MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — South Florida is seeing a wave of new cars, but they won’t add to traffic or lengthen anyone’s commute. That’s because the cars are made of marine-grade concrete and were installed underwater.

Over several days late last month, crews lowered 22 life-sized cars into the ocean, several hundred feet off South Beach. The project was organized by a group that pioneers underwater sculpture parks as a way to create human-made coral reefs.

“Concrete Coral,” commissioned by the nonprofit REEFLINE, will soon be seeded with 2,200 native corals that have been grown in a nearby Miami lab. The project is partially funded by a $5 million bond from the city of Miami Beach. The group is also trying to raise $40 million to extend the potentially 11-phase project along an underwater corridor just off the city’s 7-mile-long (11-kilometer) coastline.

“I think we are making history here,” Ximena Caminos, the group’s founder, said. “It’s one of a kind, it’s a pioneering, underwater reef that’s teaming up with science, teaming up with art.”

She conceived the overall plan with architect Shohei Shigematsu, and the artist Leandro Erlich designed the car sculptures for the first phase.

Colin Foord, who runs REEFLINE’s Miami coral lab, said they’ll soon start the planting process and create a forest of soft corals over the car sculptures, which will serve as a habitat swarming with marine life.

“I think it really lends to the depth of the artistic message itself of having a traffic jam of cars underwater,” Foord said. “So nature’s gonna take back over, and we’re helping by growing the soft corals.”

Foord said he’s confident the native gorgonian corals will thrive because they were grown from survivors of the 2023 bleaching event, where a marine heatwave killed massive amounts of Florida corals.

Plans for future deployments include Petroc Sesti’s “Heart of Okeanos,” modeled after a giant blue whale heart, and Carlos Betancourt and Alberto Latorre’s “The Miami Reef Star, a group of starfish shapes arranged in a larger star pattern.

“What that’s going to do is accelerate the formation of a coral reef ecosystem,” Foord said. “It’s going to attract a lot more life and add biodiversity and really kind of push the envelope of artificial reef-building here in Florida.”

Besides being a testing ground for new coral transplantation and hybrid reef design and development, Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner expects the project to generate local jobs with ecotourism experiences like snorkeling, diving, kayaking and paddleboard tours.

The reefs will be located about 20 feet (6 meters) below the surface of the water and about 800 feet (240 meters) from the shore.

“Miami Beach is a global model for so many different issues, and now we’re doing it for REEFLINE,” Meiner said during a beachside ceremony last month. “I’m so proud to be working together with the private market to make sure that this continues right here in Miami Beach to be the blueprint for other cities to utilize.”

The nonprofit also offers community education programs, where volunteers can plant corals alongside scientists, and a floating marine learning center, where participants can gain first-hand experience in coral conservation every month.

Caminos, the group’s founder, acknowledges that the installation won’t fix all of the problems — which are as big as climate change and sea level rise — but she said it can serve as a catalyst for dialogue about the value of coastal ecosystems.

“We can show how creatively, collaboratively and interdisciplinarily we can all tackle a man-made problem with man-made solutions,” Caminos said.

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Associated Press videojournalist Cody Jackson contributed to this report.

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Statement performance

2024 all over again?

Many people are unsure whether their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will be replenished on Saturday.

With so much uncertainty, local food organizations are preparing for an influx of need throughout communities.

Senior citizens face rising food insecurity

One of the most vulnerable groups — and a significant portion of SNAP recipients — is senior citizens.

The Pantry of Broward County and Meals on Wheels South Florida told CBS News Miami they are being inundated with calls from elderly people who are terrified of what’s to come.

“We are hearing horror stories on a daily basis of folks just cannot make ends meet,” said Wendy Bourgault, executive director of Meals on Wheels South Florida.

Bourgault said that at the beginning of the week, her Broward County office was swamped with calls from people whose SNAP benefits would be ending.

She said one morning, they were hit with 20 calls looking for help with food.

“They have to choose, ‘Do I run electricity? Do I go to the doctor? Do I buy food?’” said Bourgault.

New relief program targets homebound seniors

After noticing a rise in the cry for help, Meals on Wheels South Florida established the Senior SNAP Relief Program.

“Over 60, homebound, and in need who have lost their SNAP benefits, we will kick in immediately two weeks’ worth of food. Maybe by then it will be ended. If it isn’t, you’ll immediately get another two weeks,” said Bourgault.

Empty shelf after empty shelf is becoming a trend at the Pantry of Broward County.

Pantry prepares for disaster-level demand

With the ending of SNAP benefits, staff said they are preparing for a natural disaster, like it’s a hurricane.

“It’s all hands on deck for the staff. It’s trying to get as many volunteers in as possible,” said Warren Lubow, chief operating officer of the Pantry of Broward County.

Lubow said the phones have been nonstop with calls from seniors seeking help.

Ninety percent of their clients receive SNAP.

“You take away those SNAP benefits — that’s less money in their pockets for rent, for food. For electric bills, water bills,” said Lubow.

Already serving 600 seniors across Broward County, the pantry is trying its hardest to serve everyone.

“We have been getting a lot more requests for new clients. We have a waitlist of over 150 people,” said Lubow.

Volunteers urgently needed to meet demand

Both organizations say there’s a great need for volunteers during this time.