Janis FontaineQuantum Foundation’s venture philanthropy branch is leading the work in the Coleman Park neighborhood.
Palm Beach Venture Philanthropy has spent more than $8 million and years of effort in one of Palm Beach County’s poorest neighborhoods. Now, with four city lots, it is moving ahead with its plan to build housing and a community hub.
On May 26, West Palm Beach city commissioners unanimously gave the property to the venture philanthropy branch of the Quantum Foundation.
The organization will develop the land and nearby property it has acquired into mixed-income residences, business and nonprofit office space and a community common area called the Culture Yard. The project is designed to help rejuvenate the Tamarind corridor in the heart of the historically Black Coleman Park neighborhood.
County property records value the city properties at $1.2 million. The locations are 2003 N. Tamarind Ave., 2030 N. Tamarind Ave., 2107 N. Tamarind Ave. and 1001 20th St.
Why Coleman Park?
The Coleman Park initiative is the pilot of a strategy the Quantum Foundation is developing to move beyond traditional grant-making focused on the symptoms of neighborhood poverty and instead focus on the cause, Palm Beach Venture Philanthropy’s Raphael Clemente told commissioners.
“We intend to scale countywide,” Clemente said. He added that about 25 U.S. Census tracts in Palm Beach County have similar conditions.
But Coleman Park stood out even among the poorest neighborhoods in Palm Beach County for two reasons: its rich history and its staggeringly low life expectancy.
Residents of Coleman Park live an average of 68 years compared with the countywide average of 82 years, a 14-year difference.
“These data points are compelling and undeniable,” Clemente said
“About half of your health outcomes are rooted in where you live and spend most of your time,” Clemente said. Affordable housing is the first step in changing health outcomes.
“This has been identified over and over and over again,” Clemente said. “National Institutes of Health studies around the world have found that where people live and how they feel about it affects their physical, emotional and mental state significantly and is a part of overall well-being.”
Decades ago, residents felt good about living in Coleman Park, Clemente said.
“Tamarind Avenue had a bustling, vibrant business district with shops and hotels and eateries and live music venues and an incredible high school,” Clemente said. “It was the cultural center of the Black community.”
The park served as the spring training site for the Negro American Baseball League and baseball legends Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson played there. Hank Aaron called it his second home.
World-class Black entertainers played at Dot’s Motel, a hot spot in the 1950s. Other landmarks include the Storm of 1928 Memorial Park and the African American Museum and Research Library, which is under construction at the former Roosevelt High School.
But it was never in the plans for these historically Black neighborhoods – Pleasant City, the Historic Northwest District and Coleman Park – to get critical city investments, such as streets and sewers, and the neighborhood fell into decline.
Last year, Clemente shared documents with the West Palm Beach City Commission from 1923, The Palm Beach Post reported.
On a yellowed city map that showed Coleman Park’s unpaved streets and lack of a sewer system, someone had written “will not improve.” It meant, Clemente said, that “the city will not make investments for infrastructure improvements in these neighborhoods.”
“This was intentional, institutional,” Mayor Keith James said at the time. “When people talk about the lack of progress in some of these communities, that was designed.”
Who are the partners?
The West Palm Beach-based Quantum Foundation’s focus on health goes back to its founding in 1995 with proceeds from the sale of the nonprofit JFK Medical Center in Atlantis to HCA Healthcare. The foundation created Palm Beach Venture Philanthropy in 2023 to lift distressed neighborhoods.
At the May 26 commission meeting, James said, “We’ve all heard of three P’s — public-private partnerships — but this is an example of four P’s: Public, private, philanthropic partnerships. I believe as cities evolve, they will need the philanthropic sector to step up as Quantum has done here.”
Clemente agrees.
“The philanthropic community is part of the solution. It takes a very powerful mix of partners to bring these types of projects to bear and RISE Coleman Park has been a critical partner, a key piece of this work,” he said. “RISE is our liaison with the neighborhood.”
Called “a community quarterback,” RISE provides boots-on-the-ground support through the Purpose Built Communities network. When invited, the nonprofit brings in experienced leaders to bolster the efforts of grassroots community workers, helping them navigate red tape, organize and promote beautification projects, and by acting as a liaison between local government and the residents. Another partner in the Coleman Park Revitalization Initiative is Neighborhood Renaissance, which builds single-family homes on vacant lots.
In early May, the organization finished the $20.5 million Coleman Park Renaissance Apartments, which brought 43 units of low-cost workforce housing to Tamarind Avenue.The Quantum Foundation supported that project with a $230,000 grant, and to date, it has invested nearly $9 million supporting Coleman Park and its residents, including a $500,000 grant to the African-American Museum project.
What’s the plan?
The plan for the Tamarind corridor calls for townhomes and a mixed-use space with rental apartments and commercial space for community-serving purposes such as childcare and healthcare. A fresh-market grocery and a cultural yard with a community gathering space anchored by a library are also on the drawing board.
Before the land transfer is final, the organization has to meet several requirements, including starting construction within three years. The project is estimated to be completed in five years.
What do locals think?
Craig Glover, who founded A Better Way Home Care in the Northwest District with his late wife Bonnie more than a decade ago, said such projects give people hope.
“We’re providing quality, affordable, and workforce housing for people with roots in the community,” said Glover, a former executive director of RISE.
Glover believes home ownership for people at lower income levels is key. “When residents own homes they have a stake in the community, and some of the behaviors that occur in poor neighborhoods just won’t be acceptable. It’s also important that there’s quality affordable rental housing for people starting out,” he said.
Glover also believes the best neighborhoods have a mix of people.
“I’ve learned that a vibrant community has space for different income levels,” Glover said. “Not all low-income, not all really wealthy, but a combination. It’s a rich community with great history with a lot of potential, and I feel optimistic about what’s coming.”
