By Francisco Alvarado, FloridaBulldog.org
Miami Gardens stiffed a nonprofit agency that assisted residents displaced by a fire, forcing the organization seeking to collect the debt to sue the city.
For nearly two years, Miami Gardens elected officials and bureaucrats have ignored Prosperity Social & Community Development Group’s demands to pay a $32,709 invoice for assisting 125 unit owners and tenants forced to evacuate the New World Condominium Apartments at 395 Northwest 177th St. that was partially destroyed by a blaze on Jan. 28, 2023.
A few days after the fire, Miami Gardens officials turned to Prosperity Social to help New World residents find temporary living arrangements and handle other social services, Nadege Vilsaint, the nonprofit agency’s executive director, told Florida Bulldog.
Vilsaint and two social workers put in regular 12- to 14-hour shifts between February and March of 2023 based on assurances from Kevin Brown, an assistant to Mayor Rodney Harris, and Deputy City Manager Craig Clay, that Prosperity Social would get paid, she said. But once she submitted her bill, the city refused to cut the nonprofit a check.
“They’re ignoring me,” Vilsaint said. “They’re not going to pay us for the hard work we did. It was a big setback for us.”
Last month, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Natalie Moore allowed Prosperity Social’s 2024 lawsuit to move forward by denying the city’s motion to dismiss two counts for unjust enrichment and engaging in unfair and deceptive acts. Moore dismissed another count for breach of implied contract, but is allowing the nonprofit to file an amended complaint. In its defense, Miami Gardens is claiming the city has “sovereign immunity.”
Florida Bulldog reached out to Brown, Clay, Harris, Vice Mayor Robert Stevens III, the five other city council members, City Manager Cameron Benson and City Attorney Sonja Dickens. None of them responded to phone messages and emails requesting comment.
GHOSTING PROSPERITY SOCIAL
Between 2021 and 2023, Prosperity Social had won a pair of city grants for a combined $31,000 to provide job readiness training and mental health services for underserved youth in Miami Gardens, according to city documents attached to the lawsuit.
“We’ve been providing community services for years,” Vilsaint said. “That’s what compelled Kevin [Brown] to call me and ask for our help.”
At the time, Brown relayed that the city had 125 displaced, frustrated residents in a temporary shelter at Miami Garden’s Betty T. Ferguson Center, Vilsaint recalled. She agreed to have Prosperity Social get involved based on Brown’s word that the city would pay for the hours she and her staff worked: “He said, ‘No problem. Bill us. We’ll deal with it later.’”
A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue investigation determined the fire began in attic space above a second-floor unit, quickly spreading to 75 units and causing the second floor to collapse, according to NBC6 Miami. Fire investigators determined faulty wiring to an air conditioning unit may have sparked the fire and noted New World’s condominium association had racked up 21 citations for fire code violations between 2020 and 2021.
A resident, Shekita Whitfield, also filed a class action lawsuit in Miami-Dade County against the condo association and the building’s property management company. The pending complaint alleges the defendants ignored warning signs that could have prevented the fire and seeks $8.6 million in damages.
Over several weeks, Vilsaint and Prosperity Social employees assisted the displaced residents by scouring Miami-Dade County for available housing, registering them for food stamps, coordinating mental health services and other support, Vilsaint said.
After the residents were placed in new homes, Vilsaint began sending invoices and emails to city officials, expecting the matter would be resolved quickly. Instead, she found herself in a bureaucratic maze.
“We kept trying to meet with Mayor Harris, and I repeatedly emailed Clay my invoice,” Vilsaint said. “But they kept pushing me off. Then the city attorney said, ‘No, we cannot pay third-party bills.’ I didn’t understand why.”
Emails and documents attached to the lawsuit support Vilsaint’s claims. While Prosperity Social was still assisting residents, the city requested that Vilsaint submit a formal proposal outlining its services and costs, which she did. In addition to Clay, Vilsaint also provided Brown with an invoice for the $32,709. On Aug. 17, 2023, Clay informed Vilsaint via email that “the fire proposal should be coming before the City Council in September.”
PROSPERITY SOCIAL SUES
A week later, in another email to Vilsaint, Clay said, “I will be speaking to Kevin [Brown] today to see when the item for reimbursement will be placed on the City Council agenda. I believe it is scheduled for one of the September meetings.”
But two months later, Vilsaint was still seeking answers. In an October email to Clay, she fumed: “If this is the way [that] government treats nonprofits and small businesses after we provided the work and now have been taken for granted, this matter needs to be shared to the public. This is truly not fair.”
When Vilsaint’s attempts to meet with Harris and council members went unanswered, Prosperity Social sued Miami Gardens last June. The nonprofit, which relies on grants to pay its staff, was forced to cover the salaries of two social workers out of its own pocket. It’s more than just the money, Vilsaint added.
“It’s the principle,” she said. “The city benefitted from our hard work just for the city to turn around and do what they did to us. That, for me, was wrong, and that’s the reason why I decided to fight for this.”
Aside from asserting sovereign immunity, Miami Gardens also claims that government payments require formal agreements, court filings show. Anthony Halmon, Prosperity Social’s lawyer, told Florida Bulldog that Miami Gardens argument won’t hold up in front of a jury. The emails show city officials were well aware that Miami Gardens would have to pay for Prosperity Social’s services, Halmon said.
“It’s not like Prosperity Social showed up to the fire and started providing services, then showed up at city council meetings with an invoice,” Halmon said. “They were asked to do this work, and they haven’t been paid.”
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