By 
Major sports stadiums are built to draw investment and enthusiastic crowds.
Too often, however, the neighborhoods that surround them experience more disruption than opportunity, seeing few of the long-term benefits generated by the venue.
For decades, residents of Orlando’s West Lakes neighborhoods have lived next to Camping World Stadium, watching major events unfold in their backyard. But community leaders saw an opportunity to write a new story, with committed partners coming together to help children and families thrive.
Merging community knowledge with bold investments
The seeds of Lift Orlando, a W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) grantee, were planted more than a decade ago, when the city agreed to contribute more than $200 million to the reconstruction of what was then called the Florida Citrus Bowl.
“Some of us wondered, ‘What the heck are we doing?’” said Eddy Moratin, president of Lift Orlando. Steve Hogan, CEO of Florida Citrus Sports and a founding partner of Lift Orlando, said it was his hope “to figure out how to be the first football stadium that’s actually good for the neighborhood it’s in.”
Moratin, Hogan and other philanthropically minded business leaders saw a striking contrast: a monumental civic investment in glass and steel rising alongside neighborhoods that were once thriving communities and home to many of Orlando’s most influential residents. Years of disinvestment had left pockets of these communities in need of reinvestment.
The business leaders began exploring the challenges confronting neighborhood residents, examining the crime rate, education, housing, jobs, healthcare and much more. But each and every metric was pointed in the wrong direction.
“For all our searching to find a root cause, the notion of a silver bullet was completely shattered,” Moratin said.
They decided to set up a new type of nonprofit — one that brings together funding, community partners and residents to improve housing, education, health care and economic opportunity in the neighborhoods surrounding Camping World Stadium. The goal was to make sure the area’s biggest investment also benefited the families who live there.
“This is a rare and unique collaboration that strengthens neighborhoods so all residents can succeed,” said Moratin. “We know that children thrive in the context of a family and that families are rooted in the context of their neighborhood.”
Moratin likens Lift Orlando to a Wi-Fi router, serving as a central distribution point and directing assets where they’re most needed.
“We gather resources — the leadership of neighborhood residents, private sector capital, philanthropy, public sector funds and successful nonprofits — and put them to use in neighborhoods where we can help families succeed,” Moratin said.
The result is powerful and transformative.
“This stacking of interventions in a mixed-income frame creates a seamless ecosystem for families, getting people reintegrated into the economy and having strong social capital,” Moratin said.
Education is “the cornerstone”
Around the time of Lift Orlando’s establishment, the federal government completed a longitudinal study of Head Start, finding that while it successfully prepared students to start school, more than half of the students eventually attended an underfunded school and, by third grade, had slid back in their performance.
This led Lift Orlando to the idea that early childhood education should be, according to Moratin, “the cornerstone of the conversation.”
Over the years, Lift Orlando has partnered with AdventHealth, Primrose Schools and the Bainum Family Foundation to build the West Lakes Early Learning Center, a vibrant, 16,000 square foot, state-of-the-art neighborhood hub that benefits children and families, while also supporting longstanding private businesses, such as daycare centers and preschools.
“We have nearly 20 early learning center operators, and each one gets access to books, equipment, furniture, professional development and whatever else they need to upgrade their level of performance,” Moratin said.
Over time, Lift Orlando has successfully expanded its impact in many ways, including partnering with the local public school district and offering professional development to teachers and staff at other Orlando schools.
“We now serve almost 1,000 children with supports around housing, community engagement, employment opportunities and healthcare,” Moratin said.
Lift Orlando has also entered into a unique public-private partnership with Orange Center Elementary, centering neighborhood residents in the planning and execution of the work.
In July 2026, Orange Center Elementary took another big step forward, rebranding as Orange Center STEAM Academy and converting to a charter school that will eventually serve students from kindergarten through 8th grade.
Erin Albert, the school’s principal, sees strong neighborhood contributions as an exceptional asset.
“The community here truly is brilliant,” she said. “And now we get to build systems and structures and even new buildings to let this brilliance shine even brighter than before.”
Over time, the school’s impact will be tracked through a mix of qualitative and quantitative measures, including kindergarten readiness, third-grade reading skills, attendance, discipline and overall community wellness.
“If we have a wonderful resource or we’ve learned something that genuinely works, we want to spread the word,” Albert said. “The goal is to train as many educators as we can, because it’s not just about Orange Center, it’s about all of [ZIP code] 32805 and beyond.”
Learning throughout the day in different ways
Lift Orlando’s approach is multi-faceted, partnering with a wide range of organizations so neighborhood children can learn and grow before, during and after school.
This is where the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida comes in, bringing its low-cost, high-impact services to the 32805. The Boys & Girls Club at West Lakes, formally known as the Bradley-Otis Family Branch, is co-located with Orange Center STEAM Academy so students are able to seamlessly transition between the school setting and out-of-school programming. It serves more than 15,500 club members per year, with 94% qualifying for free or reduced lunch and 63% of families earning less than $50,000 annually.
“I am a believer, and our organization is a believer, that if you start with kids, you support the whole family holistically,” said Jamie Merrill, president and chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida.
Varonica Sylvester, parent of a neighborhood 12-year-old, agrees.
“This club is more than just a place for children,” she said. “It is a village that partners with parents, steps in when we’re tired, overwhelmed or simply need support, and shows up without hesitation.”
Neighborhood children have access to a wide range of opportunities at the local club — from academic support to mental health check-ins, from healthy meals to enrichment activities and much more. And the club’s location is a powerful benefit, serving as a true extension of the school day, with Merrill saying that their academic support ensures students complete their homework before they even arrive home.
While Lift Orlando is intensely focused on improving conditions for city residents, its aspirations are not narrow. In fact, all of Lift Orlando’s partners share a true commitment to pushing themselves and spreading their insights.
“We regularly have conversations as a collective where we ask, ‘What should we do more of? How can we lift up the community even more? Are there ways we can bend, change and adapt for the benefit of the children and families we serve?” Merrill said.
Like Albert and Merrill, Moratin is extremely optimistic about the power and potential of their shared work.
“All of this is solvable, if you’re willing to embrace a holistic approach,” Moratin said. “It takes time, it takes capital, it takes collaboration, but the return on that bold investment is much greater in the long term.”
Comments