At the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation, we believe that meaningful change rarely begins with a committee, a strategic plan, or a grant application.
More often, it begins with a person.
Someone sees a problem, a need or an opportunity and decides to seize the day. Someone refuses to accept that “that’s just the way things are.” Someone decides to build a solution.
That’s the spirit behind our Catalyst Award.
Each year, the award recognizes individuals whose vision, courage, creativity, and persistence spark positive change in our community. We look for leaders who bring people together, challenge conventional thinking, and create opportunities where none existed before. We celebrate those who don’t simply talk about improving communities—they do the work of making them stronger.
This year, we are proud to recognize Terry and Tonia Rich, founders of Rose’s Trolley, as the recipients of the 2026 Catalyst Award.
At first glance, Rose’s Trolley may look like a transportation company. Spend a few minutes with Terry and Tonia and you quickly realize it is something much more.
Raised in West Palm Beach, the Rich siblings understood that transportation barriers often prevent people from accessing opportunity or often basic services. Seniors struggle to reach appointments. Residents face challenges getting to jobs and community resources. Neighborhoods can become disconnected from the very opportunities designed to help them thrive.
Rather than waiting for someone else to solve the problem, they created a solution themselves.
Rose’s Trolley combines entrepreneurship with community purpose. Their work connects people to essential services, supports local businesses, creates jobs, and strengthens neighborhoods. In doing so, they have built a business that serves a mission while demonstrating that innovation can emerge from within the community itself.
What impressed us most was not simply the business model.
It was the mindset.
Terry and Tonia embody a quality we admire deeply at the Foundation: they see possibilities where others see obstacles. They understand that lasting change happens when communities build their own solutions. They have paired vision with execution, compassion with entrepreneurship, and purpose with action.
Those qualities reflect the legacy of our founder Carl DeSantis.
Carl believed in backing people with bold ideas and the determination to bring those ideas to life. He understood that progress often starts with individuals willing to take risks, challenge assumptions, and build something that doesn’t yet exist.
That is exactly what Terry and Tonia have done.
Rose’s Trolley is one of the more interesting social enterprises to emerge in West Palm Beach over the past few years. What looks like a colorful downtown trolley service is actually a community development effort wrapped in a transportation business.
Their work reminds us that innovation doesn’t always come from large institutions or major corporations. Sometimes it arrives in the form of a brightly colored electric trolley driven by people who care deeply about their neighbors and their city. Drivers have been described as part driver, part social worker and part neighborhood ambassador. During a recent tour of Coleman Park narrated by Tonia Rich and Purpose Built Communities President Upendo Shabazz we were struck by how many people recognized Tonia. It was like taking a tour with the mayor of the neighborhood. Tonia and Terry are connectors. They bring a deep love of community to their work. Twice a week they deliver meals to nearly 200 families.
Tonia and Terry are catalysts in every sense of the word.
We are honored to recognize Terry and Tonia Rich as the 2026 Catalyst Award recipients and grateful for the example they set for all of us.
Congratulations, Terry and Tonia. Thank you for helping move our community forward.
