2023 Impact Awards

ABOUT

In November 2022, Miami Beach residents voted to approve a $159 million bond measure, known as the “Yes 2 Arts” bond, to support cultural infrastructure in the city primarily by improving or renovating facilities. The Yes 2 Arts campaign proposed to expand and increase free, accessible arts programming for all residents; generate positive economic development for the community and support local jobs; and protect and preserve Miami Beach cultural institutions for generations.

IMPACT

The city of Miami Beach will use proceeds of the Yes 2 Arts bond to support arts and culture institutions throughout the city including museums, performance venues, artistic playgrounds, theaters, senior/cultural centers, a botanical garden, an aquatic sculpture park, and related artist workforce housing.

These institutions aim to further enhance the city’s identity as a hub for arts and culture, as well as integrate education initiatives into its programs and facilities, and address the need for additional affordable and workforce housing units in the community. From working with the Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami Beach public schools to integrate arts education and STEAM into school curricula to offering annual scholarships to students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and covering costs associated with the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of workforce housing projects benefiting the city’s community at large, the Yes 2 Arts bond improvements and upgrades are expected to take 24 to 36 months to complete.

Read the full story here.

Impact Themes

ABOUT

North Carolina A&T State University is a public university with a 200-acre campus in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was founded in 1891 as a land grant institution and became a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina in 1972. It is one of 99 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the nation and was the highest ranked public HBCU* in U.S. News and World Report’s 2020 rankings.

North Carolina A&T State University was the first university in the state for people of color and is today America’s largest historically HBCU by enrollment with over 13,000 students as of fall 2022. It enrolls more Black first-year students than the top 14 national universities combined. Over the past decade (2011-2021), applications to the school grew by 246% — a faster rate than those of any traditional university in the U.S. during that same period, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The university offers 54 undergraduate degree programs, 30 master’s degree programs, nine doctoral degree programs, and three certificate programs. It possesses one of the state’s three public engineering schools, offers the largest agricultural school among HBCUs, and produces the nation’s largest amount of Black agriculture and engineering graduates, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

*HBCUs are institutions of higher education in the U.S. that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the principal mission of educating Black Americans. They were officially designated as HBCUs by the U.S. Department of Education in 1964.

IMPACT

Investments in HBCUs can begin to address the financial imbalance between HBCUs and predominantly white institutions, a disparity that is particularly stark. Supporting investments in HBCUs plays an important role in working toward economic equality and racial justice. On average, Black students who graduate from HBCUs earn more than Black graduates from non-HBCU institutions three years after graduation; eight years after graduation, they reach the average income for white college graduates.

The funds will help alleviate the costs associated with the school’s football stadium improvements, including constructing an additional level with suites, upgrading broadcast facilities, and adding an elevator as well as the construction and equipping of a student healthcare center on the university’s campus. Opened in January 2015, the health center is a 27,000-square foot, two-story facility that includes treatment areas, a pharmacy, a laboratory, a women’s center, a triage area, and space for health and wellness education. Common areas at the facility include a multipurpose room, a resource room, and a dedicated immunization room.

In addition to its main campus and facilities, the university also maintains a 492-acre working and producing farm featuring active livestock and horticultural production, including dairy and beef cattle, poultry, swine, horses, meat goats, and sheep. The farm allows the university to honor its land grant mission of learning, discovery, and engagement with the farming community. Fulfilling that mission is crucial for North Carolina, where agriculture is the state’s largest industry worth $84 billion a year and employing more than 17% of the workforce.

Read the full story here.

Impact Themes

ABOUT

Schervier Rehabilitation and Nursing Center is a skilled nursing facility in Bronx County, New York. Built in 1936, Schervier is the only five-star, quality-rated skilled nursing facility located in Riverdale that provides services such as rehabilitation therapies, wound care, long-term care, and memory care.

Schervier’s rehabilitation center is in a Persistent Poverty County (PPC), defined as a county that has had 20% or more of its population living in poverty with 78.2% of their availability being currently occupied by residents covered by Medicaid. Programs provide 24-hour nursing services, board-certified physician services, and medication management along with three quality meals and a snack each day. Residents are encouraged to stay mentally and physically active with daily activities, religious services, social interaction in common areas, and through a resident council.

IMPACT

Schervier Rehabilitation and Nursing Center seeks to help short-term residents achieve the highest level of independent functioning and long-term residents prevent avoidable decline in function and independence.

 Seeking to create an environment to help residents move forward in their progress, Schervier Rehabilitation and Nursing Center residents receive individually tailored activities, personalized food, and nutrition plans based on each resident’s needs and capabilities. Programs include arts and crafts, exercise classes, weekly performances, and local outings. Staff members also receive ongoing training and education to provide them with the most current and effective care techniques.

Additionally, the center offers an on-site library stocked with books, audiobooks, and movies; housekeeping services; laundry services; a beauty salon and barber shop; free Wi-Fi; emergency call systems; and home-cooked meals. For family visits, the center offers all-day visiting hours, free parking, private family rooms, a courtyard and garden, and a Starbucks café.

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Impact Themes

ABOUT

Afrodisiac Nola is a minority- and woman-owned full-service restaurant that offers Jamaican-Creole fusion cuisine in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. The idea of fusion cuisine came naturally to the owners, Shaka and Caron Garel, whose life together as a couple plays out as a blend of Jamaican-Creole heritage. The restaurant began in 2017 as a delivery van and was later converted into a food truck as the business quickly became a part of the New Orleans community, making appearances at festivals and community celebrations as well as regular stops outside hospitals, breweries, and other venues. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the Garels deployed their Afrodisiac Nola food truck as a portable kitchen to help feed homeless people in the city.

IMPACT

When Hurricane Zeta came through New Orleans in October of 2022, the storm knocked over a tree that destroyed the Afrodisiac Nola food truck. The calamity inspired an outpouring of community support to help the owners with an online fundraiser and events hosted at other restaurants. With the help of the community, the owners were able to open a full-service restaurant that offers their fusion cuisine in a permanent location.

The owners of Afrodisiac Nola consulted with Turning Tables, a nonprofit that addresses racial inequity in the restaurant industry by providing inexperienced and rising minority hospitality professionals with culturally responsive education, training, mentorship, and resources necessary to access real opportunity. Several of Afrodisiac Nola’s staff members are graduates of the program. Turning Tables works with employers, brands, and like-minded individuals to advocate for equity in the industry and has built a support system for its community so that its students feel a part of New Orleans’ economic growth.

Read the full story here.

Impact Themes

ABOUT

Bay Meadow Apartments in Springfield, Massachusetts is an affordable rental property where 77% of the population is minority and 25% live below the poverty line. Originally built in 1943 as military housing, Bay Meadow was converted to affordable housing in the 1980s. The community consists of 12 buildings on a 28-acre site in Springfield’s Pine Point neighborhood. Bay Meadow has a variety of building styles, with apartments in both flat and townhouse configurations. The last renovation in 2008 focused on improving the site’s energy efficiency, which included installing new windows, an upgraded heating system, and additional insulation in attics, basements, and other exposed spaces.

IMPACT

Located in a moderate-income, majority-minority, and high-poverty neighborhood, Bay Meadow Apartment consists of 148 residential units with some accessible to those in wheelchairs. Community amenities include a full-size outdoor pool, a basketball court, laundry facilities, 24-hour maintenance, on-site management, a large community building, ample parking, and an on-site resident service coordinator.

In partnership with Home Grown Springfield, a local Culinary and Nutrition Program, Bay Meadow Apartments hosts a summer meal program that offers free, nutritious meals to children up to the age of 18. The Summer Eats program is an innovative effort to lessen the summer food gap by increasing the availability of non-traditional meal sites. With all meals made from scratch, a key element in ensuring that kids are well-fed, the program also emphasizes the importance of sourcing locally; in 2022, its local food purchasing increased by 6%.

Read the full story here.

Impact Themes