JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida voters have spoken, and affordable housing is the number one issue on their minds, according to a recent poll by the University of North Florida.
“For the last two years, people have been telling us that they can’t find a place to live,” Pastor Adam Gray with the local interfaith organization ICARE said Monday. “Parents are having to have their kids move back in with them, grandparents are having to have grandkids move back with them.”
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
ICARE announced Monday a new partnership with Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and the city to establish an affordable housing trust fund. If it passes with approvals from Jacksonville City Council, the fund would provide incentives for builders to complete affordable housing projects.
Funded with city money, the goal of the fund would be to make Jacksonville more affordable for all.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
“We want servers in the restaurants, right? That’s a real job. We want teacher’s aides in ESE classrooms. That’s the jobs we want people to have. We want nurses’ aides in the hospitals,” Gray said. “That’s jobs we want in order for Jacksonville to continue to grow, [but] we’ve gotta take care of those people being able to live here.”
With similar programs that have shown success in Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, and Orange counties, Gray said Monday he believes the program would flourish similarly in the River City.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
“Other cities have been able to get a three times, five times, sometimes 10 times return on their investment, getting a million dollars of affordable housing built for a $300,000 investment,” Gray said.
ICARE and city of Jacksonville leaders are set to share more details on their plans 7 p.m. Monday night at Christ the King Catholic Church on Arlington Road.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
