Press Room

The residents of Little River Bend, a housing complex for the formerly homeless, gathered in a sunlit courtyard on a Wednesday afternoon to share stories of lives wrecked by alcohol, the trauma of war, failed relationships and bad decisions.

As they spoke, each story had a common theme: the commitment to the slow, painful process of rebuilding.

Salvador Ortiz's voice trembled when it was his turn to speak.

``I have my heart here, not only because I'm grateful for the agency, but because I believe in the work I'm doing here,'' he said during an event on July 29 in which residents and staff read affirmations and shared experiences.

Ortiz, 57, is a service coordinator at the apartment complex at 8250 NE Fourth Pl., which is run by Carrfour, a Miami nonprofit that helps the homeless.

Carrfour provides supportive housing at sites like Little River Bend or a combination of affordable housing for extremely low-income people, along with coordinated, targeted services like therapy or substance abuse counseling. It's a formula that has been proved successful; 90 percent of Carrfour residents never return to the street, according to the organization. Ortiz's job is to connect residents to government services they need, like Medicaid and food stamps.

He also helps supervise the residents in a gardening project run by Linda McGlathery and partially funded with a grant from American Express. The residents are taught to organically grow herbs, fruits and vegetables, and then are given cooking and nutrition classes so they can use what they harvest.

Millard Latham, 57, a Vietnam veteran who has lung disease, tends to the plots and has planted flowers throughout Little River Bend. He works in the late afternoon to avoid the heat.

``I really enjoy it,'' he said.

On a recent Thursday, the courtyard was dotted with flower beds, where herbs like thyme, and rosemary were sprouting.

``It's an expression of life -- being able to start something and being able to maintain it and kind of relating it to their own lives,'' said Robin Chambers, the project's assistant director. ``We have people here that are starting over, from one kind of past or another, a lot of people recovering.''

One of those recovering is Ortiz; he can relate to the residents because he was once homeless.

In 1993, Ortiz, a native of Puerto Rico, was released from a veterans hospital in Miami after staying there three months to quit alcohol. He found work as a pastry chef in North Miami but couldn't afford housing. Every day, when his colleagues left, Ortiz would stay behind. He slept on the floor until he could afford a place of his own.

``They would leave and I would stay, and little by little, I was getting my life back on a track,'' he told the audience of about 25 people during the event.

The residents also shared their stories. Aretha Jones, 41, said she used to be a drug addict but had been sober for almost six years. Alfredo Hernandez, 63, said he fled Cuba to seek freedom in the United States but hadn't found it until now. Joel Smith, 69, the leader of Phoenix Men, the men's group at Little River Bend, said he was finally at peace with his life after overcoming gang life, the trauma of serving in the Vietnam War, a 10-year jail sentence, a failed marriage and a month of living on the street.

Smith said that Carrfour gives the residents a chance to participate in activities, like gardening or fishing, that many never have experienced. The sense of family developed at the apartment complex was crucial to the residents' recovery.

``It's brand new for a lot of us, and it's a rejuvenating type thing,'' he said.