Mercy Village.<\/a><\/p>\nConstruction is already underway on the five-acre property, where the organization plans to build 34 supportive housing units for families facing housing insecurity or homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s insane,\u201d said Carmen Queen, director of development for Mercy Support Services, describing the growing demand for help in Clay County. \u201cWe receive so many calls constantly seeking help. And just last year I believe there were over 800 calls of families that were in a situation where it looked like being homeless was in their future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nonprofit currently operates seven supportive housing units across Clay County, but Queen said demand far exceeds the organization\u2019s current capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are full right now,\u201d Queen said. \u201cAnd until one of our families graduates from our program, that\u2019ll be the next time when we have an opening.\u201d<\/p>\n
The affordability crisis has left many families struggling to keep up with rent and other living expenses. Queen said low-income housing options are already at capacity, leaving some residents with few alternatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cost of living and housing and rental fees are insane,\u201d Queen said. \u201cAnd low-income housing and extremely low-income housing, they\u2019re at capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
One former program participant shared her story in a testimonial video published by the nonprofit, saying she entered the program after facing eviction while raising three children alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was facing eviction. I was single with my three kids. I had no job, no daycare and no family support,\u201d the woman said in the video. <\/p>\n
Unlike emergency shelters, Mercy Support Services focuses on long-term stability through its self-sufficiency program. Families accepted into the program receive supportive housing, financial education and weekly coaching sessions designed to help them regain independence.<\/p>\n
Participants pay 30% of their income toward housing costs while working through individualized success plans tailored to their circumstances. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a benchmark widely used by housing experts and the federal government to define affordable housing. Households spending more than 30% of their income on housing are generally considered \u201ccost burdened,\u201d meaning they may struggle to afford necessities like food, transportation and healthcare.<\/p>\n
Queen said Mercy Support Services uses that same standard to help families build sustainable budgeting habits while in the program. In some cases, a portion of those payments is set aside and later returned to participants to help cover security deposits, down payments or moving expenses once they transition into independent housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have already had calls to see if it\u2019s gonna be an apartment complex. And it\u2019s not,\u201d Queen said. \u201cIt is supportive housing for our self-sufficiency program. So it\u2019s not going to be a permanent address for anyone. It\u2019s basically to stop the crisis that they\u2019re in, give them the skills and everything that they need so they can go independently and be successful on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no set timeline for how long families remain in the program. Queen said many participants are recovering from trauma while also trying to stabilize their finances and employment situations.<\/p>\n
The first phase of Mercy Village is expected to add 14 units by next year, including studio apartments and multi-bedroom homes. Plans also include a community center and playground.<\/p>\n
Queen said seeing construction move forward is emotional because of the families the program serves.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe families in our self-sufficiency program are some of the hardest working people that I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d she said. \u201cThey want more than anything to better their situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mercy Support Services, every family that has completed the organization\u2019s self-sufficiency program has successfully transitioned back into independent housing.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLAY COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 As housing costs continue to rise across Northeast Florida, one Clay County nonprofit says…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[219920,219921,7177,4,450,42699,451,2053,3,14308,452,453],"class_list":["post-642873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-addressing-a4dability","tag-addressing-affordability","tag-affordable-housing","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-clay-county","tag-headlines","tag-housing","tag-news","tag-northeast-florida","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}