Our work
Community Wellness
As part of our efforts to improve wellbeing for Eastside residents, we’re restoring the Debs Store into a community wellness anchor that provides easy access to healthy food. The store was a beloved neighborhood staple for more than 90 years and left the Eastside a food desert after closing. We’re also working to activate parks and green spaces by improving the infrastructure so they can better support activities for families. In addition to that, our goal is to create more green spaces for the community, starting with placemaking along A Philip Randolph Blvd.
Long-Term Financial Vitality
To improve the neighborhood’s financial vitality, we’re supporting grassroots businesses by providing marketing and financial support to the Melanin Market, which supports hundreds of Black-owned small businesses at each event. Our Debs Store location will also build career pathways for residents, through a Goodwill GoodCareers Center and workforce programming. It will also provide access to financial services thanks to our partner VyStar Credit Union. We’re also partnering with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Construction Ready to prepare Out East residents for construction careers linked to development happening in our urban core.
Cradle-to-Career Education
As part of our education efforts, we’re working together with Duval County Public Schools to focus on early learning and maximize enrollment in high-quality pre-K programs through the new John Love Early Learning Center, the district’s only exclusive VPK center in the city. We’re also supporting STEM programming through the education pipeline by turning Long Branch and Matthew Gilbert Elementary into STEM Pathway Schools, bringing the nationally recognized model led by Woz Ed and STEM2 Hub to the Eastside, a first-of-its kind initiative for DCPS.
Mixed-Income Housing
As part of our housing work, we’re working to stabilize existing homeowners through the Restore & Repair program with the Historic Eastside CDC, which supports longtime Eastside residents in making improvements to their homes, ensuring they can remain in safe, stable housing in the neighborhood their families have called home for generations. Through Project Boots with LISC Jax, we’re also building new single-family homes to attract new (and returning) residents to the Eastside. We’re also working to protect the neighborhood by designating it on the National Register of Historic places, and to address conditions at blighted apartments.
No single organization can address complex challenges such as poverty and racial inequity alone. Take a look at the work we’ve accomplished with some of our business and community partners:
When neighbors and community leaders come together, we can make a real impact. We’re so thankful for the continued support from the Jacksonville Jaguars, which goes far beyond just funding – they’re embodying the motto of being a good neighbor in every sense of the word and showing up Out East, supporting grassroots organizations and driving awareness on and off the field. In this video, learn about the history of Out East, how LIFT JAX came to be, the many community leaders we work with and exciting projects to come like Debs Store.
Our friends at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida were one of the first supporters of Out East and have been instrumental in the work we're doing with the Historic Eastside Community Development Corporation and LISC Jacksonville. Like us, they firmly believe in supporting the strategy of withintrification; revitalization that’s driven by the people already in the neighborhood. This video gives an overview of what their support has enabled through the years.
Our Progress
Since we started our work in 2020, we’ve made so much progress thanks to our many community leaders and partners. We’re excited to share with you an impact report to reflect on the work done, while looking forward at what’s to come.
Learn more about our work and the latest updates through our news page and social media channels.