Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust & Chapman Partnership Honor Ron Book for 30 Years of Leadership

The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust and Chapman Partnership today honored Ronald (Ron) L. Book for three decades of leadership and unwavering commitment to addressing homelessness in Miami-Dade County, work that has helped transform the community into one of the nation’s most recognized and effective Continuums of Care (CoC).

Book was joined by members of the 1993 Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation, including Art Simon, Bruno Barreiro, Eladio and Rosa Armesto-Garcia, children of Eladio Armesto-Garcia, Elaine Bloom, Mike Abrams, and Mario Diaz-Balart’s designee, Gloria Oliveros. Their passage of the historic one-percent Food and Beverage Tax created the dedicated funding source that led to the establishment of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust and Chapman Partnership. That action laid the foundation for a CoC that, under Book’s sustained leadership, evolved into a national model.

“It is my honor to stand beside Ron Book,” said Victoria Mallette, Executive Director of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. “No one has dedicated more time, passion, and focus to ending homelessness in our community. Ron reminds us often that the Homeless Trust did not happen by accident. It was part of a plan that has made Miami-Dade a better place.”

As part of the ceremony, a bronze plaque commemorating Book’s leadership, along with the names of the original legislative delegation, was unveiled in the courtyard of the Homeless Assistance Center North, 1550 N. Miami Avenue, Miami. The plaque faces a bronze bust of Alvah H. Chapman Jr., an American newspaper publisher who served at the helm of The Miami Herald and as chairman of the Knight Ridder newspaper division, whose leadership helped advance the original vision for a comprehensive, community-wide response to homelessness.

The plaque reads in part:

“With deep gratitude, we honor your bold vision and unwavering courage. You dared to imagine a future without homelessness. On May 3, 1994, you gave life to that dream through the creation of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. Your conviction continues to inspire. Your dream remains our enduring mission.”

Book has served as chairman of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust for 21 years, following earlier service as finance chair, and his role in working side-by-side with the Miami-Dade Delegation to pass the one-percent tax. In 2025, more than 8,000 formerly homeless households were placed into permanent housing; more than 7,400 people were placed into emergency or transitional housing, unsheltered homelessness fell by 17%, and 49,217 street contacts were made by outreach teams. Under Ron’s leadership, the Trust has reduced unsheltered homelessness from more than 8,000 in 1993, to approximately 1,060 individuals today.

Chapman Partnership is the private-sector partner of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, operating two Homeless Assistance Centers in downtown Miami and Homestead. Through a comprehensive, holistic approach, Chapman Partnership provides on-site services and coordinated partnerships with federal, state, local, and nonprofit organizations to help individuals and families achieve housing stability and self-sufficiency.

Together, the Homeless Trust and Chapman Partnership continue to advance a mission first imagined more than three decades ago.