True Impact
Historic East Winter Garden Culture of Health
Background
Historic East Winter Garden is a vibrant legacy Black community in the City of Winter Garden, Florida. Once home to a bustling “Black Downtown,” the community has faced critical challenges amidst decades of disinvestment and the loss of its schools. The City of Winter Garden established a CRA encompassing the neighborhood with the goal of revitalizing the community and increasing opportunities for its residents.
Action
Polis Institute deployed True Impact tools in three phases of community action work to improve socio-economic outcomes alongside East Winter Garden Residents. In each phase, community members were recruited, hired, and trained to be integral members of community survey teams. In phases two and three, residents completed Propel Civic Leadership training, which included pitching community projects. Funders provided residents with a total of $75,000 for their community initiatives. Successful outcomes for Propel Civic Leadership Graduates include establishing a mobile COVID-19 testing program, collaborating with the American Heart Association to increase access to healthy food sources, developing a program to assist parents in developing healthy parenting skills and increasing the operational capacity of a youth workforce training program.
Results
As of 2023 per capita income in East Winter Garden has increased by 28%. With residents leading the charge for equitable revitalization, the East Winter Garden Redevelopment Plan is in full gear. Forty-two community ambassadors were part of Impact Stewardship in the neighborhood. 23% of Polis Institute’s project budget was invested in True Impact solutions directly flowing into neighborhood households.
Solutions
- Civic Leadership Training
- Paid Community Ambassadors & Surveyors
- Community Engagement Campaigns
- Grassroots Capacity Building Resources
- Community-Wide Visioning Events
- Impact Strategy Consulting
- Revitalization Network Development
