InTouch - Breaking New Ground in Engaging Our Residents

A groundbreaking marks a beginning. We’ll hold one tomorrow for the Southeastern Live Well Center, signaling the start of construction on the 65,000-square-foot hub for health and social services.

However, this ceremony will really be more a milestone in a long, extensive process to bring these resources to this neighborhood. The degree to which we’ve worked with the community to get to this point is unprecedented for the County. 

It’s been about six years since we first had the vision for putting an array of services under one roof in this historically underserved area. The fact that we saw benefits to the project was only part of the equation, though. As good as our intentions were, we didn’t want the County to simply come in and impose that vision – it had to be the result of collaborating with the people who call that neighborhood home. We are building their center.    

From the outset, we have sought and incorporated community members’ input on virtually every aspect of the project. We’ve held outreach meetings to hear what specific services they needed, get feedback on the building’s design, and have them weigh in on colors and photo murals. Since it’s within the city of San Diego, we’ve worked closely with their officials and staff.   

The investment in the neighborhood extends to hiring local businesses for construction. The County recently announced the selection of two subcontractors from the area, and there’s another contract fair in a couple weeks.  

While I’m recognizing these accomplishments, I’m also sharing them as an example of the direction our entire organization is headed. Everyone should note that the depth of community involvement we had in this process will become much more typical of how we operate. Most projects won’t be on this scale. But the commitment to creating services not just for our residents, but with them, is where we are taking our business. It will require new levels of outreach, ongoing engagement, and understanding of people’s concerns and needs. That’s especially true when helping San Diegans who face entrenched inequities and have had less opportunity to shape their own futures.   

The team that’s worked on the Live Well Center will tell you it’s a ton of effort. They’ll also tell you it’s worth it to come up with a County presence that’s not just accepted but welcomed. 

Let me offer a big shoutout to the many, many employees who’ve had a hand in this project. We can all celebrate this moment and look to it as a model of how we’ll better serve our residents through partnership with them.