← Culturally Speaking: The South Florida Sunday Podcast
Culturally Speaking: The South Florida Sunday Podcast
Patrick Franklin, President and CEO,Urban League of Palm Beach County + Cathleen Ward, West Palm Beach City Commissioner, District 1
00:29:17
Loading summary
Transcript123 lines
- [00:01]
A
Good morning. Welcome to another edition of Culturally Speaking. My name is Patrick Franklin, president and CEO of the Urban League of Palm Beach County. And thank you for waking up early with us this Sunday morning to have a conversation and to really just bring the week together and as we prepare for another work week. But let's celebrate this weekend as we look towards a beautiful Sunday. I know the weather's gonna be great. We've had a lot of rain last week, but I'm looking forward to a nice, sunny Florida afternoon here on this Sunday. Like always, we always have great guests to come in, share their knowledge and expertise with us, and I'm so happy to have back Commissioner Kathleen Ward. Commissioner, welcome back to Culturally Speaking.
- [00:47]
B
Thanks for having me back. It's good to be here.
- [00:49]
A
Good. All right, so you just went through your re election.
- [00:53]
B
Yes.
- [00:54]
A
What's going on? How do you feel about that?
- [00:56]
B
I feel great. I'm appreciative to the residents for re electing me and having faith in me. The tribe has grown significantly since.
- [01:04]
A
I like that. The tribe has grown significant. Okay. Okay.
- [01:07]
B
Just running into people, knowing that I'm making an impact, you know, for a long time, just as a resident activist, we had a small group in the North End that we communicated with, and it was grassroots level. Now being at the city for a few years, even my first couple years, getting into a room, it may be because I changed my hair a lot, but not many people recognize me all the time.
- [01:27]
A
Okay.
- [01:27]
B
And so this, you know, this past time around, going out and meeting people and seeing people haven't seen in a while, and just the recognition of, hey, you know, I'm gonna vote for you, or, hey, you know, thank you for your service and things like that has been.
- [01:39]
A
All right, so. So you're getting recognized now, correct?
- [01:42]
B
Yeah. Okay. And it's positive. Obviously. I always have people, hey, let me talk to you about this and. And let me bring up. But, you know, that's part of what we decide to do and what we choose to do. So it is nice seeing, you know, that other positive side of, like. No, I'm seeing an impact and I appreciate you. Which is. Is means so much.
- [01:59]
A
So as you start your second term now.
- [02:02]
B
Third term.
- [02:03]
A
Third term. I'm sorry.
- [02:04]
B
No, it's okay. Because the last time. The first time I had an opponent. The second time I didn't.
- [02:08]
A
Right.
- [02:08]
B
So this is technically my second. This was my second race. Okay. Third time being sworn in.
- [02:13]
A
All right. What has changed in your mind as far as your position as city commissioner? What from the Day you started years ago to where you are now, what has changed in, in, in your belief in, in government or in your belief in what's going on?
- [02:33]
B
I would say I've had such a fluctuating belief in government that it's perfect, probably on par of continuing that fluctuation. There are some days I wholeheartedly am, you know, just, okay, we are effectuating positive change. We are doing it. We are moving and grooving. And there's other days where I'm like bureaucratic nightmare, like, you know, and so, and I still love that. But you know what? I feel like that's also important too, because constructive criticism is, is tantamount to anything that goes on and making sure that you're progressing. And so me continuing to have the back and forth, I try to say it's mental, may be positive because you have good days and you have bad days. What'd you learn from the bad day? How do we fix that going forward? I've learned, you know, there's so many different departments and so many different things going on and different funds and grants and what you can and can't do with the funds. And I think some of that is, you know, you have to be participating in your democracy as a resident to understand. But being in it for years, day to day, and getting to know the ropes or how. How long it takes to start this project and get it to even construction, to then seeing takes some time and it takes a little couple levers and knowing what government operation and who to go to for what and planning versus construction stage versus. There's just so many different aspects of government.
- [03:55]
A
Are they still areas that you're still looking forward to get introduced to, to, you know, understand how they work or who's. Who's involved, other people there? Because I know you haven't touched every aspect of.
- [04:09]
B
And I'm always learning even, even in the departments that I deal with on a regular basis because there's so much development going on in the city and then in particular, so much development going on now in the North End that I'm constantly learning from our planners, from our engineers, public works, everybody. And so in that regard, it's constant. I'm not like, okay, I've got it. I, you know, there's engineering is, you know, it's a completely different ball game. I think from the standpoint of the basics of knowing who to turn to. That's one of the keys, right? And I'll give you a perfect example. And people continue to say, okay, well, you've got money for this road. Why can't you just build it or why can't you go after funds? Well, the planning part is important and you have to have time and resources to do that in order to then maybe, you know, go after a TPA grant or another, another grant in another department or, you know, organization in the area. And so all of those little things play a role in me, you know, communicating directly with residents on, hey, this is why this is taking so long or hey, this is why we can't, even though we've got funds, maybe sitting here, why we can't touch it just yet. And that helps too, all that communication so that people realize, you know, we're, we're not ignoring them. But, but there's rationales and reasons. Hey, we haven't put up these 15 minute parking signs because we're still looking at something else. And it's a lot of communication. But I am constantly learning. And our staff brings different aspects and even when somebody leaves and somebody new comes, they've come from a different city or a completely different organization. They bring different tools and aspects that again, I'm relearning something.
- [05:42]
A
Absolutely. All right, so let's talk for those who just joined us. We're talking with commissioner Kathleen Ward, City Commissioner, West Palm Beach. Let's define for those who don't know your boundaries of your district.
- [05:53]
B
Absolutely. So I'm, I'm the north end of the city. So if you come over from the port, that's the start of West Palm beach. That's my area. Waterway I go because there's, you know, the carve outs with Riviera. So I kind of carve towards 95.
- [06:08]
A
Right.
- [06:08]
B
And I, and I intersect with district two, which is Shalonda Warren's district. And then coming, you know, through all the way to Palm Beach Lakes, really. And there's some gaps in between, in between, you know, Australian and 95 in the whole area where some of it's district three, the downtown, some of it's again, Shawn to Warrens. But that's my basic district. Easiest way of saying it.
- [06:30]
A
So if I had to look at a district right now, I would say that your district is probably the most changing coming up in the next five to 10 years that we will see ever in the city as far as changing in the neighborhood areas and also in, you know, that southern part of your area where you have Nora and all the rest of that stuff coming up. Let's talk about that. A little bit of the changes and the growth that you see in those areas coming up.
- [07:00]
B
It's exciting and I think for some it can be nervous and nerve wracking, right? Because the whole goal was beforehand we want people to come and stay, but we also want people who want to be able to stay as well. And that's a challenge when you have a giant influx of people. You have a beautiful area. I love the historic districts in my area and there's so much potential surrounding that. We've always seen people that live there, but that other, other people are seeing now. And so it's, you know, right now there's so many different organizations and different people working on, okay, how do we strategize what to do along the Tamarind corridor? How do we strategize Broadway corridor? How do we strategize traffic and Flagler and flooding? And there's so many things that are going on right now. But it is exciting because I've got enough people who know what the end game is when it comes to not necessarily hoping and praying for gentrification, but hoping and praying that yes, we do get some people and people that want to stay here long term, not an area of last resort, right? But that we also want to make sure that there's alternatives in housing, alternatives in different businesses and ability to grow within just this area. Because I want people to live in an area where they don't have to leave for their services, that they're there, that they can go to their schools and depend on their schools and be proud of their school, which is a significant work in progress. We're not anywhere near where we, where we should be and can be. But all of those things happening, it makes me excited because there's so many people that are like, have the right vision and have the right understanding of a background of not just saying some solution that we can, you know, slogan we can put on a wall, but concrete solutions on, okay, this is how we can achieve this, all working together.
- [08:38]
A
I sit on the board of Good Samaritan Hospital and been on there for several years now. And in the next five years, we're going to have two brand new hospitals in downtown West Palm Beach. Good Sam is going to build a new hospital. Cleveland Clinic's going to come. So one in your district, one out. How do you see that as an economic engine driver for our community right here?
- [09:02]
B
That's a great question. And I think because I'm on the board of the Healthcare district, Palm Beach County, I think I have a better understanding of how that impacts and what we could do to Even grow better. Because I think when people look at our current hospital and under, even underutilization and you know, having Cleveland Clinic come in, when you think about it, we actually do have a lot of beds. We don't have a. I mean when it comes to. There's specific strategic. Some with youth beds and things like that, that, that, yes, we don't have. But overall, for purposes of patients, we actually don't have a crisis when it comes to, okay, there's no beds.
- [09:37]
A
No, we don't.
- [09:37]
B
So when you think about a new hospital and then an expansion of existing hospital, okay, who's gonna use these beds now? I love the concept that Good Sam is coming in. And even with Cleveland, I think I heard Good Sam, what they want to do more recently. So it's fresh in my mind about different ways of health and what that means and not just coming in when you're sick.
- [09:56]
A
Wellness and prevention, all that other countries
- [10:00]
B
have to be doing for a while that we're kind of jumping on board with.
- [10:02]
A
But those are.
- [10:03]
B
Things are so important. And so I'm really happy about those aspects and what that means. And obviously the different drivers of technology and innovation that come into the area. What I would love to see what we're missing. And it's something that I kind of learned through just communications with people in the healthcare district is really a school that we're, that we're utilizing, that's a partner with one of these hospitals. We need that, we need that driver of education coming in and wanting to be here, wanting to do your residency program here and building off of that. We haven't gotten that bridge yet. Obviously, you know, PVAU has a great nursing program and you know, for a while it was like, hey, we need to be really helping people find a place to live in this area and nurse and you know, hospital workers are one of them and main component.
- [10:51]
A
Well, that, that drives you to my next question. I mean, we're going to have all this tremendous growth. We see all the new corporate type jobs coming in. Wall street of the South. We see all that coming into our area. Where are they going to live and can they afford to live? The actual workers, not the high end, you know, directors and VPs and GMs and all that are coming down here. Those high wealth, high salaried individuals. But the people who are going to be their assistants and all the other people who are working underneath in that chain, where are they going to work?
- [11:27]
B
Yeah, I mean, we don't want to, we don't want a situation which has already started where you're traveling an hour. Right. You know, and that's not the lifestyle
- [11:34]
A
that any to the north.
- [11:35]
B
No.
- [11:35]
A
Right.
- [11:35]
B
I, I live in my bubble, I. E. Bike as much as possible. This weather has not helped me in my goal of biking all the time. But, you know, and that's. That is a problem that we were trying to solve before the pandemic, before the rush. Whereas, you know, I always say, like, my area was the affordable. If you looked at data, the affordable area in the city. But. But the crime statistics prevented people from wanting to move to that area.
- [11:57]
A
Well, even with that being said, we have two new big housing complex that came up on 25th in Broadway. That's a lot of units.
- [12:05]
B
It's a lot of units. But we base our price points off of statistics that are swayed when it comes to the massive wealth in this area. So when you're looking at an 80 to 120% AMI and people that aren't in that stage that have maybe bought their house, like me, I bought my house in 2014 and aren't thinking constantly what's going on and what's the market rate or, you know, I paid $500 for my room in college, you know, and it was a nice place, you know, and so that, that is the mentality, I think, that some people have of like. No, no, no. It's. We. You can find places. You may not want to be there, but you can find it. That's not necessarily true.
- [12:41]
A
But those two new unit, those two new complexes are right there on 25th and Broadway. So that's not for that 80 to 100% AMI.
- [12:48]
B
No, they have lower.
- [12:49]
A
Yeah.
- [12:49]
B
So. Well, the, so the, the. The district, which is always called the anchor site, that. That is going to be at the higher ami, the Spruce project that already opened. I mean, the lowest ami, and I don't want to misquote it, it was lower than 80. I think their lowers went down to 70.
- [13:05]
A
Oh, good. Very good.
- [13:07]
B
I don't want to be. I, I think it was lower than the 80, but that went completely quickly. And then when you talk to organizations that are trying to find places for their workers to live at, already the 80 to 120, they're like, oh, my gosh, that's still not necessarily affordable.
- [13:20]
A
Right.
- [13:21]
B
But those are the, you know, those are the boundaries in which we work with, and we have to try to figure out other, you know, organizations that could come in and, you know, partnering with the housing authorities and things like that to get those lower AMI is all the way down to 30%. Because that's. We need that, unfortunately. We definitely need that now, in theory, why we have a housing crisis and all of the other attributes that you could talk about for hours and hours. At the end of the day, it's supply, demand.
- [13:45]
A
Yes.
- [13:46]
B
We don't have enough supply.
- [13:47]
A
Right.
- [13:47]
B
So it's not.
- [13:48]
A
And demand is going up, up, up.
- [13:50]
B
Correct. Right. And you have developers, which it's not necessarily wrong. They're staggering what they develop. Right. They don't want to. They don't want to compete with themselves. They don't want to compete with somebody else who's maybe similar marketplace.
- [14:01]
A
Right. And they don't want to bring in everything at the high end because it's going to really create a bubble.
- [14:06]
B
Outrageous disparity which we already have seemingly growing. So that is the delicate balance of how do I incentivize development in these areas. The right development that doesn't burden the, you know, overly burden, because development always burdens your neighbor. Overly burden the other residents and creates, you know, sustainability in the area so that our target workers, our hospital workers, our teachers, our first responders, everybody in between can live reasonably close to where they're working so they're not spending so much time traveling to and from and they feel part of the community. It's a challenge. But that's why, you know, one of my initial focuses was BMUD to try to strengthen it, change it, allow, you know, you know, larger development along that corridor to really infill housing. It's why when, you know, we're talking about condo projects, I'm for it. The tax dollars, if, unless we change something drastically at the state level, those tax dollars are important.
- [14:57]
A
Right.
- [14:57]
B
Especially in my Sierra districts. I can go directly back to it. It's the same. You know, I was on the board of Neighborhood Renaissance before I was a commissioner, and I was really, really in favor, and still have been of their project along the Tamar corridor. Because you. You want to bring back commercialization, you want people living on that street, you want that thriving. And you can't without certain incentives and, you know, going after tax credits, working with our Housing and Community development on strategizing. Okay, where can we put dollars and where can we help incentivize to lower that cost of living and make it available to others? It's a work in progress. Do I do I just wish that we could just continue to just develop so we didn't have to, you know, do this dog and pony. I think if there was more units available, your prices Would drop.
- [15:42]
A
Yes, yes.
- [15:43]
B
Unfortunately, I'm not the puppet master, so I just have to work with the tools that I have.
- [15:46]
A
Well, we're going to continue this conversation, but if you just join us. Thank you for joining us this morning on culturally speaking. I'm speaking with Commissioner Kathleen Ward from the city of West Palm Beach. Let's go back to your district. Last week we had some just deluge of rain and back and forth and I saw the rain, the water just piling up on. Australian. Right. At our office at the Urban League. What can you tell the residents about what you envision the city to look at going into the future to try to alleviate some of that? And I'm only talking one little segment and I'm quite sure we had some really some bad areas around.
- [16:29]
B
Oh, yeah. I mean, Flagler was one of them. Australian and just sometimes little neighborhoods, Palm Beach Lakes and all going around, I would see residents kind of just trying to move some of the debris from drains.
- [16:39]
A
Yes.
- [16:39]
B
Because that happens too. Right. We all have our palm fronds or whatever fallen in there. They block it. And that's even some. So I, people have even learned that to go and kind of like shimmy out stuff and so it'll flow those bigger issues. You know, the county has a project just for drainage in Australia that they're working on. They're going to start south and head north on there.
- [16:57]
A
Right.
- [16:58]
B
So it's going to cover through a major, major construction, major headache. Residents are pro and con on it. You know, wider sidewalks. But that, you know, impacts whales and.
- [17:08]
A
But we need it because the flooding is.
- [17:11]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [17:11]
A
Australian was underwater last week.
- [17:13]
B
It's not a question of need or not need when it comes to drainage. It's how the drainage impacts the day to day of the current residents, what the goal is, the understanding. It's funny, when you hear bike lanes, some people get very upset. You're putting in bike lanes. What do you mean? Like you're allowing multimodal. What do you mean? And as somebody who bikes, I, I get, I get the frustration sometimes from some certain people, but I also see how many people are.
- [17:38]
A
Oh, utilize it. I, I'm a cyclist. I mean, I, I love riding the scooters, the bikes.
- [17:44]
B
I mean, it is there and again, it's, it's helping other ways, especially when you have, you know, an uncontrollable increase in gas prices. You know, that, that you got to
- [17:53]
A
find other modes of transportation.
- [17:55]
B
And so last week I actually did the walkthrough around Roosevelt L elementary along there through this, through 15th around on Palm Beach Lakes, more so. And was a bunch of engineers and planners. So it was always, you know, a rowdy conversation with them, but it really was fascinating how they view things, what they see. But I want, you know, from a resident perspective, it was so important for them to see how these kids get across Palm Beach Lakes and the kind of impact, not just drainage, but safety.
- [18:26]
A
You know, they're coming from Twin Lakes crossing into Roosevelt Elementary.
- [18:30]
B
Yes.
- [18:31]
A
And. And what baffles me, honestly, we have two crossing guards there in the morning and evenings, and they really. They can't handle that.
- [18:39]
B
No. And people are belligerent to them sometimes. Yes. You also have kids who just want to kind of skirt, maybe closer to Tamarind, jump off there. We don't have crossing guard there. Some. Some of the older kids are dropping off their younger siblings.
- [18:53]
A
I just know I live in the western community, gated community area, and there's an enormous amount of cross guards for hardly any traffic at all. And in our urban areas, I pass from my home to this area. Right where you describe them, palm Beach Lakes, 15th all along. That with three schools right there. And we got three crossing guards. Outrageous.
- [19:19]
B
And then, you know, really, we've got four with the other elementary school in Roosevelt Estates kind of pushed back a little bit further. And that was another baffling moment for some of the, you know, regional planners, because it wasn't just our local guys, it was a bunch of different organizations doing this. So that was, for them, it was just like, this is best practice. This is not best practice.
- [19:38]
A
Right.
- [19:39]
B
And even just those crossing guards, yes, they're there, but if the buttons don't work, how the heck are you going to control the traffic? And how are you going to. So some of it's education. Right. Some of it is we need to be communicating with our family and friends, with people we pass by who complain about it. Hey, do you know what it means to not turn on red during a school zone? Do you know that the means slow down? And we did start a project because we got rid of cameras in Florida, but now in front of schools, you can. So the police are working with a vendor to try to set up cameras. We did a data collection of where, you know, worse targets and in the area that they clocked, really rapid speed.
- [20:21]
A
I'll give you this. If you ever want a place to hold a community meeting to talk about these issues, the Urban League is open to you. I appreciate that The Urban League is open to you. We will. We will host a meeting There, because we need to educate and make our residents aware of what's happening, when it's going to happen, why it's going to happen, get their input, whatever. But, you know, we're open to engage
- [20:43]
B
with you on that, and I'll be sure to coordinate. I don't know. It's interesting. You know, I. They did a lot. I know the county did a lot of engagement at Gaines park with their project, but when it comes to what we want to change, I mean, if you think about it, and they did talk about, hey, we need to do some community engagement. And so I'll definitely, when I hear from them, reach out to try to coordinate. But it was like, okay, if you're going to maybe do the Australian project, and then we always talk about Palm Beach Lakes and the bridge needing to be redone.
- [21:10]
A
Yes.
- [21:11]
B
Your traffic is going to go down 15th street, and that's your.
- [21:13]
A
That's your community road, either 7th or 15th. Yeah, it's going to go down either.
- [21:17]
B
It's going to go on the south. So we need to be prepared for that to say, okay, what are we going to do in response to that? Be proactive to make sure that we don't have a situation where a child gets hit by a. Oh, absolutely. We just can't let that happen.
- [21:30]
A
But in my opinion, which these two projects, the bridge over Palm Beach Lakes and the drainage construction on Australian. How many years back are there in bringing that proposal? I mean, we've been talking about it for years, and it's been on the schedule and keeps getting pushed out.
- [21:51]
B
Yep. And I do think that there was some funding change with the drainage project, but I have an inquiry in from my staff as to figuring out, okay, what's the timeline? Because we did all that, and obviously there's administration change.
- [22:04]
A
Yes.
- [22:04]
B
We have a new, you know, so it, you know, it was. It was. I mean, it was probably over a year of communication with the Northwood Shores neighborhood and then. And, you know, Roosevelt Estates to try to figure out, okay, what are. What are deal breakers for you all and what can we do from an engineering planning standpoint. But then it did. It did kind of die down a little bit. But I, like I said, I do know. I don't think it's off. I think they're moving forward. Now, when it comes to the bridge project on Palm Beach Lakes, that's a totally other animal.
- [22:33]
A
Right. That's a county project.
- [22:34]
B
I mean, and it's. And it's a huge project.
- [22:36]
A
Yeah, I think.
- [22:37]
B
I mean, I. That's a huge project.
- [22:38]
A
Take the whole top off, put a new top on, wider. The whole wider.
- [22:43]
B
Yeah. I mean, you know, in theory though, you don't want the other, you don't need the other lanes to be widened.
- [22:48]
A
And so that's something that they're at, a bike lane.
- [22:50]
B
Yeah. At least some sort of pedestrian access through it. And to me that's important. But when you talk about, hey, I hope they're not talking about widening the actual roadway when it comes up to it because you don't,
- [23:05]
A
from my understanding, a wider deck with two bike lanes on either side. Folks, if you join us, thank you again for joining us on Sunday morning. This morning with Kathleen Ward, who's the city commission, West Palm Beach. I have forgotten how does someone get in touch with you if they would like to have a conversation with you? And I'll get more information.
- [23:25]
B
Great question. So you can email me at C Ward C w a r d as in dog@WPB.org or you can call my office, 561-822-1390.
- [23:37]
A
All right. We only have a few minutes left. And I just want to ask this question. What do you foresee as the future of Broadway? And I know we don't have time to go into this because we've gone through quite a few, but what, I mean, if you had to rub that crystal ball, what do you, what, what do you envision?
- [23:55]
B
I envision medium sized to small sized buildings that have proper mixed use where we've got smaller commercial operations, both food and beverage and otherwise, and mixed income housing all along the corridor from market rate to different levels of affordability. We're already starting that process right now. There's actually a procurement out for people who are interested. We have a collection of lots of on the, towards the very, very north part of the corridor that CRA has acquired and that we want, you know, developers to come in, look at the current code and say what can you build and what can't you build and, and, and to bid on it. I want to see that happen. I need that connector because I've got stuff going on in Northwood Village and it's only a matter of time before it continues all the way up. But I need that connector on the north end to come through. But that's what I envision. You know, I, the FDOT project will happen. When the FDOT project happens, when it comes to the roadway, I can help make sure and try to push the other aspects of it to be, you know, someplace where residents want to come and Hang out and walk along that roadway.
- [25:02]
A
Yes.
- [25:03]
B
Because right now they don't. But that I.
- [25:05]
A
For various reasons, but yeah, a couple
- [25:08]
B
years down the road, I feel like we're going to see that change and be able to do that, and I'm very excited about it.
- [25:13]
A
Is there anything that you have on the horizon right now that you want to inform your residents in your district right now, or any. Anything that they should be looking forward to?
- [25:25]
B
Gosh, there's so. I mean, there's.
- [25:26]
A
I know there's a lot.
- [25:27]
B
Yeah, there is a lot. Well, that. That is one major one. Yes. And then obviously, with the anchor site, we are. We're, you know, we're trying to get to see if we can maybe potentially, you know, the developers really pushing to hopefully get a grocer there. I'm excited about Coleman Park.
- [25:40]
A
Yes.
- [25:41]
B
I'm so excited about Coleman Park. It's been a long time coming. The community center is open. It's beautiful, and it's. They're. They're activating it. Kids are playing, and that's the goal. And what Rise is doing with Palm beach adventure. Philanthropy is doing what. I mean, what you guys have historically done. It's all coming together. And I am. I'm excited to see what changes on Tamron Avenue, like Broadway aside, Broadway's moving forward. I think it was only a matter of time. Tamron needed work and needed a different. Different organizations to come in and really see the beauty for the long term and make sure that it's done in a way where if you are a resident, you want to stay there, you have every right to stay there and not just, again, completely gentrify an area. And so that is. I'm very. I can't wait for the neighborhood Renaissance openings. I can't wait for some businesses to finally open along that corridor, because that will be a game changer.
- [26:32]
A
Yes.
- [26:32]
B
Yep.
- [26:33]
A
I agree with you. Commissioner Ward, thank you for being with us here on Sunday morning, and I look forward to another conversation with you because there's a lot going on and I love to have you here, too, to talk about what's going on from your perspective as our representative in that very, very changing north end of the city.
- [26:56]
B
I'm always happy to come back and to the listeners, have a great West Palm Weekend.
- [27:00]
A
Absolutely. Thank you. All right, folks, look, just a few things to talk about with the Urban League on next Friday. It's already here. Our 53rd annual Equal Opportunity Day Awards Gala will be on April 17th at the Kravis Center. We're going to honor a lot of great people at our event. Please come out and join and support the Urban League as this is our major fundraiser for the year. If you need more information about it, go to ULPBC.org or call the Urban League at 561-833-1461 to get more information. I'd love to have you come out and join us. Support the Urban League. We use these funds to keep our doors open. We use these funds to give out scholarships. We use these funds just to make sure that we're meeting the needs of our community. Also, if you're looking to become a homeowner, we have home buyer education seminars on next Saturday, on April 18, also on May 16, and if that doesn't fit you, on June. And these are monthly folks, 8:45 to 3:30pm Come and understand what it takes to become a homeowner. We will at the end of your seminar we will offer you vouchers that you completed your home buyer classes and then we will take you one on one from there and work with you all the way through till you get that home. If it takes six months, a year, two years, three years, we're here there for you. If you're looking to forget financial literacy, we have workshops coming up on April 21, May 20 and also June 17. And these are virtual workshops there in the evenings if you trying to figure out, I get paid on Friday and money I have, I don't know where my dollars went. You need to take this class. You need to take the financial literacy, learn about budgeting, learn about how you can stretch your dollars and how you can build wealth for everything else. Please take a look at the Urban league website@ulpbc.org I hope you have a great Sunday. I look forward to seeing many of you next Friday at our awards gala at the Crafter center on the 17th. And I hope your weekend will be just a beautiful, beautiful South Florida weekend. With that being said, have a great Sunday and see you next Sunday.