Place Based Impact

Communities of West Lakes

POLIS INSTITUTE’S COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP IN PLACE BASED IMPACT 

A Purpose Built Communities Collective Impact Initiative

How do you create vibrant opportunities for under-resourced communities amidst prosperity initiatives for the broader City? As a new stadium was being built in Orlando, dedicated stakeholders asked this very question. The answer was the West Lakes Purpose Built Communities Collective Impact Initiative.

Together, Communities of West Lakes Residents, Florida Citrus Sports, Polis Institute, and Lift Orlando worked side by side to realize the vision of equitable revitalization by standing up a Purpose-Built Community in the heart of Orlando. 

Over ten years, the West Lakes Collective Impact Initiative built a $100M Purpose-Built campus, created the community-led West Lakes Partnership for ongoing resident leadership, and restored essential resources in the communities.

True Impact With Community Participation

Polis Institute led community engagement and surveying, created a shared measurement system, facilitated the collective impact’s progress, ensured direct investment into community resident leadership, and evaluated outcomes.

Among the initiative’s many successes is establishing a community-led revitalization entity – West Lakes Partnership; the rehabilitation of Lake Lorna Doone Park; the preservation of a civil rights treasure – Tinker’s Field; and ongoing improvements to the quality of life in the communities.

Every improvement in the Communities of West Lakes was made possible by the dedication of the collective impact’s partner organizations and the passionate, diligent participation of community residents who took the long journey of stewardship to revitalize their home.

Collective Impact

West Lakes Partnership

In their own words, West Lakes Partnership “believes that transformational development is achieved by serving all residents from the highest to the lowest economic tiers of our neighborhood. Only through this approach can our neighborhood truly heal and move forward. We aim to lift the lives of our neighbors in West Lakes by addressing the various yet interconnected aspects of our people’s lives.” Incubated through a collaboration of Polis Institute and Lift Orlando, today, West Lakes Partnership is an independent 501c3. West Lakes Partnership is community led and serves through leadership, housing rehabilitation, community programming, and more. 

AdventHealth Early Learning Center

The AdventHealth West Lakes Early Learning Center is an innovative, holistic early learning center that delivers the highest-quality care and educational programming to West Lakes’ infants and children. Community residents advocated from the beginning for a unique early learning center that could deliver top-level services with a culturally appropriate curriculum and culturally diverse staff to best serve families. Over a multi-year process, Lift Orlando facilitated the investments and partnerships necessary to realize the community’s vision. Today, the ELC serves over 130 children and has been nationally recognized as a model of early learning.

Florida Citrus Sports

Florida Citrus Sports is a not-for-profit event management organization dedicated to positively impacting the Orlando region while enhancing the quality of life in Central Florida through world-class events. Florida Citrus Sports was instrumental in the founding of the West Lakes Communities Collective Impact Initiative and Lift Orlando. It has been a dedicated partner in the initiative and a strong funder of numerous programs benefitting the communities including MVP Strong Families. Florida Citrus Sports was pivotal in the restoration of Lake Lorna Doone Park and Tinker Field, demonstrating that stadiums can be partners and champions in historic preservation and community asset building. 

Heart of West Lakes Wellness Center

The Heart of West Lakes Wellness Center is a multi-purpose powerhouse of community health and wellness. A gem of Lift Orlando’s dedicated work, the Heart offers residents access to healthcare and boasts a financial well-being center, a cafe, and a community gathering space. The Heart was built through the collaborative voices of community members who carefully laid out their core needs from a wellness site. Lift Orlando secured the partnerships and investments needed to realize the dream, and today, the Heart is fully operating, serving hundreds of residents and promoting health and wellness throughout the community.

Lift Orlando

Lift Orlando is a community quarterback in West Lakes. By applying the Purpose-Built Community Quarterback principles, Lift Orlando successfully oversaw the $100M West Lakes Communities campus build-out and developed partnerships with collective impact organizations to expand residents’ opportunities. Lift Orlando and Polis Institute worked  together over the ten-year first phase of the West Lakes Communities Collective Impact Initiative. Lift Orlando collaborated closely with Purpose Built Communities to deliver the model for equitable revitalization for the historic communities of West Lakes. Ultimately, Lift was able to utilize its core skills, powerful approach, and attention to community principles to secure funding, oversee the campus build-out, and, importantly to involve community residents and committed partners in the process of expanding opportunities.