Mayor Brown to Announce Proposed Day Center Location Today

[thelakelander]

From the Mayor's Office....

MAYOR BROWN TO MAKE IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO
ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Nov. 29, 2012 â€" Mayor Alvin Brown will make an important
announcement regarding the proposed day center in Jacksonville.

WHEN:

Thursday, Nov. 29
10:45 a.m.

WHERE:

City Hall
4th Floor â€" Mayor’s Large Conference Room
117 W. Duval St. â€" 32202

###

[Bridges]

Exciting!

I feel like the Mayor is going to stand up there with a big giant map of the city, put a blind fold on, and then throw a dart at the map.  Wherever it lands, BAM! day center.  Problem solved. 

[Tacachale]

^Hahaha

[Bridges]

Who's there?  Where did the dart land?

[Bridges]

So, City Rescue Mission gets the pilot program.  Great!  Hopefully this works out as a solution, or at least paves the way for a more permanent solution. 

Doubt they hit the Mayor's target, but at least things are moving along. 

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-11-29/story/jacksonville-mayor-targets-city-rescue-mission-homeless-day-center

Jacksonville will have a pilot program homeless day center at the City Rescue Mission’s State Street location with hopes of it opening up by the end of the year.

Building out the facility, Mayor Alvin Brown said Thursday, will cost about $70,000, with all the money coming from private donations.

“We are seeing partnership-driven innovation at work in a way that will benefit everyone in our city,” said Mayor Brown. “This is more than a shelter. It’s a voice for the voiceless and it’s a tool to help people help themselves, to recapture self-sufficiency and to rebuild self-esteem. One life at a time, we can and we will build a stronger community.”

The center will provide access to showers, washing machines and social service providers and have the capacity to serve about 200 people at a time, three days a week, during business hours.

“A day center is one of the key strategies from a national model for ending homelessness,” said Carolyn Hillhouse-Jones, who handles homeless issues for the 39-church Interchurch Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment, known as ICARE. “It’s not the only strategy, but it’s an important piece.”

ICARE has long pushed for a day center and it was to that group that Brown made his promise.

Such a center has practical benefits as well as humanitarian ones, Hillhouse-Jones said, including cutting down on misdemeanor arrests and helping homeless people know more about programs that can help.

The success of the center will be judged on two criteria, said Dawn Gilman, executive director of the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition of Northeast Florida: Does it increase people connecting with services and does it decrease arrests?

Brown reiterated last month that he still was aiming for a December opening, although his office acknowledges that having a site up and running by then will be difficult.

The administration ran into some opposition last month when residents of the Springfield neighborhood heard the city was looking at the nearby old Armory building as a site for the center. At a meeting of community residents, Brown promised the center would be downtown, but not near the historic neighborhood.

City Rescue Mission, which has been around since 1946, fits that desire, as does its experience in dealing with homeless-related issues, something advocates say is key to success.


Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-11-29/story/jacksonville-mayor-targets-city-rescue-mission-homeless-day-center#ixzz2DdMh7qly

[Ocklawaha]

The center will provide access to showers, washing machines and social service providers and have the capacity to serve about 200 people at a time, three days a week, during business hours.

So you can only be homeless on Monday, Wednesday and Friday? What happens if it rains on Tuesday?

[duvaldude08]

Being that its just a "pilot", that could explain the day center to be avaiable only three days a week. Atleast that what I getting from it. But the location makes sense. A day center at the homeless shelter, DUH! 

[thelakelander]

Assuming FSCJ is as close as the Northbank is going to get to having a large college presence in downtown, a day center at the school's front entrance is probably not the best long term solution.  However, this is a pilot so it doesn't hurt to see how it goes.

[duvaldude08]

Assuming FSCJ is as close as the Northbank is going to get to having a large college presence in downtown, a day center at the school's front entrance is probably not the best long term solution.  However, this is a pilot so it doesn't hurt to see how it goes.

Well heres the thing. IF there is a day center, they will have a building to go into versus hanging outside the building all day long. It may work out.

[thelakelander]

Hmm, I figure a permanent day center should include some outside space/plaza as well.

[duvaldude08]

Hmm, I figure a permanent day center should include some outside space/plaza as well.

Good idea. Hopefully they do that eventually. Ive never understood homeless people. You alreayd live outside, why would you hang outside of a building you can go into? If I was homeless, I would not want to wonder around outside all day and night. So a patio or plaza would help with that.