Publix says it plans to close its Gateway Town Center store in late December, which has raised concerns about the area becoming a food desert.
A food desert is an urban area where at least 500 residents — or at least a third of the population — live at least a mile away from a full-service grocery store or market that sells fruits, vegetables and fresh meat.
We took a closer look at the city’s food deserts and some ways to address them with Susan King, President and CEO, Feeding Northeast Florida; Kirk Wendland, Executive Director with the City of Jacksonville Office of Economic Development; and Mike Mendenhall from the Jacksonville Daily Record.
House of Hope
Jacksonville’s Youth Crisis Center (YCC) is one step closer to opening the doors of a new emergency homeless shelter for some vulnerable kids. The House of Hope, located on YCC’s campus, will serve young adults 18-24 years old who identify as LGBTQ, and are being stigmatized, discriminated against or are the targets of violence. Kim Sirdevan, President and CEO of Youth Crisis Center, joined us with more.
Être Girls
The organization Être Girls bolsters middle school aged girls by finding female mentors at global brands to talk to the girls about how to “Be Smart, Be Wise, Be Innovative.” The group has a new book entitled, Être: Girls, Who Do You Want to Be? It features two Jacksonville girls involved in the movement and is already an Amazon best seller. We spoke about, “Être,” which means “to be,” with founder Illana Raia.
Generation WOW
Speaking of lifting up girls - Tuesday, October 29, is the deadline to be part of a big local event focused on this very group. We recently spoke to Donna Orender, the founder of Generation W, about Generation Wow.
hschatz@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @heatherschatz.
