Get Active With the Overtown Parks Group!

About the Group

The Overtown Parks Group is a group of Overtown residents and community partners that have joined together to form a new subcommittee of the Overtown Children and Youth Committee (OCYC), called, Overtown Healthy Parks & Public Spaces Community Group, or ‘Overtown Parks Group’ for short. Urban Health Partnerships (UHP) and Catalyst Miami are supporting the facilitation of the group, bringing together people who are interested in helping to improve Overtown parks’ ability to provide healthy spaces and activities.

The Overtown Parks Group is focused on advancing community-driven solutions, programs and policies that improve and bring investment into Overtown parks. The parks already serve as key places for people to gather for recreation, for exercise, and to access occasional services like food distributions, health fairs, and COVID-19 support services.

Engaging Residents & Creating Community Connection  

"The UHP Community Liaisons are on top of it when it comes to learning & sharing what's going on in the neighborhood"

Iesha, The Optimist Club

"It's been a lot of work, but we are making progress not only on the goals of the Overtown Parks Group, but also in helping to build paths for authentic community engagement that partners are noticing and appreciating"

Jen Cheek, Urban Health Partnerships

Overtown Community Liaisons

Raquel Hanshaw

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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

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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. 

Deidria Davis

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Deidria Davis is an Overtown Community Liaison at UHP. Deidra is an Overtown resident and is passionate about serving underserved and vulnerable populations. Having previously worked at Cruise Lines, Resorts and Camillus House, Deidra holds experience serving victims of human trafficking and has an extensive background in Investigations and administrative support. Deidra is very active in her community and her goal is to continue to work with civilians, residents, victims, and law enforcement to better serve the community she lives in. She looks forward to working on this goal with UHP and community members.

Upcoming Events

Register for FitCamp and Zumba

Registation is complimentary. Your RSVP helps us learn of attendance and interest in these events for future consideration.

Join us at the Overtown Parks Group Meeting!  

Next Meeting: Thursday, January 18, 2024

The Overtown Parks Group will meet at 5:30 – 6:30 pm eastern time on the third Thursday of every month. Right now, the meetings are taking place virtually on Zoom, but in the future, we hope to host the meetings onsite at Overtown parks. Meetings are open to anyone interested in supporting improvements and services in Overtown’s parks, with a priority on representation from Overtown residents. Subscribe to the newsletter to receive upcoming meeting notices and links, or contact Erika Anderson at [email protected] to be added to the meeting invitations.

Resources

Download the Overtown Parks Assessment

 View the results of the five park audits that were completed in 2022 by Overtown residents about how the park was being used and ideas for improvements. 

Partners & Funders

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Phone

(786) 224-2309

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