Building Overtown’s Future, Together

Overtown Children & Youth Coalition

The backbone organization keeping Overtown’s children and families connected, supported, and moving forward.

Founded in 2012 by a collective of Overtown’s anchoring nonprofits — including Urgent Inc., Overtown Youth Center, Touching Miami with Love, Lotus House, and Dress for Success — the Overtown Children and Youth Coalition was built on a simple but powerful premise: that the needs of children and families are better addressed together than in isolation. Rather than duplicating services, OCYC operates as the neighborhood’s backbone, connecting more than 30 partner organizations around shared goals and a collective impact framework.

OCYC is a designated Florida Children’s Initiative, one of only a handful of such designations statewide, reflecting the depth of commitment and accountability behind their work. Their five goals: ensuring children are healthy and safe, connected to community, leading academically, supported by accountable systems, and empowered toward their full potential — are not aspirational slogans but active targets with data behind them. Monthly committee meetings draw over 150 members who provide direct services to children and youth in Overtown, making OCYC less an organization and more an ecosystem. If you want to understand the infrastructure holding this neighborhood’s young people up, start here.