a nine-member Community Benefits Agreement (CBA)<\/a> Board to oversee tens of millions of dollars dedicated to neighborhood development. The funding is tied to the city\u2019s $1.45 billion \u201cStadium of the Future\u201d agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars and is aimed at long-term growth in surrounding communities.<\/p>\nThe board will guide how $40 million is invested over the next seven years, with a focus on affordable housing, economic development and homelessness initiatives.<\/p>\n
Travis Williams, president and CEO of LIFTJAX, a nonprofit focused on eradicating generational poverty through neighborhood development, said the board represents a pivotal moment for the Eastside community.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople here for the most part aren’t looking for necessarily help; they’re looking for opportunity,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWe have the opportunity now to change that narrative where folks are like, no, my dreams can come true OutEast, and I can raise my family and there’s opportunity for my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams, who was born and raised in the Eastside, added that the board could leverage existing work in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is that, from our perspective, is that these dollars go to continue great work that’s been happening, that it can be a leverage to great work that’s happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The CBA stems from negotiations connected to the city\u2019s stadium deal, which created the largest Community Benefits Agreement in NFL history. In addition to the city\u2019s $40 million commitment, the Jaguars have pledged to spend $2.5 million in Eastside neighborhoods over the next 30 years once their stadium renovations are completed.<\/p>\n
Councilmembers expressed excitement about the board\u2019s potential impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new board is going to do a ton for the community,\u201d Councilmember Jimmy Peluso said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPouring money back into that community, it will not look the same as it does now,\u201d Councilmember Ju\u2019Coby Pittman said.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Ron Salem noted the importance of coordinating neighborhood growth with the stadium project. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna have a beautiful stadium in two years and we want a neighborhood next to it that looks the same way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Williams says the initiative is about more than rebuilding infrastructure. It is about fulfilling long-held dreams and redefining what\u2019s possible for the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey dreamed of their neighborhood coming back, and we get a chance now to make a lot of their dreams come true with this neighborhood, returning not just to its glory days but really building a vibrant future for the next 100 years of the neighborhood,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
The nine-member board will include four members appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council, four appointed by the council president and confirmed by the council, and one current employee of the Jaguars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Community leaders say the success of the board will depend on transparency, strong oversight, and making sure residents have a real voice in how the funds are spent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The nine-member board will oversee the $40 million funds focused on affordable housing, economic development and homelessness initiatives…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-153985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}