Miami-Dade County, Florida, study estimates 66,000 people quietly homeless, beyond official count

About 66,000 people in Miami-Dade County live in what is described as “hidden homelessness,” according to an interview with anthropologist and writer Brian Goldstone published by the Miami Herald and reprinted by Infobae. The term covers thousands of families and minors who lack stable housing but are left out of aid programs because they do not meet the federal definition of “homeless.” Goldstone said the population is larger than the official count suggests. “I’m talking about a population that could fill the Hard Rock Stadium and more,” he said. According to the Miami Herald, these families survive for weeks, sometimes days, in extended-stay hotels, family homes or vehicles, trying each day to avoid ending up permanently on the street.

Goldstone pointed to the limits of the definition used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which covers people in shelters or living directly on public streets. He said families who fall outside that definition are often excluded from essential services. “They are not only invisible; they are also excluded from essential services because they do not fit the official definition,” he said. He added, “I have come to think that the only thing worse than being a homeless person in this country is not getting that name and, for that reason, being out of critical resources.”

According to Goldstone, evictions often begin with ordinary events, such as a landlord deciding to sell a property or declining to renew a lease. He described a couple and their three children who lost a stable home after years of renting when their lease was not renewed. “They thought they were safe, but overnight, when the contract was not renewed, they lost their home even if they were exemplary tenants.” He also described a single mother, identified as Cara, who lost her apartment after the owner did not repair the water heater. “After weeks without being able to bathe her children, she decided not to pay the rent and ended up being evicted,” Goldstone said.

Goldstone said an eviction can damage a person’s rental prospects for years. He said landlords often prefer applicants without an eviction history, and that eviction can lower a credit score to the point that returning to the formal rental market becomes very difficult. Families in that situation often turn to informal or temporary housing. Goldstone described long-stay hotels as expensive and often in poor condition. “People end up paying double what they spent on an apartment, sharing tiny spaces with their children,” he said. He described one hotel, Efficiency Lodge, as having “only concrete and rooms in deplorable condition — roofs with leaks, rats, black mold, defective wiring, cockroaches.”

Goldstone warned about the effects on children. “Children growing up here are subjected to toxic and chronic stress that can alter their brain development,” he said. He also cited overcrowding, uncertainty, violence, drug use and the risk of losing belongings when families cannot pay for another night. Some families stay for a few days with relatives or friends, but Goldstone said those arrangements can be fragile, since even hosts may fear losing their own homes. Access to aid is uneven. Families who live in hotels, cars or the homes of friends, he said, generally cannot get help such as rent assistance or support finding landlords who accept bad credit.

Housing subsidies exist to ease the crisis, but Goldstone said they are not enough. “Only 25% of those who qualify for bonuses actually receive them,” he said, adding that some landlords refuse to accept subsidies, especially in the most competitive markets. As a result, some families lose their subsidies because they cannot find a landlord willing to rent to them. Goldstone also said large investment firms are a factor in the housing market. “We see how much of the country’s housing is bought by Wall Street firms like Blackstone and Starwood Capital,” he said. “When that private capital enters the rental business, the priority becomes the return for shareholders; the consequence is an increase in evictions.”

Source: Read the original report (translated from Spanish)