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The Quantum Foundation: Investing In A Better Life Through Quality Health · Inside West Palm Beach

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  Welcome to Inside West Palm Beach. I'm
• 14:15:15
  Gerry Marcelo. What makes a community
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  like ours truly healthy? What factors
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  shape the physical and mental health of
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  our residents and is there more to being
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  healthy than just the number of doctors
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  and hospitals nearby? We'll talk to a
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  group who actively fights to improve the
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  factors that impact the health of our
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  community and how their efforts may
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  eventually open the door to a better,
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  healthier life for us all. That's next.
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  And joining us today is Camden Bags,
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  director of Place Based Investment with
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  Quantum Foundation. Welcome. And Rafael
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  Clemente, executive director of Palm
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  Beach Adventure Philanthropy. Guys, thank
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  you for joining us
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  today. It's a pleasure.
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  Now, we have a lot to talk about,
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  especially this notion of health being
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  more than just individuals health, but an
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  entire community. But before we get into
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  that, I think it's important for us to
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  talk about where you guys come from,
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  where you got involved, and what drives
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  you to be a part of this. Rafael?
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  Sure, and happy to be here. I'm an urban
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  planner. I have worked in the field of
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  city planning for about 25 years. Many
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  people who may watch the show probably
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  know me as the former director of our
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  Downtown Development Authority here in
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  West Palm. I'm a lifelong resident, most
• 14:16:44
  of my adult life at least, of West Palm
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  Beach grew up in Lake Worth. Came into
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  the field of city planning by accident,
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  honestly, and found my way into the role
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  of community development, mostly at a
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  personal interest. And when job
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  opportunities presented themselves to me,
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  I just took the chance, walked through
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  the door, and said, "Sure, I'll
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  give that a try." Both my previous role
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  at the DDA and the current role I'm in
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  now was invited by Eric Kelly, the
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  president of Quantum Foundation, to join
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  the team there and saw this really for me
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  as a golden opportunity to make a
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  real difference in the city I live in and
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  don't plan to leave. I love the city.
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  That's wonderful. Camden, your story.
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  Yeah, so I made my way
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  to West Palm Beach, to
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  10 Palm Beach Atlantic University by way
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  of South Carolina and Cleveland, Ohio
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  before that. And really, you know, I came
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  to PBA hoping that I was gonna find a
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  career where I was going to be able to
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  help people, you know, make an impact.
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  To make a long story short, just through
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  some amazing connections and people that
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  really invested in me, opened my eyes up
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  to the opportunity and the social impact
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  world, but even got connected to the
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  world of philanthropy. And Eric Kelly is
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  well formed a relationship with him early
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  on, was able to be brought on to
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  the Quantum Foundation team. And really,
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  it's been a dream come true, the type of
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  work that we get to do. And speaking of
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  the type of work you get to do, we've
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  heard the words community and, you know,
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  the group of people that live here that
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  we're talking about, who usually don't
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  associate talking about health with an
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  entire community. What's the concept
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  behind that? What does that mean?
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  Yeah, absolutely. So, well, at Quantum
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  Foundation, we know
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  and research shows that
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  health outcomes begin long before you
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  show up in a doctor's office, right, and
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  have maybe some sort of ailment. We look
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  holistically at health and what drives
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  someone to be healthy, the social
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  determinants of health. And research
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  actually shows that only 20% of your
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  health outcomes are related to the
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  medical care you receive. All other 80%
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  are really based on the environmental
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  and social factors that you experience in
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  the place that you often live, right?
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  So, what is the quality of the housing
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  that you live in? The
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  quality of education?
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  Does health care exist in your
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  neighborhood? Are you able to take care
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  of your health behaviors? And then even
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  how does that physical environment come
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  together to promote health or in some
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  neighborhoods detract from people's
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  ability to be healthy? All right, so I'm
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  hearing you. So,
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  it's, I guess it's one of
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  those mindsets that people have. People
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  say, "Well, if I take
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  care of my body, the
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  right stuff, that is healthy." But you're
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  saying that there are a lot of external
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  forces that have an impact. And a lot of
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  those forces are on a communal
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  level, community level. Absolutely. I do
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  agree. You know, I mean, I think from a
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  city planning and design perspective, you
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  can boil it down to
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  the saying, "First, we
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  shape our cities and then they shape us,"
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  right? And the
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  cumulative impact of policy
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  decisions over time, of fiscal decisions
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  over time, manifests themselves either,
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  well, in good or bad ways, right? And
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  when you see the effect of cumulative
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  investment in a place, you see that place
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  improve over time. It
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  becomes more livable,
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  more beautiful, more walkable, more
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  valuable. And the
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  inverse is true as well.
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  When there is a lack of investment, when
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  there is a lack of attention to a place,
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  you see it degrade. It becomes a tougher
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  place to live, a place that is less
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  enjoyable to live. There are the physical
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  and psychological factors that are
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  associated with that. They all affect the
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  individual directly. It's a
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  manifestation of the environment you live
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  in. And as Camden
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  described, that shows itself
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  in health outcomes. Now, obviously, West
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  Palm Beach has gone through some
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  exponential growth lately. A lot of
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  people will say that
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  it has become, you know,
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  a different place than it was just five
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  or 10 years ago. How
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  healthy are we in your
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  perspective? Overall, as a city, you
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  know, West Palm is a
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  remarkable place. It's a success
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  story that is nationally recognized. And
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  not just today, you know,
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  West Palm has seen several boom
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  and bust cycles over, say, the last 50
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  years. The renaissance of this city
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  center, where we sit
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  right now, is a, I think, a nationally
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  known success story,
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  right? Starting with, I think,
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  the Grahams administration. And certainly
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  what we see now today,
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  under the leadership of Mayor
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  James, a remarkable success story. But
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  likewise, and it's not unique to West
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  Palm Beach, there are
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  pockets of our county and our city that
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  have not shared in that
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  growth and in that success. These
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  are places, many of them, that are
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  historically segregated neighborhoods
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  that never receive the
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  same investment, never built the same
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  value, that gets passed on
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  generationally, naturally,
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  through property. So, their repair work
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  that needs to be done now,
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  to do it in a way that doesn't
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  gentrify the neighborhood in a harmful
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  way, that doesn't displace
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  people, takes a very thoughtful,
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  very cautious approach that really needs
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  this partnership of the
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  public sector and philanthropy
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  to do it right. The private sector can do
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  it, but it is a tight
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  rope because of the needs and
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  the demands of private capital. Hence,
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  the decision of the Quantum Board to
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  create this division,
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  Palm Beach Venture Philanthropy, create a
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  place-based model for community
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  investment to try to work
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  upstream of all those issues that create
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  these negative health
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  outcomes. So, we're talking about
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  reinvesting back into the community to
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  give the facilities
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  necessary for people to be
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  healthier, to have a better living
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  environment. So, tell me how does that
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  work? How do you identify
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  the areas where you can be of service and
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  how do they get the funds
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  they need to become better and
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  more creative? Yeah, absolutely. So,
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  we've spent a lot of time
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  getting closer to the communities
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  that we want to impact and done a lot of
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  research across the field
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  of what has worked in other
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  neighborhoods that might have similar
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  characteristics to the neighborhood
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  Coleman Park that we're
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  now. Really how we put it is we want to
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  invest in people, want to invest in
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  programs and in place.
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  And really all three of those in
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  conjunction being really important.
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  Philanthropy, traditionally,
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  in a lot of instances, will invest in
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  people and that might be
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  able to change outcomes for a
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  household or two at a time. But
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  oftentimes, the community stays the same
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  and the next generation
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  may experience the same opportunity or
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  lack of opportunity that
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  existed for the one prior. You
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  invest in place alone. Sometimes the
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  public sector does that. The private
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  sector certainly does it.
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  But what you'll often see is the
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  phenomenon where the people that were
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  initially in that neighborhood
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  may be displaced or may have to leave. We
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  see programs as a bridge
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  to make sure we can wrap
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  around support for the people that live
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  in a neighborhood while
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  we are investing in place.
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  And it does come down to thinking about
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  all of the characteristics
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  from the public realm to the
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  development that exists, the quality of
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  housing that's in the
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  neighborhood, even education
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  strategies. Are there early learning
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  seats for everyone in the
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  neighborhood to make sure that
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  they get a healthy start on their
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  educational journey as well?
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  So really, again, all of those
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  three place programs and people in
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  conjunction with strategies
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  across housing, education,
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  health and wellness, and economic
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  vitality. Can you give an
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  example of a recent investment
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  that you believe is really paying off?
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  Yes, absolutely. And I'd
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  love to highlight some of
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  the amazing work of the partners that we
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  get to work with. As a foundation,
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  traditionally, we were
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  a responsive grant maker. We make grants
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  all across Palm Beach
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  County to organizations that
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  are doing amazing things. As we got
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  closer to working in Coleman
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  Park, we did know that there
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  are some gaps that existed maybe in the
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  services that were being
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  provided. So we launched our
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  stronger communities initiative, which
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  really allowed us to get
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  proactive to know that if a
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  program is needed and a partner is great
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  at doing it somewhere in the
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  county, can we bring them into
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  the neighborhood? So we work with a
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  number of great organizations. Some that
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  come to my top of mind
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  for me are Rose Trolley that are
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  providing transportation
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  services to those that might
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  need to get to medical appointments, to
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  their jobs, wherever they may need to go.
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  Inner City Innovators that are working
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  with people from some challenged
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  backgrounds that may have
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  some barriers ahead of them. But as their
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  motto says, they're making
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  sure that they're free and
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  alive by the age of 25 in the
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  neighborhood. We also work with Habitat
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  for Humanity to do home
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  repairs, make sure a home repair isn't
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  the reason somebody decides
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  to move out of their home or
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  their neighborhood where they may have
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  been for generations. And even
• 14:25:59
  neighborhood Renaissance
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  doing code enforcement assistance for
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  folks to make sure that if there is a
• 14:26:05
  challenge with their
• 14:26:05
  home, that that's resolved and the liens
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  are taken care of as
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  well. So that's just a few of
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  examples, let alone some amazing physical
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  projects and development
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  along the corridor as well.
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  That's amazing. Raphael, from your
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  perspective, from a city
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  planner point of view, how effective
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  is all this? Is this really working? Is
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  it something that is
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  really making a difference?
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  And if it is, how do we
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  increase its effectiveness?
• 14:26:32
  Yeah, it's only effective.
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  It's the only way to do it.
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  I'm sure like we all learned about
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  ecosystems, right, in biology class,
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  right, in high school
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  or college. A neighborhood is an
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  ecosystem. A city is an ecosystem. If all
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  the various elements aren't
• 14:26:53
  in place, you don't have a healthy
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  ecosystem. And the things living in that
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  ecosystem don't thrive.
• 14:26:58
  When you look at neighborhoods, you can,
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  as Camden said, there are
• 14:27:02
  all these layers that make it
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  succeed or fail and make people healthy
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  or not. So taking this
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  holistic approach is, I mean, it is
• 14:27:13
  for an organization like Quantum to do
• 14:27:16
  it. It not only took a lot of forethought
• 14:27:18
  and a lot of research,
• 14:27:20
  it took a lot of careful work to assemble
• 14:27:22
  the team in-house to
• 14:27:25
  do it and to gain the
• 14:27:27
  support of their board of directors to do
• 14:27:31
  it. But now that it's in
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  place, it is a partnership
• 14:27:36
  with the neighborhood to make these
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  investments over time to
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  improve not just the community,
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  but to improve the opportunities that are
• 14:27:43
  presented to the people there.
• 14:27:46
  And that ecosystem model is always
• 14:27:48
  present in my mind, as Camden
• 14:27:50
  said, it's people programs in
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  place. And we're not looking at just one
• 14:27:54
  or the other. We're
• 14:27:55
  looking at how does this all work
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  stack. Let me jump back a little bit just
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  so that we're clear.
• 14:28:01
  We've mentioned Quantum and
• 14:28:05
  obviously they're doing some amazing
• 14:28:07
  things. Let's rewind and talk a little
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  bit about how Quantum
• 14:28:10
  came to be and what exactly they are. It
• 14:28:14
  is. Yeah, absolutely.
• 14:28:16
  So Quantum Foundation was
• 14:28:18
  formed in the mid 90s out of the sale of
• 14:28:20
  JFK Hospital. We're what's
• 14:28:22
  known as a health conversion
• 14:28:25
  hospital. It's sold to a for-profit
• 14:28:28
  company. The proceeds from that purchase
• 14:28:32
  are supposed to stay
• 14:28:33
  in the community to benefit the
• 14:28:34
  community. So that is what
• 14:28:36
  created Quantum Foundation.
• 14:28:39
  And we've been around for about 30 years.
• 14:28:42
  We have invested $184
• 14:28:44
  million in grants and programs all
• 14:28:47
  across the county in that period of time
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  and still have about $170 million in
• 14:28:51
  assets that we continue
• 14:28:53
  to invest in the market. So we'll
• 14:28:54
  continue to be around and
• 14:28:55
  drive these great programs and
• 14:28:58
  partnerships across the county. And so
• 14:28:59
  your area of focus is Palm
• 14:29:01
  Beach County. It is Palm Beach
• 14:29:02
  County. Yes. So it sounds amazing. And so
• 14:29:05
  there is a reserve of
• 14:29:08
  monies that can be carefully
• 14:29:11
  picked and given to certain groups to
• 14:29:14
  help grow our health in our
• 14:29:17
  community. How do you define,
• 14:29:20
  how do you ascertain what groups are most
• 14:29:23
  effective and should be given a grant?
• 14:29:26
  Well, that's a great question. And to be
• 14:29:29
  honest, we always wish we
• 14:29:30
  had more resources because
• 14:29:31
  there's so many great programs that we
• 14:29:33
  wish we were able to fund
• 14:29:34
  and partner with all across
• 14:29:36
  the county. We have a number of different
• 14:29:38
  programs though that
• 14:29:40
  serve a lot of different
• 14:29:41
  nonprofits around the county. I'll
• 14:29:43
  highlight our Quantum in the Community
• 14:29:44
  program that actually
• 14:29:46
  has an open application right now. It is
• 14:29:48
  for smaller grassroots
• 14:29:50
  organizations that are providing
• 14:29:51
  basic needs services to those across the
• 14:29:54
  county. So that can be food,
• 14:29:55
  clothing, housing, financial
• 14:29:57
  assistance, transportation, and making
• 14:30:00
  sure that people have their
• 14:30:01
  basic needs covered, right?
• 14:30:02
  Because that really is the foundation of
• 14:30:04
  health. Proudly, we actually
• 14:30:06
  supported 140 organizations
• 14:30:08
  last year through that program to the
• 14:30:10
  tune of $1.25 million. We
• 14:30:14
  will be doing the same again. And
• 14:30:15
  Quantum's actually made a commitment to
• 14:30:16
  that program to continue
• 14:30:18
  to fund it for 10 years.
• 14:30:20
  I believe last year we funded 43
• 14:30:22
  organizations through that program in
• 14:30:24
  West Palm Beach alone.
• 14:30:26
  So it's been really impactful. And just
• 14:30:29
  again, to start making sure
• 14:30:30
  folks have their basic needs
• 14:30:32
  covered and then accelerate their
• 14:30:35
  opportunity forward. Beyond
• 14:30:37
  that, we have our regular grant
• 14:30:38
  making program where organizations at any
• 14:30:41
  time can submit an
• 14:30:42
  application to us. We have four
• 14:30:43
  cycles that we fund within. So as a team
• 14:30:46
  and alongside our
• 14:30:47
  grants committee and board,
• 14:30:49
  we do have to wrestle with what are the
• 14:30:51
  best programs that we can
• 14:30:53
  fund that can support our
• 14:30:54
  mission and also complement the work that
• 14:30:56
  we're doing in neighborhoods as well.
• 14:30:58
  Is there a possibility that some person
• 14:31:01
  who has resources that they have extra,
• 14:31:06
  we have a community where there's a lot
• 14:31:08
  of very well-off folks, can someone
• 14:31:10
  donate to what you do?
• 14:31:13
  Absolutely. I would say to talk to
• 14:31:14
  Raphael, because you have plenty of
• 14:31:17
  opportunities now for folks to
• 14:31:19
  co-invest with us. And I think what's
• 14:31:21
  exciting about this new
• 14:31:23
  realm of work that we're getting
• 14:31:25
  into, we don't need to fundraise, but we
• 14:31:27
  do want to maximize our
• 14:31:28
  impact. And as we get into work
• 14:31:30
  in community development in
• 14:31:31
  neighborhoods, we'll be able to access
• 14:31:34
  types of capital that philanthropy
• 14:31:36
  rarely does. Community development
• 14:31:38
  capital, public funds in
• 14:31:40
  some instances, private capital
• 14:31:42
  as well, all to make the division we have
• 14:31:45
  for the community a reality.
• 14:31:46
  And adding to what Kamen just said,
• 14:31:49
  Quantum created Palm Beach Venture
• 14:31:51
  Philanthropy, the division
• 14:31:52
  I've been recruited to lead for the
• 14:31:55
  purpose of assembling other capital,
• 14:31:58
  philanthropic or private
• 14:31:59
  capital, public collaborations as we have
• 14:32:03
  now with, collaborations
• 14:32:05
  with public entities as we have
• 14:32:06
  with West Palm Beach. Because
• 14:32:09
  philanthropy, the public sector, the
• 14:32:11
  private sector can't really do
• 14:32:13
  this work alone. This coalition model is
• 14:32:17
  what really makes it work.
• 14:32:19
  And I think the incredible
• 14:32:22
  advantage that philanthropy provides and
• 14:32:27
  what Quantum has stepped
• 14:32:29
  into this role is to take
• 14:32:31
  the risk that private capital probably
• 14:32:33
  wouldn't take and to work
• 14:32:36
  in a way that maybe public
• 14:32:38
  entities, cities, counties can't really
• 14:32:41
  work at that neighborhood
• 14:32:42
  community grassroots level
• 14:32:44
  and create a model, prove the model, and
• 14:32:47
  then invite everyone to the table to
• 14:32:49
  participate with us.
• 14:32:50
  So I think that's an important role for
• 14:32:53
  philanthropy to take is
• 14:32:54
  to assume some risk early
• 14:32:57
  and prove that these types of programs
• 14:33:00
  and projects really do work
• 14:33:02
  and then get others comfortable
• 14:33:04
  with that type of work. Is there an
• 14:33:06
  avenue for simple residents to become
• 14:33:08
  involved in this as well?
• 14:33:10
  Absolutely. If we're talking about
• 14:33:13
  residents of the
• 14:33:14
  communities that we're focused in,
• 14:33:16
  their involvement and their participation
• 14:33:18
  is key to our success. This
• 14:33:20
  is a resident led program.
• 14:33:24
  And a name we haven't yet mentioned is
• 14:33:26
  Rise Coleman Park. Rise
• 14:33:29
  Coleman Park is a purpose
• 14:33:30
  built communities program led by Upendo
• 14:33:32
  Shabazz and Ontario Johnson, OJ Johnson.
• 14:33:36
  And that model is a resident led
• 14:33:41
  community quarterback
• 14:33:43
  program first deployed in Atlanta
• 14:33:46
  about 30 years ago. Another bold move on
• 14:33:50
  columns part to support the
• 14:33:52
  creation of a purpose built
• 14:33:53
  program. So as this division that I lead
• 14:33:58
  Palm Beach Venture
• 14:33:58
  Philanthropy works to assemble
• 14:34:00
  properties, redevelop them with the
• 14:34:02
  support of the public and private sector,
• 14:34:05
  we will eventually move
• 14:34:06
  on from Coleman Park. The purpose built
• 14:34:08
  program remains there,
• 14:34:09
  stands hand in hand with the
• 14:34:11
  neighborhood and does the hard work to
• 14:34:13
  keep things going. So it's
• 14:34:14
  very important that at the
• 14:34:16
  beginning, the middle and the end, you
• 14:34:17
  have folks on the ground,
• 14:34:19
  people who are living in those
• 14:34:20
  neighborhoods, contributing and keeping
• 14:34:22
  the programs running.
• 14:34:24
  Absolutely. Yeah, for any
• 14:34:26
  community revitalization or investment
• 14:34:29
  program to truly work, it has to be
• 14:34:32
  authentic to the place.
• 14:34:34
  It has to reflect the needs and desires
• 14:34:36
  of the people that
• 14:34:37
  live in the neighborhood.
• 14:34:38
  It has to be culturally and historically
• 14:34:42
  in context. It has to
• 14:34:43
  be something that people
• 14:34:45
  feel they connect with. When we're
• 14:34:48
  talking about
• 14:34:48
  neighborhoods of persistent poverty,
• 14:34:51
  especially neighborhoods like Coleman
• 14:34:53
  Park, the historic
• 14:34:54
  Northwest, there is inevitably a trust
• 14:34:58
  gap. For a very long time, these folks
• 14:35:02
  have heard, we're here to
• 14:35:04
  help. We're going to make
• 14:35:05
  things change. We're going to bring
• 14:35:07
  investment. That hasn't always
• 14:35:09
  materialized. That's something
• 14:35:11
  that for sure the team at Quantum and the
• 14:35:14
  team at Rice-Culman Park
• 14:35:16
  take very, very seriously.
• 14:35:19
  That takes a patient, thoughtful approach
• 14:35:22
  that is in step with the
• 14:35:23
  neighborhood. We can't just come
• 14:35:25
  in and say, "Here's what we're going to
• 14:35:26
  do for you. This has to be
• 14:35:29
  with them." Do you have a
• 14:35:31
  favorite program that has been taking
• 14:35:33
  place that gets really close to your
• 14:35:35
  heart? Tell us about it.
• 14:35:36
  I'll let you touch maybe on the new one.
• 14:35:40
  I'll highlight one that
• 14:35:42
  was definitely instrumental
• 14:35:44
  in my role at the foundation, but just an
• 14:35:47
  inspiring project I
• 14:35:48
  was involved with, which
• 14:35:49
  is the restoration of the historic
• 14:35:51
  Roosevelt High School
• 14:35:52
  campus. Right along Tamron Avenue,
• 14:35:55
  the school district owns the site. It was
• 14:35:58
  the site of the
• 14:35:59
  historic Roosevelt High School
• 14:36:01
  that has just an amazing alumni base that
• 14:36:03
  grew out of it. It was the
• 14:36:04
  segregated black high school
• 14:36:06
  for much of Palm Beach County. So many
• 14:36:08
  folks came right into
• 14:36:09
  Coleman Park to really receive
• 14:36:11
  an amazing education. I got to spend a
• 14:36:13
  lot of time with the
• 14:36:14
  alumni of the historic Roosevelt
• 14:36:16
  High School, hearing the stories of how
• 14:36:19
  important that school was,
• 14:36:21
  how it was so central to the
• 14:36:24
  that was built. That school did close
• 14:36:27
  down during integration in
• 14:36:29
  1970 and has largely been
• 14:36:32
  vacant and underutilized for several
• 14:36:35
  decades since. Quantum Foundation was
• 14:36:38
  able to play a leading role
• 14:36:40
  in convening stakeholders from the
• 14:36:42
  district to other in the world of
• 14:36:45
  philanthropy and with those
• 14:36:46
  alumni to really cast a vision for what
• 14:36:49
  that campus could become moving forward.
• 14:36:51
  I'm so proud to announce
• 14:36:52
  that the school district has made a very
• 14:36:54
  large scale investment in
• 14:36:56
  revitalizing that campus.
• 14:36:58
  They're going to have an adult education
• 14:37:00
  center there restoring the
• 14:37:01
  original gymnasium and then
• 14:37:03
  Community Foundation for Palm Beach and
• 14:37:05
  Martin County is raising the
• 14:37:06
  balance of capital for phase
• 14:37:08
  two of the project, which will be the
• 14:37:10
  African American Museum and Research
• 14:37:12
  Library, which really
• 14:37:13
  will be an absolutely world-class
• 14:37:15
  facility. Just seeing everything come
• 14:37:18
  full circle for the alumni
• 14:37:20
  that fought for so long to restore their
• 14:37:22
  school and make sure it's
• 14:37:23
  an asset that really matches
• 14:37:26
  with the culture and identity of the
• 14:37:28
  community and a place to
• 14:37:29
  tell just the amazing history
• 14:37:31
  that that took place in that
• 14:37:33
  neighborhood, in the surrounding
• 14:37:34
  neighborhoods, something I've been
• 14:37:35
  really proud to be a part of and seeing
• 14:37:37
  come to life. It's really
• 14:37:38
  amazing to think about that
• 14:37:40
  school, which was lying derelict, being
• 14:37:43
  turned into a world-class
• 14:37:44
  facility. But what really
• 14:37:46
  about your story is that there are so
• 14:37:48
  many different little
• 14:37:50
  facets and different groups
• 14:37:52
  involved towards that one common goal and
• 14:37:54
  that's really amazing to
• 14:37:55
  see and really great to see.
• 14:37:57
  Thank you.
• 14:37:58
  What's yours?
• 14:37:59
  My, well the favorite, we just popped up
• 14:38:03
  a green market with
• 14:38:06
  fresh fruits and vegetables
• 14:38:09
  right on the street, right on Tamron
• 14:38:11
  Avenue at Tamron and 20th at a place
• 14:38:13
  called the Culture Yard
• 14:38:14
  on a piece of property that the city has
• 14:38:16
  granted us permission to use.
• 14:38:19
  It will be developed in the future, but
• 14:38:21
  in the interim, we have
• 14:38:23
  made it part of our mission to
• 14:38:25
  activate this space as beautifully and as
• 14:38:29
  connected with the
• 14:38:29
  neighborhood as we possibly can.
• 14:38:32
  I think there was a little hand-wringing
• 14:38:33
  in the lead-up because
• 14:38:35
  anytime you're starting something
• 14:38:37
  new, there's all the different parts and
• 14:38:38
  pieces. You don't know
• 14:38:39
  exactly how it's going to roll out,
• 14:38:41
  but it kicked off this past Saturday with
• 14:38:45
  Rice-Calman Park as a
• 14:38:46
  partner in an organization called
• 14:38:47
  Eat Better, Live Better and a whole slew
• 14:38:50
  of folks from the neighborhood that came
• 14:38:52
  out and volunteered.
• 14:38:53
  It was a resounding success even on a 90
• 14:38:58
  plus degree July day. People
• 14:39:01
  turned out in large numbers.
• 14:39:04
  And I think we all came away just
• 14:39:07
  completely enthused at what
• 14:39:09
  the potential is. And there's
• 14:39:12
  more coming on that site. It's a location
• 14:39:14
  called the Culture
• 14:39:14
  Yard. We're partnering with
• 14:39:17
  the Taylor Moxie Foundation for a pop-up
• 14:39:19
  library there on the site. We're
• 14:39:21
  beautifying that lot.
• 14:39:23
  That's really my passion is what is often
• 14:39:25
  called tactical urbanism.
• 14:39:28
  Can you use an underutilized
• 14:39:32
  turn it into something special and prove
• 14:39:34
  the concept and then build from that?
• 14:39:37
  And not only does it work in a space, but
• 14:39:40
  it's something that is
• 14:39:41
  contagious for the rest of the
• 14:39:42
  neighborhood. If you're in your
• 14:39:46
  neighborhood and you see somebody
• 14:39:48
  beautifying their stoop
• 14:39:50
  or their lawn, it's like a little bit of
• 14:39:53
  an invitation to you,
• 14:39:54
  right? Sure. You've got to step
• 14:39:55
  up. You've got to take a part. Exactly.
• 14:39:58
  So in doing this in this very visible way
• 14:40:00
  in the neighborhood,
• 14:40:02
  it's our hope that everyone's going to
• 14:40:05
  join in. In these two stories,
• 14:40:07
  one thing that pops out of me
• 14:40:08
  is that each one is unique. It's not
• 14:40:12
  cookie cutter. It's not, we're just doing
• 14:40:14
  this and we did this in
• 14:40:15
  another city. It's going to work here.
• 14:40:17
  These are custom tailored to the
• 14:40:20
  community. That really does
• 14:40:23
  make me feel how this is from the ground
• 14:40:27
  up, from the folks who
• 14:40:28
  live in the community,
• 14:40:29
  defining their needs and with your help
• 14:40:32
  coming up with
• 14:40:32
  solutions to improve situations.
• 14:40:35
  Thank you for recognizing that. And it
• 14:40:38
  absolutely is the case. We
• 14:40:40
  know there is a unique formula
• 14:40:42
  for every neighborhood that will work in.
• 14:40:45
  And a lot of times folks
• 14:40:47
  can look at a community like
• 14:40:48
  Coleman Park and there may be some
• 14:40:50
  deficits that exist in the
• 14:40:52
  neighborhood. And sometimes those
• 14:40:53
  are focused on, but I think within our
• 14:40:55
  work, we really want to focus on the
• 14:40:56
  assets that exist in
• 14:40:58
  the neighborhood. And I think that's why
• 14:40:59
  some of these unique
• 14:41:00
  programs exist from popping up a
• 14:41:03
  green market to what's going to be a
• 14:41:05
  37,000 square foot African-American
• 14:41:08
  museum and research library.
• 14:41:10
  But as we got closer to the community,
• 14:41:13
  heard more stories from
• 14:41:14
  the residents, we realized,
• 14:41:15
  there's just amazing assets that exist in
• 14:41:18
  the neighborhood of
• 14:41:18
  Coleman Park, starting with the
• 14:41:20
  people, but certainly within the place as
• 14:41:23
  well. So finding those
• 14:41:24
  unique solutions of how we can
• 14:41:26
  elevate those assets, make what's already
• 14:41:28
  great about a community even
• 14:41:29
  greater and emphasize those
• 14:41:31
  further has definitely been working well
• 14:41:33
  for us. To your
• 14:41:34
  experience, has the process of
• 14:41:36
  ascertaining a project, defining a
• 14:41:38
  project, does it come from the folks
• 14:41:41
  living in the community or
• 14:41:42
  can you visit a place and say, "Hey, this
• 14:41:45
  should be where you're
• 14:41:45
  headed." What's the combination?
• 14:41:47
  What do you guys do? Well, I mean, so
• 14:41:52
  it's both. There are things
• 14:41:56
  that you can go and I'll say
• 14:41:58
  diagnose. Certainly as an urban planner,
• 14:42:02
  I go and I look at a
• 14:42:03
  neighborhood and I try to see what
• 14:42:05
  assets do we have to work with and what's
• 14:42:07
  missing and what do we
• 14:42:08
  need to bring in. But from the
• 14:42:13
  perspective, the people piece, you have
• 14:42:15
  to ask them what do they
• 14:42:17
  want. And for us, that survey
• 14:42:19
  revealed safety was a key issue, fresh
• 14:42:22
  food was another key
• 14:42:22
  issue. And we made those our two
• 14:42:25
  priorities. Those are things that we
• 14:42:27
  could affect much faster than we could
• 14:42:31
  vertical development,
• 14:42:32
  right? Hence the pop-up market, hence the
• 14:42:35
  acquisition of a building that had a very
• 14:42:38
  bad operator in it, a convenience store
• 14:42:40
  that was causing a lot of
• 14:42:41
  problems. Not only did the
• 14:42:42
  neighborhood say it, our police
• 14:42:44
  department said it as well. So we're
• 14:42:48
  marrying those two things
• 14:42:49
  together to help improve safety and
• 14:42:52
  livability in the neighborhood and also
• 14:42:54
  bring that fresh food
• 14:42:55
  piece that both what residents said we
• 14:42:58
  need. From an
• 14:42:59
  infrastructure perspective, yeah, there's
• 14:43:02
  things that should be in Coleman Park
• 14:43:05
  that aren't there now, but
• 14:43:06
  that will be there. Neighborhood
• 14:43:09
  cleaner, more walkable streets, better
• 14:43:11
  street lighting. All
• 14:43:12
  these things happen over time
• 14:43:14
  and these are thoughtful, sometimes very
• 14:43:16
  significant investments that will be made
• 14:43:19
  through quantum's efforts, through other
• 14:43:21
  philanthropic efforts, through the city's
• 14:43:23
  efforts. But this is all developing over
• 14:43:26
  the course of a plan.
• 14:43:28
  Sure. And you know that
• 14:43:30
  this type of work, as you said, it is a
• 14:43:33
  creative process. Not
• 14:43:35
  meaning it's on the fly or
• 14:43:38
  making it up. It is data driven, but it's
• 14:43:42
  also backed by community
• 14:43:43
  input. So to develop that
• 14:43:46
  plan, to put this together, is a careful,
• 14:43:48
  thoughtful,
• 14:43:50
  step-by-step process. And I think
• 14:43:52
  it's important to reinforce that you're
• 14:43:55
  not just coming in, sort of dropping a
• 14:43:57
  project. There it is,
• 14:43:58
  and then you're off to the races. You're
• 14:44:00
  in the community for a long
• 14:44:02
  period of time. One project
• 14:44:05
  is only a phase of a multi-tiered
• 14:44:08
  project. And sometimes
• 14:44:10
  you can't see the next step
• 14:44:13
  until you're into this step. It's new.
• 14:44:18
  Very good. So how do people who might be
• 14:44:22
  hearing this podcast
• 14:44:24
  reach out and learn more and become
• 14:44:26
  involved in what you're doing?
• 14:44:29
  Well, I'd say they can find information
• 14:44:31
  about us on our website,
• 14:44:32
  quantumfnd.org. We'd love to have
• 14:44:35
  conversations with stakeholders, whether
• 14:44:37
  they're nonprofits that
• 14:44:38
  work across this county that
• 14:44:40
  might want to get involved, whether
• 14:44:42
  they're residents within the
• 14:44:43
  community, certainly plenty
• 14:44:44
  of opportunities for residents to get
• 14:44:47
  involved. But for just
• 14:44:49
  those that live in the city,
• 14:44:50
  I'd love for folks to learn more about
• 14:44:52
  Coleman Park, the
• 14:44:53
  amazing history that's there,
• 14:44:55
  the great work that is underway to
• 14:44:57
  revitalize the community.
• 14:44:59
  But we would be very open to
• 14:45:00
  conversations on that. Absolutely. I'm
• 14:45:02
  hoping that what'll happen
• 14:45:04
  is people are going to say,
• 14:45:05
  "Wow, we don't want Coleman Park to have
• 14:45:07
  all the glory here. We want
• 14:45:08
  you to come over here and help
• 14:45:09
  us as well." And that's part of your
• 14:45:11
  long-term goal. That is. Yes.
• 14:45:13
  So we are piloting our effort
• 14:45:15
  here in Coleman Park. As you mentioned,
• 14:45:17
  we're trying things out.
• 14:45:18
  We're evaluating them to see
• 14:45:20
  how effective they are. And then we do
• 14:45:23
  hope to go to other
• 14:45:24
  communities that are in need.
• 14:45:27
  We've identified across this county 24
• 14:45:31
  census tracts, smaller than
• 14:45:33
  a zip code, really the size
• 14:45:34
  neighborhood that are considered
• 14:45:37
  persistent poverty census
• 14:45:38
  tracts, which really means
• 14:45:40
  that greater than 20% of their population
• 14:45:43
  have been consistently in
• 14:45:44
  poverty for a period of over
• 14:45:46
  30 years. So really as a health
• 14:45:48
  foundation, where we look at where are
• 14:45:50
  some of our most challenged,
• 14:45:51
  maybe distressed communities, and where
• 14:45:54
  might we be able to take this model to
• 14:45:56
  go? We look at those
• 14:45:57
  census tracts across this county and hope
• 14:46:00
  that we'll be able to
• 14:46:00
  replicate some of the success
• 14:46:02
  that's been started in Coleman Park in
• 14:46:03
  those areas. But there
• 14:46:05
  is a set of prerequisites.
• 14:46:10
  They certainly exist where we're working
• 14:46:13
  now. The number one is,
• 14:46:16
  does the community embrace
• 14:46:18
  the approach we're taking and help us
• 14:46:20
  guide it? Yes. Do we have a strong
• 14:46:23
  working relationship with
• 14:46:24
  city leadership and staff? Yes. Thank
• 14:46:26
  goodness. Do we have the
• 14:46:29
  backing of our board and other
• 14:46:31
  agencies? Yes. So as Kamdyn said, this is
• 14:46:34
  our first approach.
• 14:46:35
  We're learning here and we're
• 14:46:36
  rolling out a model that will be
• 14:46:37
  replicated in other places, but we're
• 14:46:40
  going to get it right here
• 14:46:41
  first. West Palm Beach, way to go. At the
• 14:46:45
  end of every discussion,
• 14:46:47
  I'd like to open the mic up to
• 14:46:48
  both of you. If you do have a message to
• 14:46:50
  the folks of
• 14:46:51
  residents of West Palm Beach,
• 14:46:53
  now's the time to share it. What would
• 14:46:54
  you like to say to them?
• 14:46:56
  It's off the top of my head,
• 14:46:57
  that's where it's about. That's where it
• 14:46:59
  is. I think as a resident
• 14:47:02
  of the city, my wife and
• 14:47:04
  I and our family have been, as I said,
• 14:47:07
  pretty much our entire
• 14:47:08
  adult lives in West Palm,
• 14:47:12
  raising our family here. I think every
• 14:47:17
  resident of a city can play a role in
• 14:47:19
  making it a better place.
• 14:47:22
  No matter how big or small your ability
• 14:47:25
  is, your wallet is,
• 14:47:27
  everybody can do something that
• 14:47:31
  will make a meaningful change. That can
• 14:47:34
  be donating to a program, that can be
• 14:47:36
  picking up a piece of
• 14:47:37
  trash off the street. But when you think
• 14:47:41
  about cumulative impact, if
• 14:47:44
  I've learned anything in the
• 14:47:46
  25 years I've been working as a city
• 14:47:48
  planner in West Palm Beach,
• 14:47:51
  is that the public sector,
• 14:47:55
  the private sector, all the investment,
• 14:47:57
  all the projects that we
• 14:47:59
  talk about, that we measure,
• 14:48:00
  how much traffic, how much revenue, how
• 14:48:03
  much tax base, those are all really
• 14:48:05
  important data points.
• 14:48:06
  But the most important thing is people.
• 14:48:09
  That's what makes this
• 14:48:10
  succeed or fail. And the more
• 14:48:13
  people you have engaged in the process,
• 14:48:15
  the bigger your success
• 14:48:16
  is. Well said. Well said.
• 14:48:19
  And off the top of his head too, that's
• 14:48:20
  pretty good. Yeah. Well, one
• 14:48:23
  thing I do just want to do,
• 14:48:25
  there's been so many partnerships that
• 14:48:27
  have been able to make this
• 14:48:28
  happen. And I certainly can't
• 14:48:31
  name all of them, all the partners that
• 14:48:33
  have been around this effort
• 14:48:35
  for really years and years to
• 14:48:37
  a reality. I think of neighborhood
• 14:48:40
  renaissance opened up 43 affordable
• 14:48:42
  housing units just the
• 14:48:43
  last couple months, that the city was a
• 14:48:45
  huge part in making come to fruition.
• 14:48:48
  Community Foundation,
• 14:48:50
  like I mentioned, who's raising funds in
• 14:48:52
  the neighborhood for
• 14:48:53
  the museum, the healthcare
• 14:48:55
  district, the housing authority, just
• 14:48:57
  dozens and dozens of partners
• 14:48:59
  that I just want to say a big
• 14:49:00
  thank you to all of those that have been
• 14:49:02
  around this table on this
• 14:49:03
  journey with us. Because we
• 14:49:07
  are doing things differently. And for
• 14:49:08
  some of our partners, it means that
• 14:49:10
  they're doing things
• 14:49:10
  differently. But as we really are trying
• 14:49:12
  to find solutions uniquely
• 14:49:14
  tailored to a neighborhood,
• 14:49:16
  I think we're all becoming more effective
• 14:49:17
  at the work that we get
• 14:49:19
  to do. Hopefully, again,
• 14:49:21
  we'll be building partnerships that are
• 14:49:22
  resilient that can go to
• 14:49:24
  the next community as well.
• 14:49:26
  And sort of along the lines of what
• 14:49:28
  Rafael was saying is when you really
• 14:49:31
  shrink a problem down
• 14:49:32
  to a neighborhood itself, things can
• 14:49:35
  become so positive. And we
• 14:49:36
  live in a world where there's
• 14:49:37
  a lot out there, there's a lot of
• 14:49:39
  divisiveness, there's a lot of division.
• 14:49:41
  But when you get down
• 14:49:43
  to a community, whether and I'm someone
• 14:49:45
  from a different
• 14:49:45
  background than many of those that I
• 14:49:47
  get to work with in Coleman Park, but
• 14:49:49
  it's been such a pleasure to work with
• 14:49:51
  those folks. My life
• 14:49:52
  has been enriched so much from the work
• 14:49:54
  that I get to do. So I would
• 14:49:57
  just say to folks out there,
• 14:49:59
  like Rafael said, get involved in your
• 14:50:01
  neighborhood and your
• 14:50:01
  life's going to be better for it.
• 14:50:02
  Yeah.
• 14:50:04
  Camden and Rafael, thank you for spending
• 14:50:06
  the time with us today. What you're
• 14:50:08
  working on is inspiring
• 14:50:10
  and energizing. And I wish
• 14:50:11
  you both the very best of luck.
• 14:50:13
  Thanks. And it's been
• 14:50:14
  a pleasure joining you.
• 14:50:15
  Thank you so much for having us.
• 14:50:17
  And thank you for joining us. Inside West
• 14:50:19
  Palm Beach is a product
• 14:50:21
  of the city's communication department.
• 14:50:23
  I'm Jerry Marcello.
• 14:50:24
  We'll see you next time.