The Vision...
The vision for Touching Miami with Love (TML) began as a dream of Central Baptist Church, now Christ Fellowship Downtown Campus, which has ministered in Miami for more than a hundred years. To better meet the needs of its surrounding community, it contacted the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to ask for a missionary team to be established in downtown Miami to assist in meeting the needs of the people and community.
The Beginning...
Touching Miami with Love began with the first directors, Butch and Nell Green, in 1994 and many areas of need were brought to light on a survey including ministry to the homeless, people with AIDS, the Port of Miami, children, international students, people in prison, and tourists. It was also through this survey, the name Touching Miami with Love was chosen for the ministry.
Early Years of Ministry...
TML began working in the areas of ministry which the surveys had shown to be most needed.
- English as a Second Language
- Homeless Persons
- International Students
- Persons living with AIDS
- Prayer Ministry
- Prison Ministry
- ESL Classes
Building a Community Driven Organization. . .
It became evident over the years that for Touching Miami with Love to have a deeper impact in the community they would need to narrow their focus of ministry. In 1999, a decision was made to focus specifically on the children, youth and adults in the Overtown Community and the homeless population in the downtown corridor.
Having worked through the City of Miami neighborhood parks for many years with the children and youth of Overtown, the time had come to make those relationships more permanent. Going deeper with their new focus on the residents of Overtown another big shift came organizationally with a move from the downtown corridor to the neighborhood of Overtown with the purchase of a new building in 2002.
Today. . .
Touching Miami with Love has a rich history of serving their community in a wholistic way. Programs after school for children, summer camps for children, after school programs for youth and leadership development opportunities in the summer have allowed us to watch our neighborhood grow up before our eyes. Children formerly in our children's programs and are now showing tremendous leadership potential through our youth programs.
Families are blessed as they take part in programs for their children as well as for their own development. From tax preparation services, connections to community services and events, to learning about gaining better financial standing through finacial literacy, and participation in our Christmas Store adults in our community know that Touching Miami with Love is a place that cares for them.
