JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A one-hundred-million-dollar housing project broke ground today. It\u2019s designed to help people living on the street by providing housing and job opportunities. <\/p>\n
A dirt road marks the start of the project. Down the road, they\u2019re building a 100-unit apartment building with hopes of getting people off the street. <\/p>\n
\u201cToday, as I was saying, has been eight years in the making,\u201d Cindy Funkhouser, President \/CEO Sulzbacher Center, said. <\/p>\n
After a long wait, Sulzbacher\u2019s enterprise village is now one step closer to reality. The agency with a mission to help the city\u2019s homeless broke ground on the 37-million-dollar first phase of the project. <\/p>\n
It will provide 100 affordable studio-unit workforce apartments for homeless men in Jacksonville. <\/p>\n
\u201cProvide permanent housing and an opportunity to end homelessness to 100 people,\u201d said Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe vision is that people who are unhoused can become housed. They can get job training, they can get a living wage career. They can get world-class healthcare,\u201d Funkhouser said. <\/p>\n
They are looking to complete phase one by next year, and while they do that, they plan to clear trees to start phase two. <\/p>\n
Phase two will include the relocation of comprehensive wraparound services, including health clinics, a Mayo collaboration, Goodwill training facility, and kitchen\/cafe\/dining training facility. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you get that wraparound service, that\u2019s when you get the best results,\u201d John Rutherford, congressman for the 5th congressional district, said. <\/p>\n
With phase three, an on-site for-profit manufacturing facility will provide employment for residents and create jobs for the hardest-to-place workers, including those with felonies and other barriers. <\/p>\n
They say they also hope residents can build tiny homes for others to help them get off the street and improve Jacksonville as a whole. <\/p>\n
\u201c If we could take 180 of them, that is a huge impact on downtown, and we are trying to do our part because how long has Jacksonville been talking about redeveloping downtown?\u201d Funkhouser said. <\/p>\n
The entire project will cover approximately 16 acres, and they hope to complete it within the next 5 years. <\/p>\n
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