Radix’s Right 2 Root campaign shares the mission of healing symptoms by changing systems. We use data to our advantage!

INNOVATE+MAKE+HEAL

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Community begins with the People in it. The environment or place—natural and built—can help or hinder our ability to live, survive and thrive.

Driven by community goals, aspirations and assets, Right 2 Root works directly with community members to share knowledge and tools about how to build community power and partnerships to transform and leverage our feelings into action.

We believe that the most sustainable and impactful interventions will be made with, for and by us, while also understanding the role and necessity of champions, allies, advocates and experts working alongside us to make our plans manifest.

Our ultimate goal is to build resilience and assets in the African American community as a way to prevent and mitigate adverse effects of revitalization, growth economy and climate change, as well as to harness the tools of community redevelopment to RE/Construct our communities.

We use a public health approach to shift our understanding of the root causes of health/ wealth disparity from individual blame to institutional causation, as well as to identify and innovate impactful upstream solutions that hit the multiple bottom lines—social, economic, environmental, health and wealth.

We understand that SERIAL POVERTY is the problem; that INEQUALITY IS MAKING US SICK.

We let the data drive our work to where the need is greatest, and we center the most impacted early and often.

Our goal is to close disparity gaps, and reach parity in inputs and outcomes within this generation.

RIGHT 2 ROOT PROPOSES THAT COMMUNITY RE/CONSTRUCTION REQUIRES US TO USE:

  • ASSET-BASED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (ABCD), an approach that catalyzes change and initiates development based on utilizing the existing gifts and capacities of people and their communities. The ABCD model discourages development brought in from an outside source, but rather energizes change and development from within.

  • A HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN PROCESS. PEOPLE BEARING THE BURDEN MUST LEAD, OWN, DECIDE, CO-CREATE, IMPLEMENT. Starting with the people you’re designing for and ending with new solutions that are tailor made to suit their needs.

Communities experiencing late-stage gentrification are in crisis; best precedents and most-promising practices are needed to address and mitigate!

Woman with her back turned, standing in front of Right2Root wooden sign

Right 2 Root campaign—of Radix’s Community RE/Construction 3.0 Initiative — is aimed at addressing the impacts of gentrification on Black communities through a health/wealth strategy.

We co-create innovative solutions to maximize health, innovation and maker opportunities for our most vulnerable; prioritize community redevelopment and resource allocation through an equity lens; and foster resilience to weather the physical, emotional, socio-economic and cultural impacts and burdens caused by the root shock of multigenerational, serial forced displacement.

Maker Strategies

The maker theme highlights economic strategies that enhance community assets and capital, providing opportunities for cultural preservation, skills sharing, job growth, ownership, entrepreneurship, resource creation and knowledge proliferation.

Key health strategies focus on:

  • Woman and child care
  • Access to preventative practices and services
  • Urban agriculture and food sources
  • Stress reduction (environmental stressors)

MANIFESTED IN:

TRANSPORTATION

Reduce transit costs, time and inefficiencies between areas of opportunity and disinvestment, and optimize bike and pedestrian connections between institutions, facilities, services, employment and education in Root and Anchor areas.

  • Separated bike and pedestrian pathways
  • Protected and comfortable bike and pedestrian trails for commuting and leisure
  • Connected, well-maintained and comfortable sidewalk network
  • Accessible, interconnected and safe transit stops

ENVIRONMENT

Cultivate a new open-space system to connect and organize cultural and natural areas that promote and support community activities with ecological processes that are community-controlled, interactive and healthful.

  • Safe and complete streets
  • Playful and interesting street furniture
  • Shaded and comfortable streets with interactive storefronts
  • Shaded and welcoming parks
  • Vegetated bioswales
  • Planted areas and daylit waterways
  • Fountain squares
  • Active and inviting courtyards
  • Safe playgrounds

INNOVATION STRATEGIES

The innovation theme highlights strategies that create capacity, as well as support a community’s growth and stability through dynamic environments.

Key health strategies focus on:

  • Connecting partners and creating networks
  • Creating a coordinating entity
  • Funding longevity and stability

MANIFESTED IN:

Land Use

Incubate community and business programs in mixed-use, interim facilities that can be adapted for education and cultural events.

  • Neighborhood libraries with technology and resources
  • Schools and/or community colleges with meeting and classroom space
  • Community centers with meeting and classroom space

TRANSPORTATION

Design and organize meaningful and purposeful connections between facilities, intended for community and business programs, that have a continuity of settings and experience and last-mile circulation, information technology and community activities in public space nodes.

  • Street intersections where placemaking and interaction are important
  • Streets (temporary pedestrian or bicycle) that prioritize activity and active transportation
  • Sidewalks with attractive and effective kiosks and signage
  • Street network and shuttle routes accessible to and practical for the community

ENVIRONMENT

Transform built and natural spaces into connected, culturally supportive ecosystems that support multigenerational health, maker and innovative laboratories to create and test upstream interventions for social impact.

  • Benches or furniture that integrate technology along the street
  • Courtyards or public open spaces accessible to the community with space dedicated to art and creative expression
  • Accessible plazas or courtyards with interactive games
  • Courtyards or plazas with meeting space
  • Parks and outdoor spaces with seating
  • Seating and tables along the sidewalk or in parklets near food vendors
  • Public spaces that accommodate expression and capacity building