Welcome to Conversations With the Winners.
Today we're having conversations
with Carol Zernial and Daryl Quarles,
two of the winners
of the 2020 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award
for Health Equity.
Carol and Daryl, welcome.
Let's start from the beginning, about the making
of the WellMed Charitable Foundation Senior Activity Center.
How did it come about?
Daryl?
I think it all started with,
me applying for a grant for a small amount of money
to support our senior program division.
After I applied for the grant,
I received a call from Carol Zernial
who I had never met before, I knew very little about.
And we had a conversation over the phone
with the possibilities of us increasing
the grants to support our program.
And it just went from that to bringing the park board down,
council members, my director of Dallas Park and Rec,
and things just took off until we were able
to put this great program together,
this great partnership that I'm so proud of.
That first conversation
was such a catalyst because we really felt
like we had a common mission and a common goal.
We were new in the Dallas area
and we were also looking for a home,
and we really felt like we had tremendous buy-in
from the leadership at the park board, as well as the city.
And that buy-in was so important
for the buy-in for our board leadership
to approve the project.
Let's talk a little bit about health equity.
What are your thoughts about health equity
and how, the opportunities and issues
in the communities that you serve?
Carol?
Thank you. That's a great question and it's so important
because we in the foundation,
we want to go places that are underserved.
So we serve older adults.
That's a marginalized population.
And then we try to serve older adults of color.
And also along with that, it was the diversity side.
When we looked at this location
and where we wanted to have it,
we were able to see that there was a difference
in income in some areas as well as there were
very diverse group of people.
So with the support of city council and others,
they wanted to make sure that we were able to meet
the needs of all.
Carol, the amenities and the services at the center,
remind me of what we would find in any upscale facility.
Am I right about that?
We like to call these one-stop centers.
So we find that with a broad variety of programs and amenities,
we can have something for everyone, which is so important.
And we want anyone who walks in the door
to feel like that they're getting
the best there is to offer in the community.
The movie theater,
a movie theater license so people don't have to go
someplace else and buy popcorn and Coke at $20
and they can see the latest releases.
That's just one example of what we try to bring
into the local neighborhood.
I want to talk a little bit, Daryl,
about older adults in our community and the role they play.
Older adults, I think they carry
a sense of character and respect that goes down to others.
Our children, our youth, they're getting out more,
they're driving longer, they're living longer,
they're exercising, they're very vocal within the community,
they volunteer, they're probably
one of our highest voters in the city.
They get out and vote and they encourage that.
We have what we call a senior advisory council,
where they meet with us, they give us suggestions,
they give us ideas.
There's a myth out there that older adults are a drain.
As this growing aging population,
we hear about the baby boom and how many 74 million boomers,
and that's somehow a drain on the resources of the country.
And the centers that we have,
helping people have good health, promoting good health,
promoting community engagement, all of that changes it.
It gets rid of that myth and it demonstrates
that there is a role for older adults in our community.
It gives people purpose.
And for me, it makes older adults visible,
visible in a positive light.
The numbers are outstanding.
Over 3,000 older adults registered,
10,000 persons involved and engaged.
How does that come about?
What's the magic in these outstanding numbers of engagement?
Well, I think that we really work to reduce the barriers
or remove the barriers of participation.
There was a $10 annual membership fee
and $5 monthly dues that had to be paid.
And so the first thing the WellMed Charitable Foundation did
is take over those fees so that the older persons
could participate at no cost.
It's conveniently located.
All of that dedication to removing barriers,
I think pays off.
When we started out charging $10
for the annual year and $5 a month,
it really didn't sound like a lot.
But a lot of times I would get a call from a senior saying,
"I can't come this month, I don't have $5."
And just to hear that really, really touched me.
And so once they came along and provided assistance
and paying for the $10 annual fee and the $5 monthly fee,
our numbers went from like 1,200 individuals
up to 6,000 in no time.
Seniors start coming into the facility.
And I didn't really know that that cost
had that big of an impact on people
unable to come in and participate in our facilities.
What are the lessons that we can take away
and you can share with us
about bringing this kind of vision to life?
Carol?
You've got to have a common goal,
the transparency in the communication
when things aren't going well, being honest,
and then building on the things that are going well.
And then the buy-in of both the leadership
of the respective organizations
and bringing along the community.
One of the biggest lessons that I feel I learned
was that if you take a great program,
a great project with a good partnership
and be able to share it with those
that are able to make those decisions,
that it can work and how it benefits the community
and our seniors.
You just mentioned partnership again,
and I want to talk a little bit about that.
What it takes to have a good partnership.
You also mentioned the buy-in piece.
Daryl, talk a little bit more about that
and then we'd like to hear Carol's perspective on it too.
Transparency.
Very open and honest and being transparent.
Lots of good communication,
just sharing great information about ourselves,
about our city, about our leaders, about our seniors.
These conversations took place day in, day out.
One of the reasons the partnership works
is because we have highly defined areas of responsibility.
So Daryl and the Park and Rec Department,
they run the physical activity program.
And so if something happens related to physical activity programs,
we're going to ask Daryl to go ahead
and help lead that decision.
so I think highly defined responsibilities,
a common mission and bringing along your leadership with you,
so that when Daryl and I get excited and are ready
for the next big idea, the leadership are ready for that.
As we come to a close,
any final thought you would like to leave us with today?
Carol?
My thought is to continue to move forward for health equity
We have just scratched the surface.
We could really, really reach a large population
that we're currently not reaching.
Daryl?
Yes, I have to agree with Carol on that.
Health equity is a very important part of the city,
our state, our country.
And again, I'm hoping that this model or this partnership
that we have that others throughout the country again,
can continue to work towards these types of programs
for seniors and as well as here in the city,
that we can offer more.
Daryl and Carol, thank you.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
Thank you for your leadership, for your partnership,
for your commitment to health equity,
to your commitment to older adults.
On behalf of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
and the National Park and Recreation Association,
congratulations on your award.
Thank you.
Thank you for joining us for this conversation,
and you are invited to more conversations
with the 2020 winners of the RWJF Award for Health Equity.
And you can learn more about all of the winners at RWJF.org.
I'm Jacinta Gauda, and thank you for watching.