FOLIO
Activate. Revitalize. Transform. These aspirations have guided the conversation on Downtown Jacksonville for the last 20 years. During that time, many have tried to answer the core questions needed to actualize this vision: How can we build more apartments? What restaurants will attract the most people? What programs can make them stay?
The City, Downtown Vision, Build Up Downtown, [insert developer here], and nonprofits boarded by the city’s top decision makers have provided plenty of potential solutions for us to examine. But if the recent rise of safety concerns from Downtown businesses have shown us anything, it is that none of that matters until we find solutions to the real problem. The problem that is treated like an asterisk in the grand plan and a separate line item in the budget all together: Jacksonville, like all of America, hates homeless people.
I’m sure any representative from DIA, the Chamber, Build Up etc., would agree that homelessness is a problem that should be addressed. Yet their solutions frame homelessness as a problem not because they believe everyone has a right to shelter, but because it is bad for business. Their current model is pushing those they deem undesirable out, so more desirable spenders can make their way in. These orgs have treated the homeless population as an afterthought in their grand plans to revamp Downtown (you won’t find any mention of homelessness in the 2023 State of Downtown Report). Accepting piecemeal efforts instead of a sustainable vision.
Why do I think Jacksonville hates homeless people? If Jacksonville didn’t hate homeless people, we would have increased mental health and drug rehabilitation services. If Jacksonville didn’t hate homeless people, local leaders would turn the vacant buildings Downtown into permanent housing units. If Jacksonville didn’t hate homeless people, we would expand housing vouchers so people don’t become homeless in the first place. We don’t have these proven policies in place because those in power do not believe homeless citizens deserve it, neglecting the reality that almost half of the homeless population is made up of Veterans, Youth, and the elderly. What a pitiful reason to delay progress.
Implementing policies that support homeless individuals is the most logical step to improving the quality of life for everyone. If we are to make any progress towards transforming Downtown, we must embrace policies that provide housing and treatment the same way we embrace tax incentive packages for developers. I challenge Downtown advocates to answer the Mayor’s call for critical funding to sustain her 12-point plan to address homelessness, the best researched and coordinated initiative to make homelessness a brief occurrence in someone’s life.
As James Baldwin stated, “not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” If Jacksonville is to change, we must face the reality that alleviating homelessness and activating Downtown are intertwined. Reaching that point, however, is a matter of if we can love our neighbors more than we hate homeless people.
Verit S. Risk
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