Photo via Twitter (@CityOfJax)
A new joint venture from Sulzbacher and Mental Health Resource Center will serve as a central services hub for people experiencing homelessness in Jacksonville.
Sulzbacher and MHRC worked with the city as well as ICARE (Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation & Empowerment) to establish a place for those experiencing homelessness to go during the day to receive critical resources and services. The Urban Rest Stop, as it has been dubbed, will help homeless individuals with obtaining meals and healthcare, as well as being connected to vital resources like showers, shelter placement, mailboxes, case managers, and jobs.
By bringing all of these resources and services under one roof at Sulzbacher’s downtown campus, the hope is that people experiencing homelessness will have more service options during the day, as well as more services and resources being made available to them in general.
“Feeling that you are unwelcome is a terrible feeling and one that, unfortunately, people experiencing homelessness are subjected to on a daily basis,” said Cindy Funkhouser, MSW, president and CEO of Sulzbacher. “To have a welcoming place to be where there are services, resources, caring people and an opportunity to rest will be a blessing to the hundreds of folks on the streets of downtown.”
“Thanks to funding from the City of Jacksonville, and generous private donations, MHRC and Sulzbacher will be able to provide persons who are homeless with a place where they can access services, take a shower, enjoy a meal and socialize,” said Robert Sommers, PhD, president and CEO of Mental Health Resource Center.
The effort was borne in part from Mayor Curry’s Downtown Homelessness Task Force, in which both Sulzbacher and MHRC were participants. Curry was there yesterday morning to celebrate the Urban Rest Stop’s official grand opening ceremony.
The Urban Rest Stop will be accessible to anyone who needs its services from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
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