Welcome Home Fund through JWB Cares<\/a>, the charitable foundation of JWB Real Estate Companies.<\/p>\nEight applicants were selected to receive $20,000 each to help them purchase a home in Northeast Florida within the next 12 months.<\/p>\n
Among the recipients is Cherie Smith, a Jacksonville native, Navy veteran and longtime renter who said the assistance could significantly speed up her path to homeownership.<\/p>\n
Smith has rented with JWB since January 2021. She said she had planned to buy a home, but saving enough money while paying rent and covering rising everyday expenses would have taken much longer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very tough, because renting, you\u2019re literally paying a mortgage every month,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWhen you have other bills that you have to pay, and the groceries and everything going up, the gas going up and all that kind of thing, it\u2019s hard. It\u2019s very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith said she plans to use the award toward closing costs or potentially to secure a lower interest rate.<\/p>\n
As a veteran, Smith said she can use her VA loan benefits, but there are still costs associated with buying a home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been working with a lender that JWB supplied me with, and I\u2019m just excited about the whole process,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
She hopes to become a homeowner within the next year.<\/p>\n
For Smith, homeownership is about more than having a place to live.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will change my life significantly because I feel like being a homeowner creates stability and is important to me as family,\u201d she said. \u201cWith being able to be a homeowner, you feel like you really are a part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith said she has owned a home before, but it has been a long time. Now, she wants a place she can call her own.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeplace I can call my own and I can feel more stable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Applicants for this year\u2019s Welcome Home Fund had to demonstrate financial need, complete homebuyer education classes, show a commitment to giving back to Jacksonville and be ready to purchase a home in Northeast Florida within 12 months.<\/p>\n
An independent volunteer panel narrowed the applicant pool to 40 finalists. A committee of local nonprofit leaders selected the eight recipients in August.<\/p>\n
Dr. Robert Kelly Jr., president and CEO of READ USA, chaired the finalist committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe competition this year was tough because so many residents are working hard to reach homeownership but still need additional support to get across the finish line,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n
JWB President Alex Sifakis said the program is designed to help families build long-term financial stability and wealth through homeownership.<\/p>\n
\u201cHelping deserving families become homeowners takes a community effort,\u201d Sifakis said. \u201cThe Welcome Home Fund helps families overcome one of the biggest barriers to homeownership \u2014 the down payment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Welcome Home Fund replaced an earlier JWB Cares effort that built and donated one home each year. That program helped create six homeowners.<\/p>\n
The company said the new approach allows the organization to help multiple families at once.<\/p>\n
JWB Cares is funded through annual donations from employees, vendors, clients and partners, as well as proceeds from the organization\u2019s annual golf tournament.<\/p>\n
JWB currently manages more than 5,700 rental homes in Jacksonville, most of which they say are considered affordable housing.<\/p>\n
For Smith, the award also means she can continue the work she does in the community.<\/p>\n
She founded Open Gate Transitional Services of Florida, a nonprofit that helps returning citizens, veterans and people experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n
Smith said becoming a homeowner will give her additional stability while allowing her to continue helping others.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s another thing that this down payment assistance helps me be able to continue the organization and doing the things that I love to do, and that\u2019s help people,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
And she has a message for other Jacksonville renters who may be considering applying for future assistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you think you won\u2019t be chosen, apply anyway because you don\u2019t know,\u201d Smith said. \u201cYou can\u2019t win if you don\u2019t try.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Eight Jacksonville residents are getting a $20,000 boost toward buying a home, thanks to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15851,1571,1644,116,118,117],"class_list":["post-400685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-addressing-affordability","tag-affordable-housing","tag-housing","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400685","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=400685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}