In The News
Residents of Jacksonville’s Eastside want the neighborhood to grow with their input. It’s a desire that was watered late last week when the Florida National Register Review board unanimously nominated the neighborhood for the National Register.
The statewide designation was viewed as the biggest hurdle to the district’s being named to the National Register of Historic Places.
Out East Jacksonville takes big step toward national historic designation
Will Brown - Jax Today
January 24, 2023
United Way invests $1 million of windfall to boost affordable housing in Jacksonville
Beth Reese Cravey - Florida Times Union
January 15, 2023
The United Way of Northeast Florida will invest at least $1 million of a $20 million windfall gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott to "protect and increase" affordable home ownership in three historically Black and low-income neighborhoods in Jacksonville. The nonprofit also announced Tuesday the formation of a task force to recommend future investments from the 2020 Scott donation for "long-term affordable housing solutions."
A new day dawns as Jacksonville's 'Out East’ rebuilds from within
Travis Williams - Florida Times Union
August 21, 2022
I grew up a proud fourth-generation resident of Jacksonville’s Eastside — what my neighbors and I knew as “Out East.” My family has called this neighborhood home since the early 1900s. Growing up, my mother often spoke to me about the importance of timing and seasons. “There’s a season for everything, son,” she’d often say. There is much work before us, but I believe the time just may be right for the dawning of a new day for Out East.
Advocates for the Historic Eastside neighborhood are determined to revitalize it — on their own terms
Jacksonville Business Journal
June 16, 2022
“Some of these residents have been in Eastside their entire lives,” Pickett said. “They just didn’t have the resources to continue to repair their homes.” The rehab project, known as “Restore and Repair,” will fix up 15 homes for residents as part of an overall strategy known as “withintrification” which tries to improve poor communities without pricing out longtime residents. Pickett said a combination of lots of factors led to disinvestment in the Eastside over the last five decades: the lingering impact of redlining and lack of access to loans among them. At the same time, millions of dollars in investment are planned near the neighborhood.
Khan, Jaguars commit $1M to neighbors Out East
Jacksonville Jaguars
May 21, 2021
"I love what LIFT JAX represents, so it's my privilege to make this donation and help to set a course that I hope will have immediate and lasting impact," Khan said. "This isn't about cutting a check, however. It's about all of us making a commitment of our time and resources, continued and uninterrupted, to empower our neighbors and break the cycle of poverty. That takes work and requires accountability, and the Jaguars Foundation is more than ready to do its part."