Vince Cavin, executive director of Friends of Hemming Park, clocked in for the first time Sept. 30.
He was the only staff member on the payroll at the time and the first item on his to-do list was to hire the rest of the team that will manage and program the park.
Two weeks later, he’s accomplished that. The six-member core staff was introduced Wednesday as a complement to BYO Lunch at Hemming.
“I consider today to be the first day of the Friends of Hemming Plaza’s work,” said Cavin.
Liz Grebe, former marketing and events coordinator and Art Walk manager for Downtown Vision is events and programming director for the group. She also helped plan events for the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and serves on the board of directors for Party, Benefit and Jam, a nonprofit Cavin founded to help other charities raise funds.
Former PB&J and No Meat March Marketing Director Keith Marks is the Friends’ marketing and community outreach director. He also is chairman of the Cultural Council’s subcommittee for artist development and outreach.
Friends Development Director Angie Nixon is a co-founder of The Paisley Partners, which developed the Northside LOVE Arts and Vendors Market and other programs designed to reduce crime and promote entrepreneurship and healthy lifestyles in underserved communities.
She served as North Florida coordinator for Florida New Majority as a district aide for the state House of Representatives and was teen and mentor coordinator for the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation.
Damien Lamar Robinson is the group’s operations director. Most recently, he worked for Fidelity National Financial as a legal assistant and accounts payable specialist. Robinson also worked for First Union Bank as a corporate services analyst and at Bank of America, where he was a post-closing mortgage specialist.
One Spark creator and Art Walk exhibitor Jim Webb is the Friends’ special events coordinator. He also helped plan the Cultural Council’s “Night of Fire” awards ceremony and the Pirate Party benefit for Safe Harbor Maritime Academy.
Former Sulzbacher Center counselor and case manager Od’Juan Whitfield was introduced as the social services manager. He also worked to place homeless veterans in stable housing through the Veterans Administration’s Support Services for Veteran Families program.
In addition to the management and events staff, a team of park ambassadors has been hired to clean and maintain the space. Cavin is working with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to develop plans to curtail nuisance activity and with city departments to finalize park repair requirements and streamline the permitting process for people and groups that wish to use the park as a venue.
Cavin said the Friends group already is fielding inquiries for use of the park, including a live broadcast of Tom Joyner’s nationally syndicated radio show scheduled for Nov. 12.
Monthly festivals and other regularly scheduled events such as happy hours are on the drawing board, which has led to the Friends’ next recruitment campaign.
“What we need now are volunteers,” Cavin said.
A volunteer sign-up area soon will be added to hemmingpark.org, he said.
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