On Thursday, Jan 28, 2021, Friends of The Underline held its inaugural Community Connection Meeting! Participants heard about The Underline’s design and construction progress for Phases 1, 2, and 3; spoke with our Founder, Meg Daly; met our Community Outreach Manager, Masi Faroqui; and received updates from The Underline team, partners and community members. 

During the meeting, The Underline team members offered a variety of ways for the community to engage with our staff and presented some exciting initiatives. 

Technology:  

• Free public WiFi 
•  Interactive AR games
• The creation of a Tech Master Plan giving the community more to look forward to as our opening approaches. 

Art & Programming:

• A new mural by local artist Edny Jean Joseph
• A soon to be unveiled art inspired ping pong tables by Cara Despain that have the dual purpose of bringing attention to Climate Change
• Performances by Miami City Ballet, O’Miami and other local non-profits

Small Business Partnerships

• Pop Up opportunities
• Teen Startups

Miami-Dade County District 5 Commissioner Eileen Higgins also expressed  her support for The Underline and its mission to honor and nurture the environment. She recently introduced a fertilizer ordinance that will keep Biscayne Bay clean. She applauded The Underline’s choice of xeriscape plantings (drought resistant landscaping) in the Brickell Backyard, Phase 1. Furthermore, within The Underline green infrastructure plans, more than 30,000 new plants now have a home at Brickell Backyard, and 4,000 trees will be planted along the entire path of The Underline once it is completed. 

The community showed great interest in safety and sustainability initiatives presented during this first Community Connection Meeting. They also had the opportunity to provide feedback on shared goals through an interactive live poll which you can view here, as well as, ask questions to our team and guest speakers, who were happy to respond. 

Following our community Q & A updates were provided by the following community members: Tiffany Gehrke, Florida Department of Transportation District 6; Deborah Koch, American Red Cross- Greater Miami and Keys; Lisette Garcia, Lime; Fernando Andrade, CKO Kickboxing, Brickell; Fernando Ortiz Monasterio, VIAVERDE; Beatriz Gonzalez, Ph.D, President, Miami Dade College-Wolfson Campus. Click here to see our Q&A results.

If you missed this meeting, don’t worry! A recording of the Community Connection Meeting #1 is available here.

Our next meeting will take place on Thursday, March 25 at 6:00 pm. Click here to register. Until then, we encourage you to stay involved with The Underline by volunteering and joining our  Facebook group here. You may also send questions or comments to: hello@TheUnderline.org. Hope to see you in our next Community Connection Meeting!

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About Community Connection Meetings:

Community Connection Meetings are virtual quarterly meetings put together by The Underline to connect directly with our team and community. This is where you will have a chance to make yourself heard and learn more about The Underline’s progress and initiatives. Community Connection Meetings are managed and produced by our Community Outreach Manager, Masi Faroqui.