As the city of Jacksonville works to revitalize its Downtown, several organizations are trying to keep up with the changing needs of its homeless population. WJCT visited Hemming Park today as a handful of nonprofits showcased the services they offer to unsheltered people.
At lunch time in Hemming Park, the paved square between the Downtown library and City Hall, throngs of people are passing through or ordering from food truck windows, while other sit on benches and socialize.
“I think people tend to think Hemming Park when they think ‘homeless,’” says Cindy Funkhouser, CEO of the Sulzbacher Center. It’s a nonprofit that provides shelter and meals for the homeless.
On Wednesday, national Feed the Homeless Day, the center and a handful of other service providers have set up tables to showcase what they do. A banner announces one grand total for the year: 930,509 meals served.
Five daily meals are served within blocks of this bustling plaza. But Funkhouser says, in other areas of Jacksonville, people in homeless camps remain desperate for food. And she urges anyone interested in helping those people to contact the Sulzbacher Center.
