Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan announces partnership to revitalize city’s Eastside
For many, Jacksonville’s Eastside has been left behind for far too long.
“We have been ignored in the past. But now it’s coming back. And it’s coming back full force,” Eastside resident Barbara Robertson told Action News Jax Thursday morning.
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The city’s Eastside, also known as Out East, is coming back in full force through a new partnership Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan announced Thursday morning between Lift Jax, the Historic Eastside Community Development Corporation, and JEA. The program is called the Restore, Repair & Resilience Program, aimed at repairing Eastside homes and upgrading their utilities.
Ultimately, the hoped result is saving residents like Robertson, a recipient of the program, money, keeping them on the Eastside, and preserving a rich area of Jacksonville’s unique history.
“I got a brand new roof. And now they’re gonna give me a brand new unit and cabinets,” Robertson said. “We gave them ashes, they gonna give us beauty.”
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As new, exciting additions come to Jacksonville like the Jaguars’ “Stadium of the Future” renovations, the program will look to preserve the past and change the lives of Eastside residents, one home at a time.
“What’s happening around the stadium is exciting,” Joshua Hicks, Affordable Housing Director for the City of Jacksonville, said. “We also need to make sure that neighborhoods around the stadium and around downtown aren’t being left behind and are being supported by some of the programs that we’re putting in place.”
Those interested in applying the program can fill out an application by going to outeastjax.com.
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