Meet Moshe

A Closer Look

Values

Faith

Clear purpose, thoughtful spirituality

Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.
Khalil Gibran

As a man of deep faith, Moshe Popack’s development was shaped at an early age by the enduring values and rich traditions of his ancestral family and their Eastern European roots.

His grandparents’ Belorussian and Polish backgrounds, experiences, and stories shared through the generations instilled in Moshe unwavering tenets of respect and celebration of humanity. These are the values central to his Jewish Orthodox faith and those which inspire his life today.

Influenced by a thoughtful spirituality, Moshe’s faith enlightens his approach to all aspects of his life. For him, faith is about relating to something greater than himself or those within his immediate sphere. This vision provides a clear sense of purpose that embodies his business philosophy, connections to family, and his responsibility to his community and country.

Guided by the notion of reserving judgement, Moshe values the common human experience we all share. His personal core value is that every single human being has worth and dignity that needs to be acknowledged, and respected.

He considers empathy as being fundamental to interactions with others and believes in the significance of self-actualization as well as empowered self-growth, concepts he regularly fosters in his personal and professional relationships. For this reason, Moshe considers community as our societal foundation, and engagement within communities as essential to a healthy, growing, prosperous society.

Moshe Popack relies on his strong, internal moral compass to inform his core value of integrity, the operating principle in his daily life and interaction with others. Faith is more than a religious virtue, it is also a commitment to a belief system that promulgates honesty, accountability and truth, the essential elements of leadership. Every day is an opportunity to act in large and small ways to take responsibility for one’s actions, successes, and in particular failures. As a man of faith, Moshe Popack strives to lead by example and to navigate through his life with candor, with dedication and with purpose.

Family

A universal value

There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human, are created, strengthened, and maintained.
Winston S. Churchill

It has been said that the love of a family is life’s greatest blessing.

And so, it follows that the need for family love and support goes well beyond any individual need, rather it is a fundamental necessity for a healthy community and a vibrant country. Encouraging, supporting and strengthening the family unit is absolutely paramount for our great country to come together in common purpose once again, and realize the American dream of a more perfect union.

Moshe Popack revels in the value of family. From his heritage of Eastern European immigrants, to the humble life his parents built in New York City, to his own growing family of nine children, Moshe Popack nurtures his family to love, respect and engage with others, actively, in a responsible manner, for the benefit of the entire community.

Americans face many human challenges in our rapidly evolving world— from cultural changes to technology dilemmas; from racial tensions to the debilitating isolation of tribalism — so the need for a universal value — family— has never been greater.

Moshe Popack has devoted his professional time and personal energy to developing positive solutions for his community through the crucible of building and strengthening the family unit, in health, housing, education, and security. Ensuring opportunity and prosperity for everyone’s family is the means to a stronger country, and a better world.

Professional

Dedicated to changing lives and communities

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.
Elon Musk

Moshe Popack and his wife, Yaffa, launched their business in 2011 with purpose, and they haven’t looked back since.

Blessed with a keen market sense shrewdly perceiving a rapidly evolving real estate market, some entrepreneurial risk-taking, and a lot of hard work, they quickly built on some early success with residential properties in South Beach and grew their business into a multi-dimensional powerhouse.

A decade later, YMP is a sprawling and growing real estate investment and management firm, employing over 150 people, with over 3,500 units in Florida, North Carolina, and Kentucky; partnership in a waterfront hotel in Miami Beach; and 2 million square feet of commercial office space owned or managed in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and New Jersey. Dedication to honest principles and socially conscious ideals, hard work, perseverance and belief in themselves and the opportunities that America uniquely provides have graced the Popacks with a successful business, and the ability to change lives and communities in the process.

YMP operations are built on the central principle of serving local communities with quality, efficiency and professional expertise to rescue distressed or mismanaged real estate situations. In addition, the business is guided by a prudent approach of setting realistic return objectives within acceptable risk parameters for each investment.

As part of this philosophy, YMP has successfully invested in two Opportunity Zone investments with strategies to rebuild and reinvigorate stagnant assets and the communities they serve. The commercial investment houses several local non-profit organizations which include child dental care, health and pregnancy centers for women, and other general health care providers. Recently, YMP partnered with Chapman Partnership to create a high-quality, long-term residential facility for homeless families in South Florida.

In 2019, YMP broadened into the Senior Assisted Living and Independent Living, developing and upgrading three existing facilities, restoring the properties to their original condition and appropriate care level. As part of its business philosophy, YMP aims to enhance these properties for the benefit of its residents and the local community. Moshe Popack has a clear vision and business philosophy, incorporating integrity, social responsibility and an entrepreneurial spirit to do well by doing good. It’s no secret why YMP is today one of the nation’s fastest growing real estate investment firms and considered by peers to be one of the best places to work in South Florida.

Philanthropy

Healthy communities, one neighborhood at a time

No one need wait a single moment to improve the world.
Anne Frank

In large part due to his gratitude for the success of his business, and driven by a lifelong philosophy of giving back, Moshe Popack has been a generous contributor to his community. It is a fundamental spirit of his life and his family’s value system. For that reason, the Popacks established the YMP Family Foundation and support many other community philanthropic initiatives. A firm believer in empowerment, Moshe has also strived to help communities by providing opportunities to be self-sustaining.

The YMP Family Foundation, with the aim to create a healthier America, has undertaken several initiatives to promote healthy nutrition and access to fresh food options. He and his wife, Yaffa, provided the initial funding to open the Miami Kosher Supermarket in North Miami, which offers families access to reasonably priced, healthy food.

Also, a cornerstone project is a community garden program, called “Neighborhood Farms”, a model program currently in Florida, with designs to encourage its adoption in others’ apartment complexes throughout the United States.

The Neighborhood Farms plan is elegantly simple: provide hexagonal, raised flower beds in community apartment space, plant organic vegetables and fruits, then residents and their families, especially Seniors and children, are encouraged to participate in caring for the gardens.

By providing an opportunity to grow and nurture healthy, organic foods free of pesticides and/or herbicides, the program is laying a foundation for a stronger community and fostering a greater sense of community throughout the residences. The goal is to build healthy communities, one neighborhood at a time.

America:
Toward a More Perfect Union

Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them.
Winston Churchill

As America heads into a new decade in 2021, following a year of massive societal changes resulting from the pandemic, we must develop a forward-thinking, unifying agenda that prioritizes some of the most important issues challenging our nation. Together, we need to identify common sense solutions for the most intractable problems we face today as a society and visibly improve the lives of all Americans. Listed below are the issues I intend to prioritize in my personal and professional life, as I see them as foundational and critical to advancing our nation’s peace and prosperity in the 21st Century. Together, we can improve America, and empower Americans by providing better, healthier and unifying opportunities to live and thrive in our nation.

Select Topic

Toward a More Perfect Union

Mental Health

America needs a comprehensive policy, with research-based programs and the requisite funding, that affirms we as a society are serious about addressing the broad-range of mental health issues affecting our families, our neighbors, and our communities. Mental health is one of the most underestimated issues of our time because there is not a single segment of our society that is immune to its effects. It is essential to recognize the social and economic toll on our communities and its negative impact across all demographic groups. The statistics are clear.

Millions of Americans, approximately one out of five, which is about 19.1 percent of American adults, experience mental illness each year.

About 20.1 percent of homeless people have a serious mental health condition and 37 percent of adults incarcerated in state and federal prison systems have a diagnosed mental illness.

Across the U.S. economy, serious mental illness causes $193.2 billion in lost earnings each year.

Over 24 million individuals experiencing a mental health illness are going untreated.

Valuing and prioritizing mental health is an investment in America’s future.

Healthy Communities

All Americans, regardless of income, should have access to a nutritious diet which includes more fresh vegetables and fruits and fewer processed foods. Currently, across the U.S., too many Americans do not have access or cannot afford healthy food choices. We cannot allow that to stand. Food insecurity —whether quantity or quality— due to a lack of resources or access, is a significant and hidden issue in our nation with far-reaching consequences. The lack of proper nutrition contributes to a host of corresponding societal issues including chronic health conditions that place a burden on our health system and impacts our economic productivity.

About three-fourths of Americans have an unbalanced diet low in vegetables, fruits, dairy, and healthy oils.

Low-income communities suffer from higher rates of obesity and chronic disease due to limited access to fresh foods, a higher concentration of fast food restaurants in their neighborhoods and environments not conducive to physical activity

The disruption of food intake due to lack of resources is prevalent throughout the country. Recent statistics show that 17.4 million U.S. households experience food insecurity every year.

Studies have shown that neighborhood conditions affect physical access to food. Particularly those living in urban areas, rural communities, and low-income neighborhoods may have limited access to full-service grocery stores.

Americans, who lack affordable and nutritious food options, must resort to convenience stores and small independent stores, which often charge higher food prices, sell lower quality foods, and a limited variety of fresh foods.

A healthier America is key to creating a stronger nation. In every community, every neighborhood, whether urban or rural, we must identify and create both government sponsored and robust private-partnership programs, to offer Americans access to reasonably priced fresh and healthy food options.

Housing

As a nation, we must urgently establish sensible policies that address the growing shortage of affordable housing in America. Recent studies have shown that housing affordability—and consequently availability— is worsening, especially for low-income and middle-income households and contributing to the alarming rise in homelessness. This is a very real trend that we must combat to ensure America’s long-term prosperity and stability.

Over half a million Americans go homeless on a single night in the US, including many veterans returning from active duty in conflict zones around the world. This is a national shame.

Approximately 200,000 can be found sleeping on the streets and over 350,000 in emergency or transitional housing programs.

11 million low-income households spend more than half their paycheck on rent.

Nearly two-thirds of renters nationwide say they cannot afford to buy a home, and saving for that down payment is not going to get easier as home prices are rising at twice the rate of wage growth.

The U.S. has a shortage of seven million affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters, whose household incomes are at or below the poverty guideline (30 percent of their area median income).

Most Americans agree that this is now an urgent policy priority. Through research-based initiatives, we can find sustainable answers that allow Americans to live securely and to thrive in their communities.

Education

Education is a crucial foundation in the lives of all Americans. Every child in America deserves a quality education that will prepare them to be successful in today’s competitive global marketplace. But, the current state of our education system is both troubling and lacking effective consensus as we prepare our society for a very challenging future.

Among the world’s developed countries, the U.S. ranks only 28th in terms of access to high quality pre-kindergarten.

Studies indicate that preschool participation is heavily influenced by a range of socioeconomic factors, including household income, parental education levels, and race and ethnicity. The state where a child lives also has an impact.

While there is a high rate of reading literacy in America, with 99 percent of the population over age 15 having good reading comprehension, the US ranks below average in science and mathematics in comparison to other developed countries.

While high school graduation rates are at an all-time high of 84 percent, the nation should be much higher, closer to 90 percent.

Of high school dropouts, nearly 60 percent will go to prison at some point in their lives.

We must improve education access for all and incorporate alternative education schemes — from home-schooling and charter schools — to augmenting the funding and policies of our private and public-school systems, beginning with early education through community college and state universities, and enhancing the quality of education for all Americans by investing in communities of need. Through education, we can empower Americans to live successful, solutions-driven lives.

National Security

Our national security will always be the bedrock to our values and our great future.
Given the numerous challenges to our national interests, we must be consistently vigilant and prepared to deal with external threats of all sorts, in an ever complex and changing world. There are several national security priorities.

Preserving and continuously ensuring homeland security, particularly border security;
Monitoring and combating terrorism from state and non-state actors;
Preparing for and activating strategies against bio terrorism and viral pandemics;
Implementing a broad-based domestic and international counterterrorism plan;
Fighting transnational crime, cyber-crime, and maintaining cyber security;
Securing and enhancing America’s economic power globally;
Countering major economic competitors like China;
Maintaining key international alliances with bilateral and multilateral partners;
Fortifying American energy dominance.

I propose that we continue to focus on enhancing America’s economic competitiveness through free trade and market innovation. Through this clear strategy, we can continue to protect the nation’s vital interests and economic security. America must be at the forefront in order to maintain our global position and recognize that our nation can only be secure if we maintain our economic dominance.