JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville city leaders are putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to curbing homelessness.
The city council voted to put $16 million into the Sulzbacher Enterprise Village on the Northside.
The plot of land off I-95 on Walgreen Road may not look like much right now, but with the help of $16 million, it may transform in the next few years.
“I lived in Miami during Hurricane Andrew," said Sulzbacher CEO Cindy Funkhouser. "175,000 people became homeless overnight. I just had an epiphany, or a calling that anybody can become homeless (just) like that."
That epiphany led Funkhouser to her new career – helping to get the more than 3000 people on Jacksonville’s homelessness registry a place to live.
Sulzbacher’s first step was a women and families facility, which opened six years ago off Golfair Boulevard to provide affordable housing, emergency housing, health care and dental care.
“This is a beautiful facility, it’s a tax credit property," said Funkhouser. "The answer to homelessness is housing, it’s pretty darn simple.”
The next logical step for Sulzbacher is duplicating that for men.
That’s what the land on Walgreen Road will be used for.
There will be three phases:
- 1) 100 affordable housing units
- 2) A healthcare facility and 80 emergency, short-term rooms
- 3) A manufacturing plant that will create jobs for people looking to start a new career, with no experience necessary.
“What we’re looking to build in that manufacturing plant is affordable housing modules," said Funkhouser. "The beauty of that is, full circle, you have formerly homeless people who now have a career building affordable housing and also being a pipeline to the building industry.”
All told, the facility will be a $90 million investment into Jacksonville’s Northside.
“We’re putting a lot of investment dollars into 32209," said Funkhouser. "We’re very proud of that.”
Construction on the 100 affordable housing units is set to start in the fall.
Sulzbacher is hoping the whole project could be done in about three years.