Philadelphia-Based Firm Seeks $1B For Black Health Initiative

TPP Capital Management Group is seeking $1 billion in partnerships and investments for an initiative to build infrastructure in Black neighborhoods that will promote health and wellness. The project and firm are both based in Philadelphia.

The firm’s mission is to invest in as many as five underserved Black neighborhoods over the next 10 years.

In a prepared statement, the firm states that with the COVID-19 pandemic and resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, now is the time to focus on Black health. The pandemic has disproportionately affected Black communities. According to NPR, in the US, “African-American deaths from COVID-19 are nearly two times greater than would be expected on their share of the population.”

The firm stated its first neighborhood transformation will happen in the Tioga section, which is in upper North Philadelphia. They have already invested over five years to the neighborhood’s success.

TPP stated they got their model investable at scale in order to overcome any barriers to attract investment in Black neighborhoods. TPP principals Anthony B. Miles and Clinton Bush. developed the model. The firm’s “investment model uses residential and commercial real estate as a platform to build innovative community-based approaches to reduce health disparities,” they said in a statement.

“Our all-in-one solution will reduce the social determinants of health and disparate burdens of chronic medical conditions, implement critical infrastructure and regional development strategies, and advance bottom-up economics and regional prosperity,” said Miles.

TPP has raised $300 million through its Regulation D 506 (c) offering, which will go toward their Tioga transformation. The neighborhood is 85.5% African American, 33.3% seniors as well as 45% have high blood pressure and 77% percent have high cholesterol. The neighborhood is also a food desert.

“The health of this community and its residents has been forgotten. Tioga’s residents, and the greater community, deserve more than a better life. They deserve an excellent one. There is unrest in the community; residents do not want to wait, and many cannot afford to—they need resources now,” said Miles.

TPP has been building relationships with the community, stakeholders and political leaders, over the past five years, said Alexis Miles, VP and Director of Social Impact at TPP.

“What we have discovered is that Black people must have a significant leadership role in creating actionable change in black neighborhoods. It would be challenging for outsiders to overcome social barriers and they could be met with extreme resistance by residents, thereby halting market entry which perpetuates the vicious cycle of nonaction,” Miles said.

The firm’s initiative will bring in-demand job opportunities and critical healthcare, healthy food and smart technology to the Tioga community.

“Together, let’s create community resiliency and protect our low-income communities against the threat posed by future crises. An empowered community will sustain itself for decades to come,” said Bush.