A look into the complex issue of Homelessness

[00:00:01] Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike

[00:00:03] Mike's on Mic, a conversation about politics, government, and Jacksonville, with 50-year opinion leaders Mike Hightower, Mike Tolbert, and award-winning broadcaster and longtime political observer, Mike Miller.

[00:00:18] Welcome to another episode of Mike's on Mic. I'm Mike Miller, along with Mike Hightower, who is here in studio, and Mike Tolbert is at his farm, and he's joining us remotely.

[00:00:27] Before we get started, though, we do need to inform you that we are recording today's podcast on Tuesday, October the 8th, which is a day before the expected landfall of Hurricane Milton.

[00:00:39] We all hope that you and your families are safe, and we want to especially thank the tireless workers at JEA, all of our first responders, and the hundreds of volunteers, not only in Florida, but throughout the entire pathway of Hurricane Milton, for the extraordinary work that they're doing, trying to take care of those people who are in need.

[00:00:59] And with that said, Mr. Hightower, I know you wanted to add a couple of words yourself before we end.

[00:01:03] Yeah, but three quick comments. Let me try very quick. First, I just want to thank the folks who have somehow let me know their concern for my family.

[00:01:15] And I, as I said, we were fine. It's the people of North Carolina that really took a hit. We were fine. It was just Max and I, my family, was here.

[00:01:22] Two, I just want to thank the folks who responded to me, but they're carrying compassion for the folks of Western Carolina.

[00:01:30] It was very emotional, and I was very moved. Third, there were a number of notes that said to folks while they were talking about this that said,

[00:01:39] thank you for reminding me about the Red Cross. These people still need help. This is years in the making, but thank you for your comments that said, thank you for reminding me about the Red Cross.

[00:01:49] And then finally, he's not going to like this, but one of our own mics on mic is he and his wife, Annette, and their horses are in the path of Milton.

[00:01:59] Our own Mike Talbert is down there in Brooksville. Mr. Talbert, you and Annette, your horses and your puppy dog, you be safe. We're worried about you.

[00:02:08] We're worried about us too.

[00:02:10] Good.

[00:02:10] We all have extra bedrooms.

[00:02:12] Yeah, there you go.

[00:02:13] Head a little further west and north. We're here for you.

[00:02:15] A couple of episodes.

[00:02:16] The horse will shut through the door.

[00:02:18] I got a big backyard.

[00:02:19] We have a big backyard.

[00:02:21] Max will love the horses.

[00:02:23] In a couple of episodes recently, we've discussed Jacksonville's homeless situation, mostly concerning Mayor Deegan's recently passed budget,

[00:02:31] which include a pretty good appropriation to deal with the homelessness, as well as a 12-point plan that we're going to be talking about a little later on.

[00:02:38] On episode number 60, I misspoke by asserting that after breakfast, the homeless must leave before coming back for lunch or for dinner so that the staffs at Salzbacher,

[00:02:50] as well as other shelters, have an opportunity to clean up and to get ready for those people who would be coming back there.

[00:02:57] But as we understand it, that really is not the case.

[00:03:00] Cindy Funkhauser is the CEO at Salzbacher, and she was quick to point out that I misspoke.

[00:03:05] Today, Cindy's our guest to set the record straight and discuss the state of homelessness in Jacksonville

[00:03:10] and tell us what, if anything, can be done to really improve the situation.

[00:03:14] For those of you who are not all that familiar with Cindy, Cindy got her undergraduate degree at George Mason University,

[00:03:20] her master's at Florida State.

[00:03:22] My condolences.

[00:03:23] Hey.

[00:03:24] It's their football team.

[00:03:25] What can I tell you?

[00:03:26] She became the CEO at Salzbacher in 2011, succeeding our great friend Audrey Moran.

[00:03:32] Cindy, welcome to Mike's on Mike.

[00:03:33] Why don't we start off by showing that clip where I misspoke so I can be embarrassed even more as we go through this program.

[00:03:40] Keep in mind that you go to a Salzbacher center for breakfast.

[00:03:44] Then they tell the people, you've got to leave because we've got to get ready for your lunch or for your dinner or whatever.

[00:03:50] So these people don't just stay there and they don't have a gymnasium to go to and they don't have a workout room to go to.

[00:03:56] They're told they've got to leave.

[00:03:58] And where do they go?

[00:03:59] Wherever you can find yourself a place to go.

[00:04:01] Then they come back for another meal or to spend the night.

[00:04:05] As if nobody in the program has ever missed both.

[00:04:10] That's a pretty issue.

[00:04:12] You'd almost think what's on a tissue or not?

[00:04:14] You were very nice enough.

[00:04:15] At least you admit it.

[00:04:16] Tolbert and I don't.

[00:04:18] Cindy, can you respond to that mistake that I made though in talking about the homeless and where they go during the times that they're not having lunch or sleeping at the center?

[00:04:27] Yes.

[00:04:28] Years ago, you were correct.

[00:04:30] All the shelters, except for Salzbacher, we've never required people to leave during the day ever.

[00:04:35] But the other shelters used to require that they leave during the day.

[00:04:40] But in the last five or so years, there's really only one shelter now that requires people to leave during the day.

[00:04:47] So the rest of us, which is the three other major shelters, we have our folks staying with us during the day and having case management and other services.

[00:04:56] But I did want to bring up that at Salzbacher, not only do we have our own people, which is over 100 men downtown that stay with us, but we open up our campus during the day for something called the Urban Rest Stop.

[00:05:10] That's in partnership with the city of Jacksonville.

[00:05:12] We opened it under Mayor Curry about five years ago.

[00:05:18] And it's a place for street homeless people to go during the day.

[00:05:22] We get between 150 people every day coming onto our campus.

[00:05:26] And they come there for showers, for meals, for jobs, for health care.

[00:05:33] And they're allowed to be on our campus all day.

[00:05:36] So we're open to that population during business hours, like nine to five.

[00:05:41] So they get lunch and dinner with us.

[00:05:43] But they also just have a place where they're welcome, where they can be, where they're not in the library or hanging out in James Weldon Johnson Park.

[00:05:51] So I did want to point that out, that not only do we not have our people leave during the day, but we allow another 150 extras to come onto our campus.

[00:06:01] So I wanted to say that's been an amazing partnership with the city.

[00:06:06] And if it weren't for that, folks downtown, all of you businesses, you would see another 150 people wandering around downtown.

[00:06:15] So I just really want to thank the city for that.

[00:06:18] But I think that also points seriously to what you're saying.

[00:06:22] It has shown the evolution of how the homeless issue has transitioned from where it was.

[00:06:30] So it's new information, but it also shows where the city and all the other homeless centers are attempting to get their hands around it.

[00:06:38] So they're not just putting it out there.

[00:06:40] So thanks for the clarification.

[00:06:41] Sure.

[00:06:41] Yeah, Cindy, over the years, you've received numerous awards and significant recognition for your great work.

[00:06:48] And the three of us really do appreciate what you do every day for Jacksonville.

[00:06:53] So usually under some difficult circumstances, I'm sure.

[00:06:58] Help us understand the current homeless situation in town.

[00:07:02] It sure looks like it's an issue that's growing rather than getting smaller.

[00:07:07] What are the numbers?

[00:07:08] Who is homeless?

[00:07:09] And is it really growing?

[00:07:11] It is really growing.

[00:07:13] And the numbers are increasing daily.

[00:07:15] And really, I want to point out that the main reason we have homelessness, really the reason, is the lack of affordable housing.

[00:07:24] We have a housing crisis across the country.

[00:07:28] And we especially have one here.

[00:07:30] And currently, I have the late-breaking numbers right here.

[00:07:33] All of the homeless providers, we put all of our data into one databank.

[00:07:39] And it's called the Homeless Management Information System.

[00:07:42] And HUD requires that.

[00:07:43] These are the number of people that are active clients that all of us are working with.

[00:07:49] And that would be 2,509 active clients that we are working with somewhere in the system.

[00:07:59] That doesn't mean that's all of the people that are homeless, right?

[00:08:02] But that's the best count that we have of the number that we know are active and are somewhere in the system getting help in one way or another.

[00:08:11] And I want to point out two demographics that are growing quite rapidly.

[00:08:17] And it's really scary.

[00:08:20] There are now more women that are homeless in Jacksonville, Florida than men.

[00:08:25] Yes, that number is 53% women and 45% men.

[00:08:33] That has never happened before in Jacksonville.

[00:08:37] And honestly, I've never seen it.

[00:08:39] I've been doing this for 20 years.

[00:08:40] I've never seen it in any city.

[00:08:42] That needs to really be investigated why we have more homeless women.

[00:08:47] Do you have any theories on that?

[00:08:49] There's a lot of single moms out there who can't make it on one income.

[00:08:53] Women get paid less than men.

[00:08:56] And people just can't afford rent in Jacksonville, Florida.

[00:09:00] Across the spectrum, even looking into service workers and folks further up this spectrum, economic spectrum, it is difficult to find affordable housing here.

[00:09:10] And I really attribute it to that.

[00:09:13] And I do want to point out a very disturbing statistic is that any woman that finds herself on the street, literally on the street, 100% of those women will be sexually assaulted.

[00:09:28] They will be.

[00:09:29] That's a fact.

[00:09:30] So that's why we're very concerned about the number of women.

[00:09:34] And then the second demographic that's really concerning is seniors.

[00:09:40] We call it 55 and older because most homeless people don't make it to 65.

[00:09:46] They die.

[00:09:48] But 55 and older now represents almost 20% of our homeless population.

[00:09:55] And so older people and women, that's what we're seeing in Jacksonville as the growing populations.

[00:10:02] We have laser focused on veterans for many years.

[00:10:06] And there is a lot of resources that come around veterans.

[00:10:10] And we have done a great job in lowering the numbers of homeless veterans in Jacksonville or a military town.

[00:10:18] There is a ton of federal money that comes, VA money.

[00:10:22] So we're able to really hone in on that.

[00:10:26] But these other demographics, as I said, that's really concerning.

[00:10:31] And more children on the street as well?

[00:10:34] I have youth.

[00:10:35] 18 to 24 is 5%.

[00:10:37] But they don't have it that you can break out, just the children.

[00:10:41] Yeah.

[00:10:42] Yeah.

[00:10:42] The part is that 100% chances will be sexual assault.

[00:10:48] Yes.

[00:10:49] Trauma is a huge problem for everyone that's homeless, actually.

[00:10:55] Just being homeless is traumatizing in and of itself.

[00:10:58] So that whole piece of sexual trauma, it really messes a person up and requires a lot of wraparound mental health services and that sort of thing.

[00:11:11] So that's just a whole other complexity and layer to this very unfortunate situation.

[00:11:17] What are some of the services citywide that are for the homeless in general?

[00:11:22] There's actually four major shelters downtown, four major providers, which would be the Salvation Army, City Rescue, Trinity, and myself.

[00:11:32] And then we do have Claire White, and she's dealing with veterans only.

[00:11:37] So the four of us are the main shelters that are dealing with that.

[00:11:42] But there's a lot of other organizations like Changing Homelessness and there's Ability Housing.

[00:11:48] So there's folks that are doing ancillary, that are doing housing services and that sort of thing.

[00:11:52] But the people that are dealing daily with street homeless and emergency shelter are the four that I mentioned.

[00:12:02] And between the four, we have about 490 beds.

[00:12:07] So you heard how many homeless people we have.

[00:12:09] We have 490 beds between all of us.

[00:12:14] And that goes to show you that there is a real lack of capacity as far as being able to get people off the street and into housing.

[00:12:25] Let me ask you about the shelters that only do intake.

[00:12:28] And they only do intake on weekdays, correct, and not weekends.

[00:12:32] How does that affect the community, particularly the JSO?

[00:12:35] So how do they deal then with those that are not receiving the services on Saturday and Sunday and obviously have to rely on the street, I assume, until Monday?

[00:12:45] Interestingly, and I'm sure we're going to be getting into this later with the mayor's 12-point plan.

[00:12:50] Yeah, correct.

[00:12:51] But one of the pieces of that 12-point plan was a 24-7 intake.

[00:12:58] Now, the shelters, the providers, we are maxed to capacity.

[00:13:03] We don't have the staffing or the additional beds to do 24-7 intake.

[00:13:11] But really, and you think about it, with the new law, which I know we'll get into, but JSO or now JFRD, they're not going to run into people sleeping on the street from 9 to 5.

[00:13:26] People don't really sleep during the day on the street.

[00:13:29] So it will be in the evenings and it will be on the weekends that they're going to run into folks.

[00:13:34] And we, in the shelters, I just did a presentation to the new homeless commission, the city's new homeless commission.

[00:13:43] And of those 490 beds that we just talked about, we are almost at 100% capacity across the board.

[00:13:53] Three of the shelters are at 100% capacity.

[00:13:55] With waiting lists, one maybe has five beds a day.

[00:14:00] And those are top bunks, which makes a difference because a lot of folks on the street are disabled.

[00:14:05] They're physically disabled.

[00:14:06] They can't climb up to a top bunk.

[00:14:09] So if you ever do have beds available, it'll be top bunks because the folks just can't access them physically.

[00:14:15] We do want the 24-7 access for JSO and JFRD, but that's not going to help if there's no beds available.

[00:14:26] And so therein lies the rub and the fact that the mayor's 12-point plan did not get funded or a very small percentage of it got funded.

[00:14:37] The shelters, we do the best we can with the staff we have.

[00:14:41] We're completely stretched thin.

[00:14:43] Everybody's at 100% capacity.

[00:14:46] We've lost money over the last two years with the COVID money drying up.

[00:14:51] That put us all behind the eight ball because there was a lot of money coming down during COVID, and we were able to do some things.

[00:14:57] During COVID, we actually got hundreds of people into hotel rooms with that federal money.

[00:15:02] But we don't have that money anymore.

[00:15:04] And we are where we are with the 490 beds.

[00:15:07] That's it.

[00:15:08] That's all we have.

[00:15:09] Yeah.

[00:15:10] Cindy, let's talk about the mayor's plan a little bit.

[00:15:13] It was in response to House Bill 1365 that, as you well know, mandates that cities have to remove anybody camping on public property or sleeping on public property.

[00:15:27] Deegan's plan, if I understand it, is a five-year strategic plan.

[00:15:33] Tell us what HB 1365 is, what it does, what its intention is, and then tell us how the mayor's five-year plan will address the state's unfunded mandate.

[00:15:46] Okay.

[00:15:46] I happen to have a little brief synopsis right here.

[00:15:50] That's why you do.

[00:15:52] That's why you're good at what you do.

[00:15:53] Actually, from the legislature.

[00:15:55] Good.

[00:16:20] Let's look at this big picture.

[00:16:25] It's already illegal to camp on private property because that's called trespassing.

[00:16:29] That's always been illegal, and you cannot do that.

[00:16:31] To make it illegal to camp on public property, when we have 490 beds and you heard the number of homeless people, it basically is making homelessness illegal in the state of Florida.

[00:16:45] Now, the law, as you heard, is unfunded, as you point out.

[00:16:50] And what it wants municipalities to do, I'm sorry to laugh, is to set up a tent encampment.

[00:17:01] I don't know how many of you all were around during COVID when that big tent encampment dropped up downtown.

[00:17:07] Now, people lost their minds over that.

[00:17:10] So we were working, all of us, all the providers, JSO, everyone, was working with then-Mayor Curry's administration to disband that encampment.

[00:17:22] Very bad things were going on there.

[00:17:24] Very bad things.

[00:17:25] It was unhygienic.

[00:17:27] It was not healthy.

[00:17:28] There was drugs in there.

[00:17:30] And the folks that were in there created their own little society.

[00:17:35] And they wouldn't even, they didn't want workers coming in.

[00:17:39] They didn't want JSO.

[00:17:40] It became very dicey.

[00:17:42] And so we disbanded that.

[00:17:45] JSO, all the providers, the mayor's office, lots of folks were involved in that.

[00:17:50] And we were able to disband that within two weeks.

[00:17:53] Alex Sifakis of JWB loaned us a warehouse.

[00:17:57] We stood up a real quick bridge shelter.

[00:18:01] Nobody wants that.

[00:18:03] And it has to be on public property, according to this law.

[00:18:06] A tent city on public property is all that you are allowed to do with this law.

[00:18:13] And you have to move it every year.

[00:18:17] I'm sorry.

[00:18:18] It's illogical.

[00:18:20] What was the intention of this legislation?

[00:18:22] It obviously is not to cure a problem.

[00:18:24] I can't talk about politics.

[00:18:26] It was not to cure a problem.

[00:18:28] And I'm just going to leave it at that because it does not cure a problem.

[00:18:32] It creates a problem.

[00:18:33] Exacerbates.

[00:18:34] It exacerbates a problem.

[00:18:35] So if you can't be on private land, that's trespassing, which means JSO or the law can move

[00:18:43] you off.

[00:18:43] And if this law says you do it on public.

[00:18:47] But when you do it, it creates a whole set of problems that we already know have happened

[00:18:53] here.

[00:18:54] I do want to point out one thing before we move off of HB 1365, the teeth of the bill,

[00:19:00] if you will.

[00:19:01] The teeth of the bill is that any citizen in Duval County, if you contact the city and

[00:19:10] say, there's a guy and he's sleeping on the sidewalk right outside my subdivision and I

[00:19:16] need him to be moved.

[00:19:17] If the city does not relocate that person within five days, five days, that person that called

[00:19:27] it in, the citizen, as of January 1st, can sue the city.

[00:19:33] Honestly, our friends in Tallahassee have set us up because citizens can then sue the city.

[00:19:42] And that's the teeth of the bill.

[00:19:44] That's how the bill has any kind of accountability or teeth to it, is that people can then start

[00:19:53] suing the city.

[00:19:55] Again, what was the point of this bill?

[00:19:57] I'm not sure.

[00:19:59] But it doesn't seem like it's very productive to me.

[00:20:05] It was to say we've done something about homeless so people can go home and say they've done

[00:20:12] something.

[00:20:12] But what they've really done, it's just caused a greater problem for the city and for the

[00:20:20] community.

[00:20:21] But they've also caused another problem for the providers like yourself.

[00:20:24] The mayor's homeless plan includes 12 recommendations, as we talked about before.

[00:20:28] Some of the items, I'm not going to go through all 12.

[00:20:30] We'll list them or find a way for you to be able to see them.

[00:20:32] But three of the items on there is increased homeless outreach plans, increased shelter capacity,

[00:20:38] and COJ to expand the Homeward Bound Program.

[00:20:41] Here's where I'm going to put you on the spot.

[00:20:43] Of those 12 recommendations, which is the highest priority in your mind that must be tackled

[00:20:51] first?

[00:20:52] The first thing in my mind is that we need to increase the capacity of beds.

[00:21:00] That's number one.

[00:21:01] Because otherwise, nothing else can happen.

[00:21:04] And JFRD is now the outreach piece.

[00:21:08] And they've gotten a million dollars to do that.

[00:21:11] I'm actually really excited about that.

[00:21:13] I've researched it.

[00:21:14] And there are cities out west that have been using their fire departments as homeless outreach,

[00:21:20] which is great.

[00:21:21] Because when you think about it, if JFRD, if you're a homeless person on the street,

[00:21:26] and JFRD, an EMT comes towards you, that person's there to help you.

[00:21:32] But when JSO comes, it's a different complexion.

[00:21:37] And Alice, can I just interrupt to ask you this?

[00:21:40] Are our sheriffs, deputies, and others in the police department getting training on how

[00:21:47] to deal with the homeless when they approach them, or particularly now with the new law going into

[00:21:53] effect?

[00:21:54] And if the mayor's recommendations go into effect, obviously, homeless people are frightened as hell

[00:22:00] of police officers.

[00:22:02] A lot of people are, unfortunately.

[00:22:04] But the way that the communication goes between that officer and the homeless, have they been

[00:22:12] trained to be able to do that so that they try to erase that skepticism and that fear of law

[00:22:20] enforcement and be able to handle it in a more humane fashion?

[00:22:24] When they get their officers together, we have done training.

[00:22:28] We have explained how to partner with us.

[00:22:31] Training has to happen.

[00:22:33] And we actually have also offered for JFRD to ride along with our outreach folks.

[00:22:39] I have Jackie Brown, who's been out there for 20 years doing homeless outreach.

[00:22:45] She knows every homeless person probably on the street.

[00:22:48] They need to ride with her.

[00:22:51] They need to understand, those of us that have been doing it on the street, you have to build

[00:22:57] a rapport with people that are homeless.

[00:23:00] They have trust issues even with social workers that are coming up to them.

[00:23:05] They're frightened.

[00:23:06] As I told you, most of them have been traumatized in one way or another.

[00:23:11] And JFRD, EMTs obviously are trained in mental health.

[00:23:16] And that's a different type of training.

[00:23:20] JSO officers, I can't say specifically if they receive trauma-informed care.

[00:23:25] I hope they do.

[00:23:26] But if not, we definitely need to do that.

[00:23:29] And I just, I want to say this.

[00:23:31] And I don't want to speak for JSO.

[00:23:32] But I'm in a lot of meetings.

[00:23:35] They don't want to do this.

[00:23:37] They don't.

[00:23:37] I'm sure they don't.

[00:23:38] They don't want to do this.

[00:23:39] I'm sure they don't.

[00:23:40] They want to actually fight crime.

[00:23:43] Exactly.

[00:23:43] Not badger people that don't have a place to live.

[00:23:47] Nor are they social workers, which I'm sure they whisper that in the back.

[00:23:51] That's correct.

[00:23:51] It really comes back to the people who will make the decision to be able to augment this training or the revenue or the services.

[00:24:03] And it comes back to the people who have, by law, the constitutional decision-making of paying for this, which comes back to the legislative branch of the city of Jacksonville, which is the 19 members of the city council.

[00:24:21] I do want to say that million dollars going to JFRD, it sets up a specific team.

[00:24:27] And their only job is outreach.

[00:24:29] Cindy, we're running out of time, despite what they say.

[00:24:33] So I want to bring this.

[00:24:35] I want to start bringing this kind of in for a landing.

[00:24:39] The Silsbacker Center first opened up in 1995.

[00:24:42] And in the years since, you guys have just helped thousands of people in downtown.

[00:24:50] Now you're moving.

[00:24:52] Where are you going?

[00:24:53] Why are you going?

[00:24:54] When would you open?

[00:24:56] And what would you do at that location that you're not doing at the Silsbacker Center?

[00:25:00] Thank you for that question.

[00:25:01] We actually started moving five years ago.

[00:25:04] We moved all the women and families.

[00:25:06] We used to have 365 people living in that one shelter across from the jail, men, women, and children.

[00:25:13] That was always dicey to have all those demographics right there by the jail, children and women.

[00:25:19] When Audrey was still there, it was the kernel of the idea that we need to have a separate campus for women and families.

[00:25:29] And so when Audrey left, I picked up that mantle and we built the Silsbacker Village for Women and Families, which opened six years ago at 44th and Pearl.

[00:25:39] And that campus actually has what we know now is that the answer to homelessness is not more shelter.

[00:25:45] It's affordable housing.

[00:25:46] So we partner with our friends at Vest Corps.

[00:25:49] We built 70 apartments, 56 short-term units, kind of like what you have at Five Star Veterans.

[00:25:56] Everybody has their own private room.

[00:25:59] So there's 56 of those.

[00:26:00] Ten of them are for female veterans, by the way.

[00:26:03] So that's 126 units.

[00:26:05] And we also have a huge pediatric clinic, early learning center, after-school program, Goodwill Job Junction, big industrial kitchen.

[00:26:14] The last two HUD secretaries, Secretary Carson and Secretary Fudge, did come and visit that location.

[00:26:20] And it's a national model.

[00:26:22] I'm not trying to toot our horn, but it is.

[00:26:24] It's a national model recognized.

[00:26:26] We've won a lot of awards for that.

[00:26:28] So now at the downtown campus, we just have our men, about 100.

[00:26:33] The Urban Rest Stop, which we've already talked about, and all of our services.

[00:26:37] So Sulspecker is a federally qualified health center.

[00:26:40] So we're one of only two federal clinics in Jacksonville.

[00:26:44] And what people don't recognize about us is about 60% of everything we do is health care.

[00:26:48] Primary, dental, behavioral, optical, substance use treatment.

[00:26:52] 60% of everything we do is health care.

[00:26:55] So we are in the midst of planning a huge new development.

[00:27:00] And it's at 95 in Gulf Air, 17 acres, which we purchased in 2022.

[00:27:06] We are in credit underwriting right now for 100 units of affordable housing, studio, and one bedroom.

[00:27:14] That will be for men.

[00:27:16] Vescor, again, is our co-developer.

[00:27:18] And we're hoping to break ground on that late November.

[00:27:22] That's 100 units of affordable housing, which means 100 homeless men will be moved into that housing.

[00:27:29] Then phase two of that is all of the other myriad of services that we do, which will be 80 short-term units.

[00:27:37] So another 80 men will be moved out of downtown there.

[00:27:41] Also a huge medical clinic.

[00:27:43] Mayo is our partner there.

[00:27:45] I don't know if you all know it, but they gave us $5 million in December towards this partnership.

[00:27:51] They currently come to our adult clinic downtown on Thursdays.

[00:27:56] They do a family practice.

[00:27:58] They bring their residents and their fellows.

[00:28:00] It's a learning clinic.

[00:28:01] And so when we move, there's going to be a large component of Mayo, which will be subspecialties, all of their learners at that facility.

[00:28:11] 32209 zip code, which is a health desert.

[00:28:13] Really happy about that.

[00:28:15] And a huge job training facility, which is a partnership with Goodwill and FSCJ, 16,000 square feet, will be there as well.

[00:28:23] And then phase three, which makes it the Enterprise Village, which is the name, is an actual for-profit manufacturing facility located on the campus,

[00:28:33] which were in talks with someone that builds modular affordable housing that can be pieced together to make multifamily, can be used as single units.

[00:28:44] And so our folks, formerly homeless people, will be trained in the construction industry, a job in a factory where it's more than a living wage, it's a career, and then would be a pipeline to the construction industry.

[00:29:00] So that's the great big picture.

[00:29:02] Why are we moving out of downtown?

[00:29:04] A, we're in the backyard of the Four Seasons and all the entertainment district.

[00:29:10] And we're pretty sure that Mr. Kahn doesn't want to look out of his penthouse and see our food lines.

[00:29:15] We are in a floodplain, which we didn't get to talk about.

[00:29:18] Real quick.

[00:29:19] But as I'm sitting here right now, tomorrow the hurricane hits, we're evacuating our hundred men from our shelter to go to La Villa Red Cross.

[00:29:28] We've had to do that four out of the last five hurricanes because our campus is in the floodplain right there by Hogan's Creek.

[00:29:35] Did you do that last week too?

[00:29:36] We didn't have to last week.

[00:29:38] That was the one time out of the five.

[00:29:40] We didn't.

[00:29:40] Good.

[00:29:41] But we've been moving up there every time.

[00:29:43] What does that mean?

[00:29:44] Remember the time that all, I don't remember which hurricane it was, but all of downtown was flooded.

[00:29:49] Yeah.

[00:29:50] It's been three years ago.

[00:29:51] Yes.

[00:29:52] And all that water came right down into the bowl, the cereal bowl, which is called Maxwell House.

[00:29:58] And Silsbecker.

[00:29:59] We were under four feet of water.

[00:30:02] Homeless.

[00:30:03] Yeah, the homeless shelter.

[00:30:04] So floodplain, we need to build affordable housing.

[00:30:08] We want to expand and we don't need to be in the entertainment district.

[00:30:12] One, when you use the word FESCOR, let's talk about the person who this is a personal drive and that is Ambassador John Rood.

[00:30:19] John Rood has taken the lead in affordable housing downtown.

[00:30:23] And kudos to John.

[00:30:24] And he is not only a community leader for so many, but would you not agree that he has taken and run with this?

[00:30:30] They are the number one tax credit affordable housing builder.

[00:30:34] When you see FESCOR, you're talking about Ambassador John Rood and his staff.

[00:30:38] That leads me to one, all of us are going to say thank you, but tell us about your staff.

[00:30:43] I've been telling him this week, this.

[00:30:45] They are the true heroes.

[00:30:48] They are the true heroes.

[00:30:49] You should have seen during COVID.

[00:30:52] Downtown was a ghost town during COVID.

[00:30:54] Everybody was gone, but not us.

[00:30:56] The shelters had to remain.

[00:30:58] We had to be open 24-7.

[00:31:00] I had dentists working in the kitchen.

[00:31:02] We didn't have volunteers for two years, and everybody really just had to put on about 50 different hats.

[00:31:10] We were testing every person that came on our campus for about a year.

[00:31:14] We tested every person for COVID every single day to make sure that COVID didn't spread in our shelter.

[00:31:21] It was a, excuse my French, a hellacious couple of years.

[00:31:26] And my staff, they are, it's amazing to me, the frontline staff.

[00:31:30] That is their commitment.

[00:31:31] They could go anywhere else and make more money.

[00:31:34] It's two buckets, your staff and the volunteers.

[00:31:37] Yes, the volunteers.

[00:31:38] Which is Jacksonville, Cary and Jacksonville.

[00:31:41] Yes.

[00:31:42] We have had amazing support in our 30 years and amazing volunteers.

[00:31:46] We couldn't do it without them.

[00:31:48] We feel very, very blessed at the support that we receive, and we're trying to do our part.

[00:31:55] But it's a very difficult and challenging situation.

[00:31:58] They've got the right leader for it.

[00:32:00] Thank you, Cindy.

[00:32:00] Very, very much.

[00:32:01] And please tell your volunteers and your staff.

[00:32:03] Thank you.

[00:32:04] Yes, Sandy.

[00:32:05] Thank you so much for being with us.

[00:32:07] And thank you so much for what you and your people do every day.

[00:32:10] No question about it.

[00:32:11] Thank you.

[00:32:12] That's going to wrap up another episode of Mike's on Mike.

[00:32:14] Thank you all for joining us.

[00:32:15] And of course, our thanks to the Jacksonville History Center, our sponsor, who keep the lights on and the cameras rolling.

[00:32:20] And to the donors who keep us going here on Mike's on Mike.

[00:32:24] We'll see you again next week.

[00:32:25] Thank you.

[00:32:26] Thank you all for joining us.

[00:32:27] Thanks, guys.

[00:32:27] Bye-bye.

[00:32:28] Mike's on Mike.

[00:32:29] With Mike Tolbert, Mike Hightower, and Mike Miller can be found on your favorite podcasting platform, Facebook, and YouTube.

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