Miami. The rose progressively faded away. “This is my wife”. Timothy Fuller says, while showing the worn-out tattoo engraved in his left forearm. “Even if don’t see her, she is always there with me”. On this early afternoon of January, the tall African-American, 50, is standing in front of hut that proclaims in red letters : “Jesus is Lord! That!!!” He arrived at Umoja a month ago, a shantytown, which was started on October 23 2006 by advocates for low-income housing in Miami.

Bits of the intense anger he carrying within, are transpiring when Timothy speaks and mentions the souvenirs of his past life. He is still carrying his ID card to the Port of Everglades, where he used to work as engineer. The card expired on September 28 2006. Timothy’s long fall, during which he lost his wife and job, started around that time. “Life is like a road. You always have to stay in the middle of it”, he says. “I am going through a rough patch of highway right now and I must make sure I don’t leave the road”. The former Marine and engineer does not feel he belongs here. “I went to Sidney, I went to England, I went to places. I met people. I have done things”, he repeats as if trying to convince himself that this is just a bad nightmare from which he will wake up.

Umoja is the brainchild of Max Rameau, 37, a web designer and activist. Many resident of this first “official” US slum are down on luck and money and are suffering from addictions to crack and alcohol. But no questions are asked here as long as the residents abide by a certain number of rules such as the interdiction to drink in the village. “We had three goals, Rameau says. We wanted to feed and house homeless people. We wanted to assert our right to have a direct relationship with the land in our community. And we finally wanted to create a new society, where people would relate differently to each other”.

The first “official” US slum is now inspiring other community activists around the country. Housing problems are recurrent in the US. A study published this month by the National Alliance to end Homelessness revealed that there 740 000 people are living in the streets in the US. In 2005, 37 million people (12,6% of the US population) were considered poor, according to a report by the US Census Bureau. 46,6 million Americans live without health insurance coverage, 5 million more than in 2001, when George Bush took office.

Miami has one of the highest median home prices in the nation ($372 000), while the median income here ($33 000) is one of the lowest in the US. Real estate prices are exploding and low-income apartments tend to make way for condos and more expensive houses. Max Rameau selected the site at NW 62nd St and NW 17th Avenue in Liberty City because the city razed 62 low-income apartments in 2001 and never replaced them. The violent neighborhood infested by drugs comprises of more than half of the 500 000 African-Americans living in Miami.

The city commissioner representing Liberty City tried to shut down the shantytown located in one of the most violent neighborhoods of Miami, but had to back up after the organizers took their fight to the press. Rameau and his friends won two other battles when the city agreed to pick up the trash three times a week, and when a local company donated a portable toilet. They are now trying to get a phone line and a mailing address the residents of Umoja could use while looking for a job.

The residents’ weekly duties are listed on a panel on the kitchen wall. Ronnie Holmes, a disabled construction worker and ex–convict is doing construction work. In the tropical heat of January, Ronnie is pulling nails out of old rotten wood to try to build a makeshift sink in the kitchen area. He is also trying to make a well with other residents of Umoja “The people living work and make decisions for the community”, Rameau says.

In Umoja, residents are longing for they used to be before the fall. Ronnie recalls with a sad look what he used to be: “Before I was a father, I was a man. Jail made me lose everything”. Timothy raised the three kids of his wife from a previous relationship but he does not want them to see him in the shantytown. “I am soul searching, he says. I am reading the Bible and underline passages”. “I have no clothes”, he adds looking at his gray trousers “No it is not true. I have nice clothes but I keep them for special occasions like going to church”.

Jonathan Baker, 33, raises his deep voice when he talks about all the problems he had to deal with in the last couple of years. He used to teach martial arts but is now happy to have found a maintenance job at the airport “I am going to get my security clearance soon”, he says proudly. During his years sleeping under bridges and in shelters, Jonathan claims he never had any crack addiction like a lot of people in Liberty City. “I just drink beers and smoke cigarettes”, he adds. His muscles are still sharp and he has the attitude of someone, who wants to take the fight for decent housing to the city hall. “Having a place to live should not be a privilege. It is a right”, he says.

Max Rameau claims Umoja is not a publicity stunt. He says he wants to help homeless people reclaim a normal life. Ronnie seems pretty close. He found a job as a gardener for the city of Miami and is waiting for his birth certificate to start working. “I am soon going to be able to see my son again”, he says trying not to cry. To those wishing him “good luck”, he replies that “there are only blessings and curses” in this life.

Timothy did not find the key. After losing all the benefits from 19 years in the Marine corps and a good job, he claims his life is a mirror of society. He pinned his hope to his car, a Buick Le Sabre 1997, he had to abandon a couple of miles from Umoja: “I just need to fix it and jumpstart to be able to drive back to my job and then leave Florida”. As he takes leave, he begs for 3 dollars while showing car keys: “It’s to take the bus and get my car”.