MIAMI — Residents and their children are encouraged to attend and tour during the opening of the new Little Haiti Optimist Club Community Tech and Youth Center at Soar Park, 100 N.W. 83rd St. in Miami.
There will be a dedication and ribbon-cutting at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, announced the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department and Miami-Dade County District 2 Commissioner Jean Monestime.
“Soar Park has long been an important hub for this neighborhood,” said Monestime. “This new center will serve to make this neighborhood even stronger, as it will bring residents of all ages together for social, educational, and recreational enrichment for years to come.”
The Little Haiti Optimist Club, a nonprofit organization established by a group of business, community and civic leaders to provide assistance and guidance to the youth of Little Haiti, remodeled the existing park building in order to provide residents and their children with computer training, educational enrichment classes, and recreational program opportunities. The new center features a reception/information desk, work stations with computers, a bulletin board for posting job announcements, and other resource information.
Officials said the facility will serve as a one-stop technology center for residents seeking new careers and personal enrichment, and will offer classes and services ranging from Internet Access and Basic Computer Training to Job Search/Resume Writing and Tutoring/Homework Help. In addition the center will function as a youth club with after-school and summer camp programs for school-age children. The building contains a kids’ activity room with computer stations and work tables, and offers onsite homework help, tutoring, and a wide variety of after-school enrichment classes, such as Business Entrepreneurship; Film; and Robotics. There will also be outdoor programs, games, and sports activities, including a Community Garden Program, yoga, self-defense, soccer, basketball and more, officials said.
The cost to complete the building renovations and improvements was $47,800. Other partners included The Home Depot and contractors such as Odebrecht Construction, which donated architectural and construction expertise as well as new computers for the facility.
“This is a fine example of what can be accomplished with community park partnerships,” said Miami-Dade County Parks Director Jack Kardys. “I encourage local businesses and organizations to partner with their area parks to help improve their community.”
The center is in need of program partners, donations and/or volunteers; call 305-390-0234 or email info@littlehaitioptimist.org. For other information visit miamidade.gov/parks or call 305-756-4165. For more about Little Haiti Optimist Club, affiliated with Optimist International, an association of more than 3,000 Optimist Clubs around the world, visit littlehaitioptimist.org or call 305-390-0234
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