MDC New Mobility Initiative

Wendy Quintero joined UHP as a Community Liaison in October  2021. Wendy is a single mother of one child and has been working as a Medical  Assistant in Hialeah since April 2021. She is a Venezuelan Doctor with a postgraduate degree in Public Health. Wendy has more than 20 Years of experience working to promote health and improve lifestyles in her community and wants to integrate olders adults into healthy lifestyles as well. 

Yurmeira holds her community in very special place in her heart. Her superpower is her empathy and ability to earn people’s trust. You can often see Yurmeira connecting and helping members of her community. She has extensive experience serving as a volunteer in different organizations. Earlier this year, she participated in a project where her team managed appointments for COVID-19 testing. Not only did she manage to include a population that is usually excluded (due to advanced age or tech competency) but she also obtained a record-high number of vaccination appointments. Yurmeira has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, podcasts, and other outlets. In every interview, she feels proud knowing that her family and friends celebrate her success.

Lolimar Leon is a Business Administration graduate but works as a Preschool Teacher and Case Worker. Without a shadow of a doubt, social work is her passion. She is known as ‘Teacher Loli’ for supporting her co-workers and community members through different community projects. Her superpower is her capacity to identify how to help others and connect them to the appropriate recourse. Because of her influence with social work in the community, she has gained a reputation that precedes her. Lolimar is one of those rare people that uses all the influence she has to benefit the community. Teacher Loli is passionate about animal rights, and in her free time, she loves taking long walks with her dogs.

Tara N. Kitt joined UHP as a Community Liaison in September 2021.  Tara Kitt retired from MDCR/PTSB as a Pretrial Service Officer II in July 2020. Tara earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Florida Memorial College in 1984.  She is an active member of Eta Phi Beta Sorority.  She has resided in the Miami Gardens area since 1980.  Tara is concerned about the wellbeing of the Senior citizens in her community, advocating for safer environments to live and work in.

Raquel Hanshaw joined UHP as a Community Liaison in June of 2021.  Raquel Hanshaw is a woman of integrity and ambition. She has worked as a union delegate for 1199 SEIU at the University of Miami Hospital. As a Community Liaison, Raquel aims to stay dedicated to informing people about the changes within the Overtown community and opportunities for co-designing positive change.

Keith Ivory began his grassroots community organizing career in 1999 while serving as PTA President at Phyllis Wheatley Elementary, his son’s school in Overtown Miami, FL. During that tenure it was noticed by parents and staff that the rising amount of absenteeism among students, teachers and staff was due to contaminated air condition systems in the school and the need for mold remediation and asbestos removal. During that time Mr. Ivory was hired as a full-time organizer @ Power U. Center for Social Change to advocate for the Miami Dade School Board to remediate the entire air quality systems thru mold removal asbestos extraction at all 3 Overtown schools. He also was a part of the 2005 ANTI GENTRIFICATION campaign to save Town Park residents and their property which helped remodel resident’s rental units. Ivory has also worked with organizations in Miami Dade County including the Human Services Coalition, known today as Catalyst Miami under the leadership of Danielle Levine Cava, presently Mayor Danielle Levine Cava. Ivory loves history and has served as a Tour Guide Historian Lecturer/ Urban Storyteller throughout Overtown, Little Havana, Little Haiti, Liberty City, Coconut Grove, Wynwood Art, South Beach for the past 35 years. Telling the stories of South Florida with its history of political, social, economic, cultural events including famous people in South Florida. His large passion for reading includes books such as The Golden Bough, Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome and many more. 

Tamu Quinton joined UHP as a Community Liaison in May of 2021.  Tamu is a native of New York City, but currently resides as a resident and community member of Overtown in Miami, FL. One of my Tamu’s goals is to work with communities in every developmental stage, assist in making positive change directly to families and neighborhoods while improving mobility and way of life. Tamu earned her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in Psychology from Florida International University.

Carmen Benitez joined UHP as a Community Liaison in October 2021. She has over 20 years in customer service, sales and marketing. Carmen was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. She moved to the United States in her high school years. She has lived in Miami for over 35 years. She currently resides in Miami and enjoys spending time with her family especially her only daughter and her two grandsons.

Mrs. Beckford has worked in the Florida school system for over 25 years in a variety of positions that ranged from classroom assistant to district and state administration. Mrs. Beckford has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Social Science and Interdisciplinary Studies and holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and is a certified Restorative Justice coach.

She is well versed in a wide range of public and private school programs and has created educational programs for the YMCA, Miami Dade and Broward County schools. Through her gift of creativity and passion for excellence, Mrs. Beckford has positively impacted the lives of many. She is a Teacher, Mentor, Restorative Justice coach and Passion and Purpose coach. Margarita is a devoted wife to Mr. Richard Beckford and is a mother to three beautiful daughters, Ayesha, Aria and Angelique.

Romania Dukes is the Founder of Mothers Fighting for Justice. Mothers Fighting for Justice was born from the tragedy of losing her son De’Michael Dukes to senseless gun violence on July 21, 2014. She has since turned that unmeasurable pain into purpose. Romania spends her days and nights fighting for legislation to help stop senseless gun violence. Her organization is a grass roots, boots on the ground effort to make a positive change in the South Dade community of Miami, Florida. Often this community is left behind, so Romania works with the children by tutoring, field trips and offering them other things to do besides being on the streets. She is an advocate for the elderly, homeless and children in her community. During COVID-19 she has equipped this precious population with PPE kits and every day essentials. She speaks to other mothers to help them through the pain that only they know. 

Adonis joined UHP as a Community Liaison in October of 2019. Adonis is currently an engineering student, studying at Miami-Dade College. He has over four years of experience in community organizing and working with various organizations in South Florida and across the State, such as PowerU Center For Social Change, FL Student Power, Dream Defenders, The HOMY Collective, and others across the country. As a resident of Overtown, he is passionate about participating in programs to help make his community a better place to live, as well as providing opportunities for those who reside there, with a focus on the youth. His background has provided him a great understanding of community engagement, which goes hand-in-hand being a Community Liaison.