Florida Blue, the Jacksonville-based state provider of Blue Cross Blue Shield, is investing $1.4 million into the 32206 ZIP code, which covers the city's Eastside neighborhoods of Brentwood, Talleyrand and Springfield.
The initiative, which is meant to combat generational poverty and historic disinvestment in the area, will focus on affordable housing, job training, community wellness and food security.
According to federal data, the ZIP code's population is nearly 80% Black with household median income below $30,000 a year.
"Our mission at Florida Blue is to help people and communities achieve better health," Darnell Smith, North Florida market president for Florida Blue, said Wednesday. "Many of our neighbors, quite frankly, across the state struggle with daily life health conditions due to generational poverty, and these barriers created by poverty can't be reduced or eliminated without deliberate effort to do so."
Since 2019, Florida Blue, alongside local partners, has invested $700,000 into Eastside. Wednesday's announcement makes the largest injection of funds since the initiative to impact social drivers of generational poverty began.
The new batch of cash is split into two grants.
LIFT Jax, in collaboration with the Historic Eastside Community Development Corp., is receiving $1 million to put into mixed-income housing, career education, community wellness and financial literacy/planning.
Goodwill Industries of North Florida is getting a $400,000 grant in partnership with VyStar Credit Union to restore and operate the Debs Store Neighborhood Market in Eastside as a way to combat food insecurity. The historic building was constructed in 1904 and served as a neighborhood market for nearly a century. The Jacksonville City Council also recently approved a $650,000 grant to the same project.
"This ZIP code— no ZIP code, quite frankly — should determine the health of an individual," Smith said.
