May 7, 2025 • 34 mins
Talked with Carmelle Chapman, Project Manager, Healthier Lake Worth Beach. It's a Palm Health Foundation Healthier Together community. The Healthier Together communities focus on different aspects of health based on the local community needs. Healthier Lake Worth Beach focuses on behavioral health. They are improving the behavioral health by revitalizing the community. With the help of community volunteers, HLWB has done community clean ups, created neighborhood crime watch, worked with local government/code enforcement to identify folks that need help and submit a referral to connect them with the service. They also, did a wide outreach about the fate of the unity wall. The residents, government, artists came to together and chose to keep the unity wall and they revitalized the wall to reflect the history and future of the city. For more information, to become a volunteer, make a donation or set up a company give back day, listeners can call Carmelle at 561-801-2182 or carmelle.lakeworth@htpbc.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
iHeart Communities presents Palm Beach Treasure Coast Perspective, which dead
and now good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to Calm Beach Treasure Coast Perspective. I'm your host,
dev Net. Thanks for spending your weekend with me. All
kinds of great things going on. Don't forget. It is
Get Your Green On Month to help raise awareness from
mental health awareness for the month of May. It is
also Haitian Heritage Month. And as part of that, you
can head over to the Mandel Public Library on Monday
May twelfth from six thirty to eight pm in their
(00:29):
big Clematis room and they can have this really cool
program called My Haitian Neighbor, a Cultural Handshake, and you
can meet local educator and author on Beadle David and
they're going to talk about Haitian culture and help honors
people and honor their heritage and how you can enjoy
some of the cultural things they do. And I think
that's cool. And then also at the Mandel they've got
(00:49):
a small business collab coming up on Friday May sixteenth,
and this one is for all the fan people. This
is cool. Saturday May twenty fourth, it is the Mandel
Fan and Fest. So all the different kinds of cosplays,
whether it's anime, Fortnite, if it's you know, Star Wars,
Star Trek, whatever your thing is. They're kind of a
fun fan fest day there at the library. You can
(01:11):
just come and your favorite outfit and do that. And
May's also Pacific Islander Awareness Month, so of course it's
part of that. The folks at the more Common Gardens
are doing a wonderful different events throughout the month, and
of course Mother's Day, fun day to go check out
the gardens. And speaking of mother Day, Mother's Day and
the gardens, Happy Mother's Day and all the moms out there.
(01:31):
Free admission to Mounts Botanical Garden on Mother's Day today,
so definitely check that out as well. And of course
Pumpage Cultural Section has a really cool event called Mosaic,
So May is Mosaic Month and it's featuring a bunch
of different artists and gardens and ways to enrich your life.
As part of Mosaic Month, the more Common Gardens is
(01:53):
actually doing a two dollars discount on general mission throughout
the entire month, so definitely want to check that out.
If you haven't been into More Comic Circle, check out
the tea ceremony, very beautiful, such a fun thing to
check out. And then of course also great things happening
throughout the month. We have the Art of Music Effect
the Art of Music Festival at Sunset Cove Amphitheater. Later
(02:16):
on today two o'clock in the afternoon, there's gonna be
a bike rodeo happening at Westgate Park and Recreation Center Friday,
May sixteenth. Freedm mission for that one, good for all ages,
starts at three thirty. We have the Secret Life of Plants.
It's a fun walk talking about wildflowers, and that's gonna
be happening at the River Bend Park in Jupiter, and
(02:36):
that's Saturday, May nineteenth at nine thirty am. This was
good for ages five in up and it's five dollars
per participant. You do need to make a reservation so
they have enough guides on hand to help you with that.
And then coming up on Saturday, May seventeenth, it is
World Water Safety Day, so there's freed mission to Lake
Lytel Family Aquatics Center, and of course we're gonna have
(02:59):
lots of booths and vendors talking about water safety and
how you can get your kids their swimming classes and
all that good stuff. Saturday, May seventeenth at seven pm
Freak live music event. It is Legends on the Lawn
and that's happening at the Canyon Amphitheater in Boyton. It's
going to be Dark Side of the Soul, which is
a tribute band for Pink Floyd. And then we have
(03:21):
a Butterfly Talk and tour happening at the Green Kay
Nature Center. That is Saturday, May twenty fourth, and nine
point thirty tai Chi at the South County Civic Center
in Delray Beach. There is functional fitness that happens at
the Morricami on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Lots of lots of
volunteer opportunities in the Palm Beach County Park, so if
you're interested, just reach out to them Pbcparks dot com
(03:45):
and they'll be happy to give you information about the
different events and how you can sign up to be
a volunteer. And of course, speaking of arts and the
fun Mosaic Month, our friends over at the North Museum
reached out. They're doing their fifth summer at the Norton
and part of that it starts off on the Memorial
Day weekend. And goes through Labor Day. But part of
that is free mission days, so definitely free days all
(04:08):
throughout the summer, so it's part of summer at the Norton.
Pump Beach County residents can receive free admission to the
Norton on Saturdays from May twenty fourth to August thirtieth,
and West Pump Beach City residents, it's always free every Saturday.
And then they're also doing a free admission on May
eighteenth as part of the National Museum Day, so they
went everybody to come out and check out all the
(04:29):
fun stuff. And they're doing a great fun community day
coming up on June fourteenth as part of the Juneteenth
Community Day and that's from eleven am to four pm.
And to find out more about that, simply go to
Norton dot org. Speaking fun things to do, we get
the Cravis Center. Lots of cool things happening there and
this one is almost sold out, so if you didn't
(04:49):
get your tickets, definitely get them today. It is the
Gospel Gala featuring Yolanda Adams. It is a wonderful show.
It is Saturday, May seventeenth at seven pm and then
they have Ciema Funk coming on Friday, May twenty third,
it's like Afro Cuban sounds really good vibe for that one.
And then coming up Sunday, June first, seventh pm, the
(05:11):
Cravit Center is celebrating the Dream Awards and this is
the high school Musical Theater Excellence. So you haven't come
out and support the kids for that one. So you
get your tickets at Cravis dot org. And while you're
there you can also find out about like their Lunch
and Learn series, their Adults at Leisure, all the great
crafts on Broadway series that are shows are coming for
next year. And don't forget City of Fort Pierce is
(05:34):
launching their free community workshop series, so starting on May fifteenth.
That first one is Disaster Relief Workshop. See if you've
had any kind of issues, they help you with the
paperwork and what you need to do. May twenty ninth
is going to be Property Appraiser Workshop. June twenty fourth
is pest Mitigation Workshop, and there's gonna be No Your
(05:55):
Rights as a Tenant Part one and two in June
and July, and then July thirty four is a credit
repair workshop. For details on that, reach out to Caitlin
seven seven to two seven four to two ninety eight
thirty five, and she can give you all the details
on that. Oh and they're looking for volunteers for their
Restoring the Village neighborhood cleanup on May seventeenth. If you're
(06:17):
available to help with that, simply go to info at
Restoring the Village dot com and email them and let
them know you're available to do that. Oh, okay, and
this is cool. The Saint Lucie County Master Gardeners are
partnering with the Saint Lucy Mets May twenty second for
a fundraiser. So basically, if you buy tickets for the
Mets game, they're donating a portion of the proceeds for
(06:38):
the Master Gardeners to help rebuild their buildings that were
damaged in the hurricane. More details on that, reach out
to Danielle seven seven to two four six two sixteen sixty.
Saint Lucie County Animal Safety is offering their third annual
Chip Your Pet Month event, so to help promote micro
tripping safety for your pets, the County's Animals Safety Division
(07:00):
is offering free microchips for residents who reside within the
unincorporated areas of Saint Lucie County throughout the month of
May and it's every Thursday, and residents who live within
the city limits can also participate. It's just ten dollars
per pet if you live inside. For more information, reach
out to Eric seven seven to two four six two
(07:21):
seventeen ninety one and he can tell you all the
information you need to bring with you. Speaking of more information,
I want to welcome my guest for today. I have
Carmel Chapman, project director for Healthier Lake Worth Beach. Good morning,
Good morning, So I fill the listeners and I in
what is Healthier.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Lakeworth Healthier Equood Beach is. It's a community driven initiative,
residence led initiative. It is focusing on behavioral health. It
is an initiative to web residents come together to discuss
and define what their behavioral health is light for them
(08:02):
and their quote beach. So as they define it right,
they together they continue talking to create solution to improve
on their behavioral health. And that is how the definition
is for them. So that is healthier they quote beach.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
So we were talking a little bit before the show. You
were saying part of like where they live, you know,
impacts your health, your mental health, your behavioral health. So
some of the areas, and like word, there's a substance
abuse issues. People don't feel safe at night, going to
the park and walking. So these are some of the
concerns that the citizens had, right yep.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So there's all some of the concerns. It's their community's conditions,
how their community condition is being impacted with the crime,
with the homelessness, with doug use, with prostitucians, and they
just want an area where they're kids, they can walk,
they can feel safe, they want to be able to socialize,
(09:07):
go to a park, walk in their neighborhood without having
to fear that they could get attacked or somebody is
going or their kids walking to school without some being
approached by somebody trying to sell them drugs or trying
to recruit them to become, you know, a dog sealer
for them.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
So because that issues there, their behavioral health, they're a
dressing it kind of like a unique way.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
In a very unique one, in a non traditional way.
So what they're doing is addressing at the root cause
of the issues by cleaning up their neighborhoods. They started
with clean up initiatives because they felt like they feel like,
if you know they're living in a clean, green looking community,
(09:53):
this community will less likely to attract undesirable people.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Which makes perfect sense. So, like you said, they're watching
like citywide cleanups or like specific neighborhood cleanups, and like
if I live there, I can come volunteer, or if
I don't live there, I can still come volunteer and help.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Right of course, it's neighbors helping neighbors. So the way
they the lake would beach presidents did it. We started,
they sorted with two or three neighborhoods participating in those cleanups,
and now they have about eleven neighborhoods doing cleanups, and
each neighborhood they will have their cleanups monthly and at
a different time, and they all come and help each other.
(10:33):
So let's say that, for example, there's one neighborhood called
Whispering Palms. When we spring Palms is having their cleanup,
you have people from the north end that come and
help with spraying palms and vice versa. They do the
same thing. So it's this is really what you call
a community collaboration. You know, people coming together using their
(10:54):
heads the gifts of their gifts of heads hard than hands,
you know, to make you know, a community a cleaner,
a greener, safer community.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I think it's a great way to do.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
That's so clever it is. And you know what, there
are a lot of research that talk about that. But
the amazing thing is that the lake Would Beach people,
they didn't need those research, you know, to here to
understand that how their lives are being impacted by behavioral health.
(11:26):
You know, they came up with it all by themselves
and they have actually changed the conversation about behavioral health
across Bombach County because when we started in twenty seventeen,
when the community started to get together, you know, to
focused groups, you know, to individual key individual interviews, you know,
(11:50):
asking them what is what does a healthy community look
like to them? If we have a healthier equal beach,
what will a healthier liquid beach look like to you?
You know, And they all talk about the issues that
lake was having, you know, and those are the you know,
that was the issues that were impacting the social emotional
(12:12):
lives of the residents of lake Wood Beach and they
all came up with one vision, you know, of to
clean lake Wood beach and they created clean up initiatives,
which is.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Just fantastic exactly. And then now they're working in conjunction
with local government law enforcement to help work as a
unit exactly which and what you said, they have crime
Want Neighbor Crime Watch now and.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Yep, when they started. So actually, when they started, you know,
a lot of the Lake Worth Beach issues, the community's conditions,
a lot of you had to do with infrastructure also,
so the residents understood that if they were going to
address those issues, you know, they had to invite you know,
(13:05):
they had to build relationship with city leaders, you know,
the commissioners, the mayors, you know, PBS or local pbs.
So so they understood that we have to work together
to actually resolve those issues. And once they started the
(13:25):
cleanup initiative, they did it really smart actually, because as
they were doing those cleanups, they were thinking about, Okay,
what kind of permanent solution can we you know, can
we get because we're not going to spend the rest
of our lives doing cleanups. We won't do it, but
we don't want to do it as often. So they
saw that in identifying where the trash was being piled up,
(13:49):
like coming back more often. Okay, So okay, these areas
they have, you know, after they do clean up two
three days, it's bad. So how can we resolve these issues?
So they decided that they were going to put trash
can So with the dollars, you know, with the grand
dollars from Palm Health Foundation, they are able to leverage
(14:12):
their resources to doing the stuff that they needed to do,
you know, to improve their neighborhood. So we partnered with
the City of Lakewood Beach, the Public Work Department, who
assisted us on identifying those areas or to put those
trash cans and also making sure that they're not being
(14:34):
put on properties that are owned privately, that those properties
are owned by the city. And they actually ordered those
trash can for us, and they placed them, they install them.
So do you see how we work together. The community
identified a partlement, they came up with their own solutions,
(14:59):
healthier equal Beach. With the money from Palm Health Foundation,
we are able to sponsor the materials and the city installed.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Are perfectly nice dovetailing.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Exactly, and if you walk in those areas nowadays, it's clean.
This has been happening since two thousand and seven. Twenty eighteen.
It is clean, they are no trash, you know trash
or it's a clean area. Good job.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
So then speaking clean areas, there's another initiative you guys,
you've been working with. And some people have stress as well.
Sometimes they get older, they have health issues and they
maybe can't keep up their yard as well as they
can't need to. Where there's some housing issues that need prepared.
So code enforcement becomes involved.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Code enforcement becomes involved, and how are.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
We helping people people with that? Because I know that's
like another area you're a dressing.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
This is the reason why the Neighborhood Health which is
one of the action work from created by I don
members of Healthier Litwood Beach that address issues neighborhood issues
such as cub appeal and trash and community facades whatever,
(16:16):
however the residents want to resolve their issues, you know,
if it had to do with their home, the area
where they live, their neighborhood, it's part of the Neighborhood Health.
So after so many years of working together of improving
the streets of lake Wood Beach, the neighborhood of Lakewood Beach,
(16:37):
so residents started talking about sustainability with the sustainability. They
came up with different projects and they realized that code
enforcement was an issue to where residents didn't have a
relationship with Code Compliance Division, right because residents saw code
(16:58):
as the enemy. Right, So how do we work together again,
you know, to sustain the work that has been done,
but also to help the people who have been living
in their home the entire life. They lost a husband
or the loss of wives, the loss of partner and
health they have to deal with health or it even
(17:22):
if the two of them are living, you know one
of them is facing health issue. Whoever used to do
the work cannot do it anymore and now you know
they're being hit by code and everybody is best off
exactly right, So how do we work together to help
these people so healthier? Equald Beach community members came up
(17:44):
with the idea, why don't we approach code and find
out how can we help them? And how can we
bring all resources together to walk and to help up
the vulnerable ones because they are the one being impacted
the most. So this is we create a work partnership
(18:09):
to where like we we have a guidelines, who is eligible,
who's not eligible? What do you need to do to
get the assistant and we create a referral, a referral
process to well out. Now what it does. The outcomes
are residents are getting educated right about code and the
(18:30):
building relationship with code, and it forces God to build
a relationship with them too by knocking on the door.
And as the resident, I noticed that I've came by
many times and we've given you a warning and you
have not fixed the issues. How can we help you?
What do you need to get the issue fixed to
(18:52):
get into compliance? You know, if the residents said, well,
you know, this is what's going on. So Code actually
contact healthier liquid beaches and a referral. But what that
does is not only that Colde gets to know about
many residents who are facing issues in Lakewood Beach, but
also they are practicing code compassion. And then residents are
(19:17):
seeing that once we approach them, we do the work
and they see how beautiful the front of their home is.
They have that pride again of their home as they're coming,
if they go out they're coming, they see that, oh
this is so beautiful. I didn't know my home could
look like that. So they're actually seeing that code is
not the enemy, you know. So everybody's walking together and
(19:40):
that's all we can sustain Laquald to keep looking beautiful.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And I think it's fantastic. And I like how Code
is going out and talking with them saying, this is
the issues, these are the reasons. What can we do
to help? What is your issue that you need help with?
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Exactly?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And like you said, in a lot of cases, the
partner that was older is doing the lawn. He's had
heart attack, he can't mow the lawn anymore. All of
a sudden, the lawn is overgrown and they don't have
the money to pay somebody to do the one because
they're on a fixed income. Ye like, lots of different issues.
So I like how you created that synergy. But then
(20:14):
Code comes out talks them and then they can actually
submit a referral. And you guys have volunteers to go
out and help exactly.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
And there's a lot of residents that believe it or
not that a lot of the residents that will helped,
they are all fifty five and over and they are
all on a fixed income. They barely making it. What
they receive is just to pay the mortgage if they
(20:41):
have a mortgage, or pay their taxes. And each of
the food banks because that's where they get their food.
It's exactly so when we talk to them, it's like
or when they talk to a healthier egal journey. I
go and knock on the door and say, I get
this referral from code, and it's like a god sent
to them. Oh my god, you can help me. Sometimes
(21:02):
it's hard for them to believe what's in it for me.
You know, it's especially this day and age. You know,
people cannot twust each other because but you know, they
actually right away said, okay, you know this is you.
Just do whatever you can do to help me. I'm
giving they some of them will say I want to help.
(21:24):
I don't want to take it for granted. Whatever I
can contribute, I will contribute. And there are some who
will contribute today to the dollars that you know we
spend you know, on them on their home.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
And that's fantastic as well. And like they're obviously you're
talking about the research. There's lots of research that shows
that if you volunteer wherever it is, for whatever it is,
you volunteer for you as to volunteer get a great
health benefit from volunteering. It helps you with your mental
health and your physical health, and you're also doing a
(21:57):
really good thing to help out your neighbors. So for
folks who want to be volunteers, how do they become
a volunteer with healthier like worthpach.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
They can always call me at five six one eight
zero one two one eight two, or they can go
they can reach me via email also, which is called
mail c A R M E. L L E. Dot
lake Worth at h T PBC dot org.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I will have that for folks if you need it,
you can reach out to me.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
And you know what, we take all kinds of volunteers.
I mean, it doesn't matter what you have. If you
you know, whether you have a gift of carpenter, you know, landscaping, painting.
Were always looking for these partners who are going to
work with us. You know, we do have partners that
(22:50):
you know we pay, but they do it for other
discounted pipes.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Right So also so yeah, also businesses like iHeart, we
have a a give back day where we pick a
charity and we all go and work there for the
day and donate our time. Right but we do it
as a company. So it's a great team building thing.
So I have a lot of businesses listening. I totally
recommend it. It's a fun way to donate your time
(23:16):
as a company to help out or if they want
to be like maybe like a financial sponsor to pay
for some of these renovations. Because I know you have
funding for Palm Health, but every little bit extra you
get is one more person you can help.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Yes, true, that's true.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
And another thing we were talking about before the show,
which I think is just fascinating and I'm not sure
a lot of people realize, is we were talking about
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. You guys received an award
from them, but they have a thing where based on
where you live, they've done research. It determines how long
you live based on your access to medical services or
(23:56):
like a healthier neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
So what word did they give you for Robert Johnson.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
It was a Culture of Health price award. It is. Actually,
it wasn't just healthier egual beach. It was a combination
of major organizations, non profit organizations such as Palm Health Foundation,
the Children's Services Council, the Health Department, the American Heart Association,
(24:26):
and all the healthier to get the communities as you know,
there are six Healthier to get the communities across Palm
Beach County. So it's it's a combination of all the
work that has been done to improve on health and
also residents, you know, to improve on community health based
(24:49):
on how residents want to improve on their health and
that work was has been It's a partnership. It's in
the sense that how the walk has been done and
how it has changed communities, you know, lives of residents
across Bom Beach County. That's what led us to you know,
(25:12):
to win that prize and Healthier Liquood Beach case is
it's the Unity Wall. I don't know if you ever
heard about the Unity Wall and lake Wood Beach.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
It it used to be like the segregation wall, correct
I I understand my history.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Well, it is a wall that was used to separate
the blacks, the whites from the blacks. It is the
actually a segregation wall, uh to where like you know,
it was a division wall and now it became a
wall that unites you know, people, so in the war
actually is on Wingfield strip right, and it's on one side.
(25:52):
It is kind of a fence for homes that are
built on the other side of the wall, and on
the other side is a street. It's facing a street,
which is a Wingfield Street. So when the war in
nineteen ninety two, a bunch of people's schools, artists, students, parents, friends,
(26:13):
they all came and depended on the wall. They added
some arts on the wall. The wall is about eleven
hundred and seventy five feet long, but since nineteen ninety
two the war had not been maintained, so it became
an eyesore in the community. But also because that the
war caused so much pain in the community. Back in
(26:36):
those days, a lot of people had ill feelings about
the wall. Some of the residents they wanted it to
be brought down, and some of the residents they wanted
to turn it into something else. But especially the homeowners
because it gave them them privacy from the Wainfield Street,
they wanted the wall to stay. But after much conversation,
(26:57):
nobody could come to a cont senses to do anything.
So the wall stayed there and nothing ever happened. So
in twenty twenty one, during COVID, we got the community together.
We had conversation. We talk about what do you want
to do because the war was leaning. You know, the paint,
(27:21):
the arts were faded, and everybody they knew that people
would identify the war as like, you know, this is
the sign that you're in the ghetto. Wants to see
the wall in that area it's at the south end.
So we had long conversation. Healthier Equid Beach did visioning,
(27:43):
invite so many people to the table, you know, get
consents from the residents, you know, about what to do
with the war, and get partners the City of Equid
Beach PBS. So we engaged over seventy five professional artists,
(28:03):
you know, to come and revitalize the war. But we
did not do that without engaging the residents who lived there.
Because there are so many residents who actually went to
what the war, what happened with that wall back in
those days in the nineteen sixties, nineteen fifties, and or
(28:26):
if they didn't go to if they were too young,
they have parents who went to the you know saega
of you know, racism and things like that. So you know,
they when they talk about during those meetings, they will
talk about their pains. And each time we did four
months visioning to find out how they wanted the wall,
(28:49):
what they wanted what story they wanted the wall to
say to tell. You know, if someone is visiting Lakewood
Beachy come to see this war, how do you want
them to understand the story by looking at the pictures
that are on the wall. So everybody started sharing. You know,
I love that everybody started sharing what they wanted to see.
(29:10):
People were saying, well, you know, you know, yes the
wall caused a lot of pain, but we don't want
to dwell too much on it. We want to talk
about it a little bit, and then we want a
vibrant wall. Some of the people will say, well, why
can't we have walls that look like Palm Beach, you know,
why can't all wall be painted or art can why
(29:31):
can't art be added by professional artists? You know, So
everybody started sharing their ideas. People started bringing photos for magazines,
you know, and this is what I want to see.
And so now the wall now is telling the community's story.
It starts with undiscovered lake worse Lakewood Beach, you know,
(29:53):
with you know, civil right activists who actually pave the
road for you know, us to be leaving how we're
living right now freedom and then to you know, historic
monuments that are in the community like buildings, you know, schools,
you know, and then and then to what the community represents,
(30:15):
because the community now is a diverse community. It represents
so many different cultures. So the wall now is showing
pictures that embrace all the cultures that live in Lakewood Beach.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
So it's a very inclusive and unifying world. So that's
the Unity Wall exactly.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
And it's so beautiful and it brings people, you know,
it's it creates so many inclusions because this is a
community where people were afraid of walking in that community
after five o'clock or the people just didn't want to
be found in that community. And now you walk into
this community, people you see all you know, all colors.
(30:55):
The kids are very proud. They actually says that, you know,
we live in a very nice community. Now the wall
makes all community nice, agree, you know, and yet another
example of healthier lake Worth Beach Exactly. That's what I
was going to say.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yep, Yes, I love how you guys have been doing
such very cool things that they are truly inclusive of
all the members of the community. If everybody comes discusses
the problem what they see as a potential solution, and
then you found all these different ways to make that
happen with like your grassroots movement and then involving the
(31:33):
infrastructure of the government employee you know, the mayors and
the PbSO and all the code enforcement folks that are helping. Now, yeah,
I like that, the concept that everybody's now helping and
working together.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Yes, and before that that was one of the issues
also that people identified that there was no collaboration, that
residents input was not being taken into consideration, that cheer
leaders did not sick you know, resident input. But guess
what the community did. They get rid of the silly
(32:05):
leaders and now they have cities they voted in. They
voted out the cilly leaders who didn't think that, you know,
they know what's best for their community. But you know,
residents know what's best for them. Oh, yes, you know,
because they are. The way I approach this walk is that,
you know, residents are the context experts. They're all telling
(32:29):
me their stories and my role is to listen and
I'm the content expert. So what you know, once they
tell me what they need to address their issues and
how they want to do it, then all I do is,
you know, then I provided you know, people to get
to bring the people, so I'm kind of like the
connector for them.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Yeah. We had a discussion the other week on the
show was like, we're the conjunction, like a conjunction junction
function Frock when we were a little Yeah, so that's
our job is, Like, my job is have people on
the show share what you do with the community so
they know what's available.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
So for folks that are listening, how do they reach
out to you guys again for a healthier like Worth
Beach or Palm Health Foundation to get more information.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Well, we do. We actually do have another number for
Healthier Liquid Beach, but but I always prefer to give
my personal number because to me, this job is so personal,
right because it's about relationship building. But again it's five
six one eight zero one two one eight two or
(33:37):
they can reach me via email car Mail dot lake
Worth at HTPBC dot org.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Well, thank you for coming in and sharing all the
information with us, for doing such a cool thing in
the community. It's obviously very much needed and definitely very
much appreciated.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
Thank you so much for having.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Us and if you need more information, reach out to me.
Palm Beach Perspective at iHeartMedia dot Com and I'm happy
to for it on all the details and don't forget
you can always download the shows a podcast on our
iHeartRadio app. I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend. I'm
dev Nev and this has been my perspective. Remember life
is good, so be your healthiest view and let's get
(34:16):
out there and live it.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Until next week, enjoy.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
iHeart Communities, the community engagement arm of the station, champions
critical issues and causes in the area of health and wellness,
social impact, education, literacy, and music and art. Join us
next week from Palm Beach. Treasure Cost Perspective
iHeart Communities presents Palm Beach Treasure Coast Perspective, which dead
and now good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Welcome to Calm Beach Treasure Coast Perspective. I'm your host,
dev Net. Thanks for spending your weekend with me. All
kinds of great things going on. Don't forget. It is
Get Your Green On Month to help raise awareness from
mental health awareness for the month of May. It is
also Haitian Heritage Month. And as part of that, you
can head over to the Mandel Public Library on Monday
May twelfth from six thirty to eight pm in their
(00:29):
big Clematis room and they can have this really cool
program called My Haitian Neighbor, a Cultural Handshake, and you
can meet local educator and author on Beadle David and
they're going to talk about Haitian culture and help honors
people and honor their heritage and how you can enjoy
some of the cultural things they do. And I think
that's cool. And then also at the Mandel they've got
(00:49):
a small business collab coming up on Friday May sixteenth,
and this one is for all the fan people. This
is cool. Saturday May twenty fourth, it is the Mandel
Fan and Fest. So all the different kinds of cosplays,
whether it's anime, Fortnite, if it's you know, Star Wars,
Star Trek, whatever your thing is. They're kind of a
fun fan fest day there at the library. You can
(01:11):
just come and your favorite outfit and do that. And
May's also Pacific Islander Awareness Month, so of course it's
part of that. The folks at the more Common Gardens
are doing a wonderful different events throughout the month, and
of course Mother's Day, fun day to go check out
the gardens. And speaking of mother Day, Mother's Day and
the gardens, Happy Mother's Day and all the moms out there.
(01:31):
Free admission to Mounts Botanical Garden on Mother's Day today,
so definitely check that out as well. And of course
Pumpage Cultural Section has a really cool event called Mosaic,
So May is Mosaic Month and it's featuring a bunch
of different artists and gardens and ways to enrich your life.
As part of Mosaic Month, the more Common Gardens is
(01:53):
actually doing a two dollars discount on general mission throughout
the entire month, so definitely want to check that out.
If you haven't been into More Comic Circle, check out
the tea ceremony, very beautiful, such a fun thing to
check out. And then of course also great things happening
throughout the month. We have the Art of Music Effect
the Art of Music Festival at Sunset Cove Amphitheater. Later
(02:16):
on today two o'clock in the afternoon, there's gonna be
a bike rodeo happening at Westgate Park and Recreation Center Friday,
May sixteenth. Freedm mission for that one, good for all ages,
starts at three thirty. We have the Secret Life of Plants.
It's a fun walk talking about wildflowers, and that's gonna
be happening at the River Bend Park in Jupiter, and
(02:36):
that's Saturday, May nineteenth at nine thirty am. This was
good for ages five in up and it's five dollars
per participant. You do need to make a reservation so
they have enough guides on hand to help you with that.
And then coming up on Saturday, May seventeenth, it is
World Water Safety Day, so there's freed mission to Lake
Lytel Family Aquatics Center, and of course we're gonna have
(02:59):
lots of booths and vendors talking about water safety and
how you can get your kids their swimming classes and
all that good stuff. Saturday, May seventeenth at seven pm
Freak live music event. It is Legends on the Lawn
and that's happening at the Canyon Amphitheater in Boyton. It's
going to be Dark Side of the Soul, which is
a tribute band for Pink Floyd. And then we have
(03:21):
a Butterfly Talk and tour happening at the Green Kay
Nature Center. That is Saturday, May twenty fourth, and nine
point thirty tai Chi at the South County Civic Center
in Delray Beach. There is functional fitness that happens at
the Morricami on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Lots of lots of
volunteer opportunities in the Palm Beach County Park, so if
you're interested, just reach out to them Pbcparks dot com
(03:45):
and they'll be happy to give you information about the
different events and how you can sign up to be
a volunteer. And of course, speaking of arts and the
fun Mosaic Month, our friends over at the North Museum
reached out. They're doing their fifth summer at the Norton
and part of that it starts off on the Memorial
Day weekend. And goes through Labor Day. But part of
that is free mission days, so definitely free days all
(04:08):
throughout the summer, so it's part of summer at the Norton.
Pump Beach County residents can receive free admission to the
Norton on Saturdays from May twenty fourth to August thirtieth,
and West Pump Beach City residents, it's always free every Saturday.
And then they're also doing a free admission on May
eighteenth as part of the National Museum Day, so they
went everybody to come out and check out all the
(04:29):
fun stuff. And they're doing a great fun community day
coming up on June fourteenth as part of the Juneteenth
Community Day and that's from eleven am to four pm.
And to find out more about that, simply go to
Norton dot org. Speaking fun things to do, we get
the Cravis Center. Lots of cool things happening there and
this one is almost sold out, so if you didn't
(04:49):
get your tickets, definitely get them today. It is the
Gospel Gala featuring Yolanda Adams. It is a wonderful show.
It is Saturday, May seventeenth at seven pm and then
they have Ciema Funk coming on Friday, May twenty third,
it's like Afro Cuban sounds really good vibe for that one.
And then coming up Sunday, June first, seventh pm, the
(05:11):
Cravit Center is celebrating the Dream Awards and this is
the high school Musical Theater Excellence. So you haven't come
out and support the kids for that one. So you
get your tickets at Cravis dot org. And while you're
there you can also find out about like their Lunch
and Learn series, their Adults at Leisure, all the great
crafts on Broadway series that are shows are coming for
next year. And don't forget City of Fort Pierce is
(05:34):
launching their free community workshop series, so starting on May fifteenth.
That first one is Disaster Relief Workshop. See if you've
had any kind of issues, they help you with the
paperwork and what you need to do. May twenty ninth
is going to be Property Appraiser Workshop. June twenty fourth
is pest Mitigation Workshop, and there's gonna be No Your
(05:55):
Rights as a Tenant Part one and two in June
and July, and then July thirty four is a credit
repair workshop. For details on that, reach out to Caitlin
seven seven to two seven four to two ninety eight
thirty five, and she can give you all the details
on that. Oh and they're looking for volunteers for their
Restoring the Village neighborhood cleanup on May seventeenth. If you're
(06:17):
available to help with that, simply go to info at
Restoring the Village dot com and email them and let
them know you're available to do that. Oh, okay, and
this is cool. The Saint Lucie County Master Gardeners are
partnering with the Saint Lucy Mets May twenty second for
a fundraiser. So basically, if you buy tickets for the
Mets game, they're donating a portion of the proceeds for
(06:38):
the Master Gardeners to help rebuild their buildings that were
damaged in the hurricane. More details on that, reach out
to Danielle seven seven to two four six two sixteen sixty.
Saint Lucie County Animal Safety is offering their third annual
Chip Your Pet Month event, so to help promote micro
tripping safety for your pets, the County's Animals Safety Division
(07:00):
is offering free microchips for residents who reside within the
unincorporated areas of Saint Lucie County throughout the month of
May and it's every Thursday, and residents who live within
the city limits can also participate. It's just ten dollars
per pet if you live inside. For more information, reach
out to Eric seven seven to two four six two
(07:21):
seventeen ninety one and he can tell you all the
information you need to bring with you. Speaking of more information,
I want to welcome my guest for today. I have
Carmel Chapman, project director for Healthier Lake Worth Beach. Good morning,
Good morning, So I fill the listeners and I in
what is Healthier.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Lakeworth Healthier Equood Beach is. It's a community driven initiative,
residence led initiative. It is focusing on behavioral health. It
is an initiative to web residents come together to discuss
and define what their behavioral health is light for them
(08:02):
and their quote beach. So as they define it right,
they together they continue talking to create solution to improve
on their behavioral health. And that is how the definition
is for them. So that is healthier they quote beach.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
So we were talking a little bit before the show. You
were saying part of like where they live, you know,
impacts your health, your mental health, your behavioral health. So
some of the areas, and like word, there's a substance
abuse issues. People don't feel safe at night, going to
the park and walking. So these are some of the
concerns that the citizens had, right yep.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So there's all some of the concerns. It's their community's conditions,
how their community condition is being impacted with the crime,
with the homelessness, with doug use, with prostitucians, and they
just want an area where they're kids, they can walk,
they can feel safe, they want to be able to socialize,
(09:07):
go to a park, walk in their neighborhood without having
to fear that they could get attacked or somebody is
going or their kids walking to school without some being
approached by somebody trying to sell them drugs or trying
to recruit them to become, you know, a dog sealer
for them.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
So because that issues there, their behavioral health, they're a
dressing it kind of like a unique way.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
In a very unique one, in a non traditional way.
So what they're doing is addressing at the root cause
of the issues by cleaning up their neighborhoods. They started
with clean up initiatives because they felt like they feel like,
if you know they're living in a clean, green looking community,
(09:53):
this community will less likely to attract undesirable people.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Which makes perfect sense. So, like you said, they're watching
like citywide cleanups or like specific neighborhood cleanups, and like
if I live there, I can come volunteer, or if
I don't live there, I can still come volunteer and help.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Right of course, it's neighbors helping neighbors. So the way
they the lake would beach presidents did it. We started,
they sorted with two or three neighborhoods participating in those cleanups,
and now they have about eleven neighborhoods doing cleanups, and
each neighborhood they will have their cleanups monthly and at
a different time, and they all come and help each other.
(10:33):
So let's say that, for example, there's one neighborhood called
Whispering Palms. When we spring Palms is having their cleanup,
you have people from the north end that come and
help with spraying palms and vice versa. They do the
same thing. So it's this is really what you call
a community collaboration. You know, people coming together using their
(10:54):
heads the gifts of their gifts of heads hard than hands,
you know, to make you know, a community a cleaner,
a greener, safer community.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I think it's a great way to do.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
That's so clever it is. And you know what, there
are a lot of research that talk about that. But
the amazing thing is that the lake Would Beach people,
they didn't need those research, you know, to here to
understand that how their lives are being impacted by behavioral health.
(11:26):
You know, they came up with it all by themselves
and they have actually changed the conversation about behavioral health
across Bombach County because when we started in twenty seventeen,
when the community started to get together, you know, to
focused groups, you know, to individual key individual interviews, you know,
(11:50):
asking them what is what does a healthy community look
like to them? If we have a healthier equal beach,
what will a healthier liquid beach look like to you?
You know, And they all talk about the issues that
lake was having, you know, and those are the you know,
that was the issues that were impacting the social emotional
(12:12):
lives of the residents of lake Wood Beach and they
all came up with one vision, you know, of to
clean lake Wood beach and they created clean up initiatives,
which is.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Just fantastic exactly. And then now they're working in conjunction
with local government law enforcement to help work as a
unit exactly which and what you said, they have crime
Want Neighbor Crime Watch now and.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Yep, when they started. So actually, when they started, you know,
a lot of the Lake Worth Beach issues, the community's conditions,
a lot of you had to do with infrastructure also,
so the residents understood that if they were going to
address those issues, you know, they had to invite you know,
(13:05):
they had to build relationship with city leaders, you know,
the commissioners, the mayors, you know, PBS or local pbs.
So so they understood that we have to work together
to actually resolve those issues. And once they started the
(13:25):
cleanup initiative, they did it really smart actually, because as
they were doing those cleanups, they were thinking about, Okay,
what kind of permanent solution can we you know, can
we get because we're not going to spend the rest
of our lives doing cleanups. We won't do it, but
we don't want to do it as often. So they
saw that in identifying where the trash was being piled up,
(13:49):
like coming back more often. Okay, So okay, these areas
they have, you know, after they do clean up two
three days, it's bad. So how can we resolve these issues?
So they decided that they were going to put trash
can So with the dollars, you know, with the grand
dollars from Palm Health Foundation, they are able to leverage
(14:12):
their resources to doing the stuff that they needed to do,
you know, to improve their neighborhood. So we partnered with
the City of Lakewood Beach, the Public Work Department, who
assisted us on identifying those areas or to put those
trash cans and also making sure that they're not being
(14:34):
put on properties that are owned privately, that those properties
are owned by the city. And they actually ordered those
trash can for us, and they placed them, they install them.
So do you see how we work together. The community
identified a partlement, they came up with their own solutions,
(14:59):
healthier equal Beach. With the money from Palm Health Foundation,
we are able to sponsor the materials and the city installed.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Are perfectly nice dovetailing.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Exactly, and if you walk in those areas nowadays, it's clean.
This has been happening since two thousand and seven. Twenty eighteen.
It is clean, they are no trash, you know trash
or it's a clean area. Good job.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
So then speaking clean areas, there's another initiative you guys,
you've been working with. And some people have stress as well.
Sometimes they get older, they have health issues and they
maybe can't keep up their yard as well as they
can't need to. Where there's some housing issues that need prepared.
So code enforcement becomes involved.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Code enforcement becomes involved, and how are.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
We helping people people with that? Because I know that's
like another area you're a dressing.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
This is the reason why the Neighborhood Health which is
one of the action work from created by I don
members of Healthier Litwood Beach that address issues neighborhood issues
such as cub appeal and trash and community facades whatever,
(16:16):
however the residents want to resolve their issues, you know,
if it had to do with their home, the area
where they live, their neighborhood, it's part of the Neighborhood Health.
So after so many years of working together of improving
the streets of lake Wood Beach, the neighborhood of Lakewood Beach,
(16:37):
so residents started talking about sustainability with the sustainability. They
came up with different projects and they realized that code
enforcement was an issue to where residents didn't have a
relationship with Code Compliance Division, right because residents saw code
(16:58):
as the enemy. Right, So how do we work together again,
you know, to sustain the work that has been done,
but also to help the people who have been living
in their home the entire life. They lost a husband
or the loss of wives, the loss of partner and
health they have to deal with health or it even
(17:22):
if the two of them are living, you know one
of them is facing health issue. Whoever used to do
the work cannot do it anymore and now you know
they're being hit by code and everybody is best off
exactly right, So how do we work together to help
these people so healthier? Equald Beach community members came up
(17:44):
with the idea, why don't we approach code and find
out how can we help them? And how can we
bring all resources together to walk and to help up
the vulnerable ones because they are the one being impacted
the most. So this is we create a work partnership
(18:09):
to where like we we have a guidelines, who is eligible,
who's not eligible? What do you need to do to
get the assistant and we create a referral, a referral
process to well out. Now what it does. The outcomes
are residents are getting educated right about code and the
(18:30):
building relationship with code, and it forces God to build
a relationship with them too by knocking on the door.
And as the resident, I noticed that I've came by
many times and we've given you a warning and you
have not fixed the issues. How can we help you?
What do you need to get the issue fixed to
(18:52):
get into compliance? You know, if the residents said, well,
you know, this is what's going on. So Code actually
contact healthier liquid beaches and a referral. But what that
does is not only that Colde gets to know about
many residents who are facing issues in Lakewood Beach, but
also they are practicing code compassion. And then residents are
(19:17):
seeing that once we approach them, we do the work
and they see how beautiful the front of their home is.
They have that pride again of their home as they're coming,
if they go out they're coming, they see that, oh
this is so beautiful. I didn't know my home could
look like that. So they're actually seeing that code is
not the enemy, you know. So everybody's walking together and
(19:40):
that's all we can sustain Laquald to keep looking beautiful.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And I think it's fantastic. And I like how Code
is going out and talking with them saying, this is
the issues, these are the reasons. What can we do
to help? What is your issue that you need help with?
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Exactly?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And like you said, in a lot of cases, the
partner that was older is doing the lawn. He's had
heart attack, he can't mow the lawn anymore. All of
a sudden, the lawn is overgrown and they don't have
the money to pay somebody to do the one because
they're on a fixed income. Ye like, lots of different issues.
So I like how you created that synergy. But then
(20:14):
Code comes out talks them and then they can actually
submit a referral. And you guys have volunteers to go
out and help exactly.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
And there's a lot of residents that believe it or
not that a lot of the residents that will helped,
they are all fifty five and over and they are
all on a fixed income. They barely making it. What
they receive is just to pay the mortgage if they
(20:41):
have a mortgage, or pay their taxes. And each of
the food banks because that's where they get their food.
It's exactly so when we talk to them, it's like
or when they talk to a healthier egal journey. I
go and knock on the door and say, I get
this referral from code, and it's like a god sent
to them. Oh my god, you can help me. Sometimes
(21:02):
it's hard for them to believe what's in it for me.
You know, it's especially this day and age. You know,
people cannot twust each other because but you know, they
actually right away said, okay, you know this is you.
Just do whatever you can do to help me. I'm
giving they some of them will say I want to help.
(21:24):
I don't want to take it for granted. Whatever I
can contribute, I will contribute. And there are some who
will contribute today to the dollars that you know we
spend you know, on them on their home.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
And that's fantastic as well. And like they're obviously you're
talking about the research. There's lots of research that shows
that if you volunteer wherever it is, for whatever it is,
you volunteer for you as to volunteer get a great
health benefit from volunteering. It helps you with your mental
health and your physical health, and you're also doing a
(21:57):
really good thing to help out your neighbors. So for
folks who want to be volunteers, how do they become
a volunteer with healthier like worthpach.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
They can always call me at five six one eight
zero one two one eight two, or they can go
they can reach me via email also, which is called
mail c A R M E. L L E. Dot
lake Worth at h T PBC dot org.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I will have that for folks if you need it,
you can reach out to me.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
And you know what, we take all kinds of volunteers.
I mean, it doesn't matter what you have. If you
you know, whether you have a gift of carpenter, you know, landscaping, painting.
Were always looking for these partners who are going to
work with us. You know, we do have partners that
(22:50):
you know we pay, but they do it for other
discounted pipes.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Right So also so yeah, also businesses like iHeart, we
have a a give back day where we pick a
charity and we all go and work there for the
day and donate our time. Right but we do it
as a company. So it's a great team building thing.
So I have a lot of businesses listening. I totally
recommend it. It's a fun way to donate your time
(23:16):
as a company to help out or if they want
to be like maybe like a financial sponsor to pay
for some of these renovations. Because I know you have
funding for Palm Health, but every little bit extra you
get is one more person you can help.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Yes, true, that's true.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
And another thing we were talking about before the show,
which I think is just fascinating and I'm not sure
a lot of people realize, is we were talking about
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. You guys received an award
from them, but they have a thing where based on
where you live, they've done research. It determines how long
you live based on your access to medical services or
(23:56):
like a healthier neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
So what word did they give you for Robert Johnson.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
It was a Culture of Health price award. It is. Actually,
it wasn't just healthier egual beach. It was a combination
of major organizations, non profit organizations such as Palm Health Foundation,
the Children's Services Council, the Health Department, the American Heart Association,
(24:26):
and all the healthier to get the communities as you know,
there are six Healthier to get the communities across Palm
Beach County. So it's it's a combination of all the
work that has been done to improve on health and
also residents, you know, to improve on community health based
(24:49):
on how residents want to improve on their health and
that work was has been It's a partnership. It's in
the sense that how the walk has been done and
how it has changed communities, you know, lives of residents
across Bom Beach County. That's what led us to you know,
(25:12):
to win that prize and Healthier Liquood Beach case is
it's the Unity Wall. I don't know if you ever
heard about the Unity Wall and lake Wood Beach.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
It it used to be like the segregation wall, correct
I I understand my history.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Well, it is a wall that was used to separate
the blacks, the whites from the blacks. It is the
actually a segregation wall, uh to where like you know,
it was a division wall and now it became a
wall that unites you know, people, so in the war
actually is on Wingfield strip right, and it's on one side.
(25:52):
It is kind of a fence for homes that are
built on the other side of the wall, and on
the other side is a street. It's facing a street,
which is a Wingfield Street. So when the war in
nineteen ninety two, a bunch of people's schools, artists, students, parents, friends,
(26:13):
they all came and depended on the wall. They added
some arts on the wall. The wall is about eleven
hundred and seventy five feet long, but since nineteen ninety
two the war had not been maintained, so it became
an eyesore in the community. But also because that the
war caused so much pain in the community. Back in
(26:36):
those days, a lot of people had ill feelings about
the wall. Some of the residents they wanted it to
be brought down, and some of the residents they wanted
to turn it into something else. But especially the homeowners
because it gave them them privacy from the Wainfield Street,
they wanted the wall to stay. But after much conversation,
(26:57):
nobody could come to a cont senses to do anything.
So the wall stayed there and nothing ever happened. So
in twenty twenty one, during COVID, we got the community together.
We had conversation. We talk about what do you want
to do because the war was leaning. You know, the paint,
(27:21):
the arts were faded, and everybody they knew that people
would identify the war as like, you know, this is
the sign that you're in the ghetto. Wants to see
the wall in that area it's at the south end.
So we had long conversation. Healthier Equid Beach did visioning,
(27:43):
invite so many people to the table, you know, get
consents from the residents, you know, about what to do
with the war, and get partners the City of Equid
Beach PBS. So we engaged over seventy five professional artists,
(28:03):
you know, to come and revitalize the war. But we
did not do that without engaging the residents who lived there.
Because there are so many residents who actually went to
what the war, what happened with that wall back in
those days in the nineteen sixties, nineteen fifties, and or
(28:26):
if they didn't go to if they were too young,
they have parents who went to the you know saega
of you know, racism and things like that. So you know,
they when they talk about during those meetings, they will
talk about their pains. And each time we did four
months visioning to find out how they wanted the wall,
(28:49):
what they wanted what story they wanted the wall to
say to tell. You know, if someone is visiting Lakewood
Beachy come to see this war, how do you want
them to understand the story by looking at the pictures
that are on the wall. So everybody started sharing. You know,
I love that everybody started sharing what they wanted to see.
(29:10):
People were saying, well, you know, you know, yes the
wall caused a lot of pain, but we don't want
to dwell too much on it. We want to talk
about it a little bit, and then we want a
vibrant wall. Some of the people will say, well, why
can't we have walls that look like Palm Beach, you know,
why can't all wall be painted or art can why
(29:31):
can't art be added by professional artists? You know, So
everybody started sharing their ideas. People started bringing photos for magazines,
you know, and this is what I want to see.
And so now the wall now is telling the community's story.
It starts with undiscovered lake worse Lakewood Beach, you know,
(29:53):
with you know, civil right activists who actually pave the
road for you know, us to be leaving how we're
living right now freedom and then to you know, historic
monuments that are in the community like buildings, you know, schools,
you know, and then and then to what the community represents,
(30:15):
because the community now is a diverse community. It represents
so many different cultures. So the wall now is showing
pictures that embrace all the cultures that live in Lakewood Beach.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
So it's a very inclusive and unifying world. So that's
the Unity Wall exactly.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
And it's so beautiful and it brings people, you know,
it's it creates so many inclusions because this is a
community where people were afraid of walking in that community
after five o'clock or the people just didn't want to
be found in that community. And now you walk into
this community, people you see all you know, all colors.
(30:55):
The kids are very proud. They actually says that, you know,
we live in a very nice community. Now the wall
makes all community nice, agree, you know, and yet another
example of healthier lake Worth Beach Exactly. That's what I
was going to say.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yep, Yes, I love how you guys have been doing
such very cool things that they are truly inclusive of
all the members of the community. If everybody comes discusses
the problem what they see as a potential solution, and
then you found all these different ways to make that
happen with like your grassroots movement and then involving the
(31:33):
infrastructure of the government employee you know, the mayors and
the PbSO and all the code enforcement folks that are helping. Now, yeah,
I like that, the concept that everybody's now helping and
working together.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Yes, and before that that was one of the issues
also that people identified that there was no collaboration, that
residents input was not being taken into consideration, that cheer
leaders did not sick you know, resident input. But guess
what the community did. They get rid of the silly
(32:05):
leaders and now they have cities they voted in. They
voted out the cilly leaders who didn't think that, you know,
they know what's best for their community. But you know,
residents know what's best for them. Oh, yes, you know,
because they are. The way I approach this walk is that,
you know, residents are the context experts. They're all telling
(32:29):
me their stories and my role is to listen and
I'm the content expert. So what you know, once they
tell me what they need to address their issues and
how they want to do it, then all I do is,
you know, then I provided you know, people to get
to bring the people, so I'm kind of like the
connector for them.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Yeah. We had a discussion the other week on the
show was like, we're the conjunction, like a conjunction junction
function Frock when we were a little Yeah, so that's
our job is, Like, my job is have people on
the show share what you do with the community so
they know what's available.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
So for folks that are listening, how do they reach
out to you guys again for a healthier like Worth
Beach or Palm Health Foundation to get more information.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Well, we do. We actually do have another number for
Healthier Liquid Beach, but but I always prefer to give
my personal number because to me, this job is so personal,
right because it's about relationship building. But again it's five
six one eight zero one two one eight two or
(33:37):
they can reach me via email car Mail dot lake
Worth at HTPBC dot org.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Well, thank you for coming in and sharing all the
information with us, for doing such a cool thing in
the community. It's obviously very much needed and definitely very
much appreciated.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
Thank you so much for having.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Us and if you need more information, reach out to me.
Palm Beach Perspective at iHeartMedia dot Com and I'm happy
to for it on all the details and don't forget
you can always download the shows a podcast on our
iHeartRadio app. I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend. I'm
dev Nev and this has been my perspective. Remember life
is good, so be your healthiest view and let's get
(34:16):
out there and live it.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Until next week, enjoy.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
iHeart Communities, the community engagement arm of the station, champions
critical issues and causes in the area of health and wellness,
social impact, education, literacy, and music and art. Join us
next week from Palm Beach. Treasure Cost Perspective
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