Eviction Diversion Program<\/a> provides rental assistance to qualifying tenants in Duval County, helping them catch up on rent, utilities and energy bills with the goal of keeping people housed.<\/p>\nFor Shamekia Bell, the assistance came just in time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was amazing,\u201d Bell said. \u201cIt was just a right-on-time, very fortunate, very blessed situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell said she fell behind on rent after missing work due to health issues. Without paid time off, her income dropped, and late fees quickly piled up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have no PTO, of course you don\u2019t get paid,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were times when I could not pay the full balance in rent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her experience reflects a broader reality for many Americans. A widely cited 2019 report from financial firm Charles Schwab found that nearly 60% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck or at risk of financial instability.<\/p>\n
For Bell, the stress of falling behind was overwhelming.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re wondering day to day, is this going to be the day that you\u2019re going to be evicted?\u201d she said. \u201cYou get that whole sunken, helpless feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Eviction Diversion Program, administered in part through Jewish Family & Community Services and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, works with both tenants and landlords to prevent evictions before they happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work directly with landlords trying to prevent evictions from going through, trying to help tenants stay in their homes,\u201d said Brooke Golzbein, an eviction coordinator with the organization.<\/p>\n
Golzbein said the program has helped more than 400 households so far and reports a success rate of more than 80%.<\/p>\n
Eligible tenants can receive up to three months of back rent, with the program focusing on those who have experienced a one-time financial setback but previously maintained consistent payments.<\/p>\n
In Bell\u2019s case, the assistance covered thousands of dollars in back rent and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey paid off that balance, and they also paid the deposit and the first month\u2019s rent in the new place,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was more than I could have ever thought of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without that support, Bell said her situation could have been drastically different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no idea what my life would be like,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t even want to think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The need for programs like this remains high. Golzbein said tens of thousands of eviction filings are made in Duval County each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have so many evictions filed every year, over 14,000 to 15,000,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s only going to keep growing if we don\u2019t step in now and help people maintain what they already have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell said the program can make a life-changing difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can really save so many lives on so many levels,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Residents seeking assistance through Jacksonville\u2019s Eviction Diversion Program must live in Duval County and demonstrate a recent financial hardship after previously keeping up with rent. Eligible households must also include a child, senior, veteran or disabled adult.<\/p>\n
More information on eligibility and how to apply is available here.<\/a><\/p>\nCopyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 As housing costs continue to strain household budgets, a Jacksonville program aimed at preventing evictions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15852,1571,1039,116,118,117],"class_list":["post-207199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-addressing-a4dability","tag-affordable-housing","tag-duval-county","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207199","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=207199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}