By Jeff Yastine
(Source: Tap into Pompano Beach)
POMPANO BEACH, FL — For Mikelange “Mike” Olbel, a local nonprofit CEO and proud son of Haitian immigrants, launching a neighborhood health and resources center in Pompano – across the street from where he grew up – is a deeply personal mission. But it’s not just about the past — it’s about the future.
“As a father of two kids — a boy and a girl — I believe they deserve access to quality healthcare and supportive services,” said Olbel, founder of Community-Based Connections Inc. (CBCI). “But I don’t just want that for them — I want that for every child in this community.”
Working closely with Broward County Public Schools, and CBCI’s healthcare partners, Olbel’s non-profit organization is opening two full-service facilities, dubbed Community Health and Resource Centers – one at 1201 NW 6th Avenue in Pompano (on the periphery of the Blanche Ely High School campus), and a second at William Dandy Middle School in Fort Lauderdale. The centers are slated to officially open with ribbon-cutting ceremonies on September 3rd.
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CBCI President & CEO Mikelange “Mike” Olbel in the Health and Resource Hub’s waiting area, at 1201 NW 6th Avenue in Pompano Beach.
Holistic, Community-First Resources
Olbel says he grew up on NW Sixth Avenue in Pompano, in a two-story apartment complex that still stands across the street from where his health and resource hub will soon open. So he remembers well the clinic’s small concrete building from his youth. Back then, he says, the building also offered community health services before it fell into disuse. In recent months, Broward Schools officials made the building available to his non-profit. He and his staff have been busy fitting it out with three medical exam rooms, a blood testing lab, with other rooms set aside for additional services planned by CBCI, including:
Primary care through a nurse practitioner, including preventive screenings, immunizations, chronic disease management, and general check-ups.
Mental health counseling and trauma-informed care
Case management and care coordination
Help paying rent and utilities
Fatherhood- and family-strengthening programs
Job skill development such as CDL licensing or trades
Prescriptions for healthy food, usable at local farms
The clinics’ medical-related care will be supplied by Broward Community & Family Health Centers (BCOM), a nonprofit and federally qualified health center. The services will be provided regardless of insurance status or a family’s ability to pay. The model challenges the current healthcare system’s limits by focusing on what Olbel calls “generational health” — building habits and access points that span entire families with healthier outcomes for decades into the future.
“We don’t just want to touch one child,” said Olbel. “We want to touch parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents — because that’s how you shift the future.”
Both Health and Resource Hub clinics are equipped with rooms for medical exams and blood testing
Defining Success One Story at a Time
Federal authorities have deemed the communities served by the clinic “hubs” as “medically underserved areas” – i.e. healthcare “deserts” with few, if any, doctors and other healthcare professionals at close hand without venturing longer distances. According to Olbel’s non-profit, the three-mile radius around the hub at Blanche Ely is largely an historically black and hispance community where nearly half – 47% – of households fall below the federal poverty line.
When asked what he would define as “success” for the non-profit’s mission, Olbel said he measures it in ways beyond traditional metrics. He pointed to a simple but powerful example: avoiding unnecessary visits to an emergency room.
“Did you end up in the emergency room this month?” asks Olbel of a future visitor to the clinic. “No? That’s because you got your primary checkup, your nutrition’s on track, your mental health is supported. That’s success.”
In addition to BCOM, Olbel said the Health and Resource Hubs were made possible with help from a mix of other government, private, and non-profit sources, including:
Children’s Services Council of Broward
Florida Blue
HCA Northwest Hospital, which will hire student interns and train future nurses
Training Tomorrow’s Caregivers Today
The clinic near Blanche Ely High School also serves an additional purpose, by allowing students there to earn dual-enrollment credits and gain healthcare experience. Olbel says some are likely to take those experiences into future healthcare careers themselves at local hospitals.
“We’re not just giving care,” he said. “We’re creating future doctors and nurses — and a workforce that reflects the people it serves.”
