Underline Jobs Program Hires Chapman Clients
More than two dozen Chapman Partnership clients will train on the Underline over the next year under $300,000 in grants.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Employment
Live Poll
Do you think local job programs for homeless residents are a good use of public or private money?
Chapman Partnership residents who are homeless now have a second round of paid workforce training through the Underline's Park Stewards program. The jobs program, backed by $300,000 in grants from Lennar and Bank of America Miami, launched October 13 on the Underline near Brickell.
Why it matters
For people working to get off the street, a steady paycheck is the difference between relying on social services and building a path to self-sufficiency. Because the program trains people to care for the Underline itself, it also keeps a Brickell-area greenway in your neighborhood maintained by the people who live nearby.
Park Stewards is backed by $300,000 in grants from Lennar and Bank of America Miami and will serve more than two dozen Chapman Partnership clients over the next year. The figures do not show how many first-round participants moved into full-time work, and the outcome of the first year has not been quantified.
The players
Friends of the Underline
The nonprofit that runs the Underline greenway and launched the second round of the Park Stewards jobs program.
Chapman Partnership
The Miami homeless services organization whose clients are taking part in the Park Stewards program.
Lennar
A homebuilder that provided grant funding for the Park Stewards program.
Bank of America Miami
A bank that provided grant funding for the Park Stewards program.
The details
Friends of the Underline launched the second round of Park Stewards on October 13 at the Underline across from the Novotel Miami Brickell Hotel at 1500 SW First Ave. The workforce development program gives homeless individuals regular work, and several participants in the first year secured full-time jobs with the Underline's Clean Team. More than two dozen Chapman clients will take part over the next year.
Timeline
October 13, 2026: Second round of Park Stewards launched on the Underline.
Over the next year: More than two dozen Chapman clients take part in the program.
Beyond the 305
The second round extends the first year, when several Park Stewards participants won full-time jobs with the Underline's Clean Team. Those placements are the model this round is built to repeat for Chapman clients.
If you walk, bike or run the Underline, you are using a greenway kept up partly by people working their way back into steady jobs. The program's success depends on the Clean Team placements that followed the first round, so the path is worth watching as the next year plays out.
The takeaway
Programs like Park Stewards show that a job on the Underline can be a first step toward stable housing and income, and the next year will show how many participants keep those jobs. If you want to support the effort, the Underline's Friends organization is the place to start.
Further reading
For more on local job programs and what they mean for workers across the county, browse our Employment coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Miami's Community News.
Live Poll
Do you think local job programs for homeless residents are a good use of public or private money?
