit: Nicole Montero/ RISE NEWS
Kian Frederick, an organizer working with South Florida Voices for Working Families, a nonprofit social justice organization, said that everyone is making money out of this deal, except for the residents.
“While everyone else gets ahead, these people lose everything,” Frederick said. “It all comes down to the settlement.”
But the settlement doesn’t say anything about the welfare of the residents.
“The village of El Portal just throws them out, doesn’t care and claim they do and we can’t do anything,” Frederick said. “They can do something. They can do zoning. They can zone this place for affordable housing and they can help us negotiate with the owners to get these folks their money.”
Astrude Auguste a 17 year old resident of the Little Farm, said the letter telling them to move came out of nowhere and that her family was not expecting it.
“It’s not like we have money to go somewhere else,” she said. “What are we supposed to do? Where are we supposed to go? The problem is not moving. The problem is how we’re going to move. With what? Where’s our money?”
Auguste said that she understands having to move, but she won’t like moving in the middle of the school year.
“I won’t like it, but I guess that’s just what we’re going to have to do,” Auguste said. “I’m really just worried about where we’re going to go. The fact is that we have nowhere to go if they kick us out. We’re losing everything here.”
Life goes on as much as it possibly can in the soon to be leveled Little Farm Trailer park in El Portal, FL. Photo Credit: Nicole Montero/ RISE NEWS
Some people are not allowed to come back to their homes to get their stuff once they’re kicked out, said Auguste.
“So we lose all out stuff and we get kicked out,” Auguste said. “We’re children and families. If it’s just you, you could’ve said ‘OK I’ll stay at a friend’s house for awhile’ but my father has two children living with him. There’s nowhere else to go. Now we’re just waiting.”
Sauveur Blanc, a four-year homeowner at the park, bought his home for $7,000, after years of saving.
“It was hard to save that kind of money,” Blanc said. “I live here legally and I always pay my rent. I feel so sad. I don’t feel well. It is too much for me and there is too much discrimination here. I can’t really tell you what could happen and, right now, I feel very scared. I believe in God and I believe he can do everything for us. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
Frederick said the lawsuit was filed on behalf of some residents because the village of El Portal did not look for an adequate place for residents to go.
“We’re hopeful that in a higher court they’ll have more sense and be able to look at the law because it’s not about keeping the park open, it’s about getting their fair share when everyone else is making money,” Frederick said.
The Village of El Portal was unavailable for comment by time of publication of this story.
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Brutally Bullied As A Kid, She Never Thought She Could Be A Beauty Queen. But Now Miss Hollywood Has A Chance To Win It All
As a little girl Isabella Logins would have never dreamed of being Miss Florida.
She was just hoping that the pain would stop.
Viciously bullied as a child, Logins grew up fighting back self-doubt.
Over time, she learned to love herself and not pay attention to the opinions of others.
But it took time.
And it was painful.
“When I was little I was picked on all the time,” Logins said in an interview with RISE NEWS. “Kids were mean to me and would make fun of me for being ugly, annoying, or just because they felt like it.”
She said that the bullying had a traumatic impact on her.
“It made me feel really sad and it made me feel really bad about myself,” Logins said. “It took me a long time to get myself to not think about what they would tell me.”
A Miami native, Logins graduated from Alonzo and Tracy Morning High School in North Miami.
She’s now a 22-year-old senior at FIU and the reigning Miss Hollywood USA.
Quite a long way from that insecure girl who bullies loved to pick on.
Logins will be competing in the Miss Florida 2018 pageant December 14-17 in Tampa.
She took an interest in pageantry about two years ago for the career networking aspect, but found that competing has helped her grow in other ways.
Reflecting on her experiences through elementary and middle school, she did not expect to ever be involved in pageantry
“I thought [pageants] were only for extremely beautiful women and when I was younger I didn’t feel extremely beautiful,” Logins said. “But I’ve had to grow into a more confident person.”
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Her pageantry career has been successful.
Logins’ first pageant was for the crown of Miss Florida Keys 2017, where she ended up winning the title.
That victory made her eligible to compete in the Miss Florida 2017 pageant, where she finished in the top 16.
In the Miss Florida pageant this year, Logins will be representing the Global Children’s Rescue as her cause
A non-profit, Global Children’s Rescue works to educate the public on human trafficking, as well as helping in actively rescuing missing children and human trafficking victims.
Isabella Logins at a Global Children’s rescue event. Photo Credit: Victoria Salas/ RISE NEWS.
The group is made up of a team of former federal, state, local, and military investigators.
“[Logins] took it upon herself to find us,” John Rode, founder of the Global Children’s Rescue said in an interview with RISE NEWS.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, out of 18,500 endangered runaways reported in 2016, one out of every six of those children were suspected of being entered into sex trafficking.
Logins believes that child sex trafficking is an important issue because it is occurring in most communities, yet much of the public is totally unaware.
Logins uses her social media platforms to share statistics and information about how common of an issue human trafficking is.
In a recent post on her Instagram, Logins encouraged people to send their family members a picture of themselves occasionally.
This is to give police a more accurate photo to use in case a person goes missing.
“It’s something that’s always interested me,” Logins said. “Sometimes girls go missing and we don’t have a real photo [of them].”
On average, a missing child’s case costs $25,000 and solving a human trafficking case can cost up to $100,000 according to Global Children’s Rescue.
Logins uses her platforms to promote Global Children’s Rescue fundraisers and events.
Her aim is to also reach younger people who might not be paying attention to how common human trafficking is and hopefully prevent future tragedies.
A broadcast journalism major at FIU, Logins one day wants to be a successful anchor for a news channel.
“I would love to win [Miss Florida 2018] not just for personal growth, but for the cause,” Logins said.
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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Just Lost It On This Reporter
In one of the most awkward videos you will watch today, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel ripped apart Mike Allen, a reporter for Politico after his line of questioning got a bit too personal for the politician’s liking.
Emanuel was participating in a conversation at a Politico Playbook event in Chicago.
Things were going fine… until they weren’t.
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In all fairness to Emanuel, the man is going through a whole lot right now. He just fired his police chief yesterday and is facing down calls for his resignation.
H/T: Washington Post
Cover Photo Credit: Youtube/ Screengrab
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