by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Though ground has not been broken and the necessary funding has not been raised, a new medical care center and a children’s facility at the I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless should be complete by next year, officials say.
“This is something that has risen purely out of need,” said Linda Lanier, president and chief executive officer of the center. “It has been cooking for about 18 months.”
The first expansion to the center will be a 1,700 square-foot complex where children at the facility will be able to participate in various activities. Construction should begin by mid-spring.
“Right now,” said Lanier, “there is no place for these children to do their homework.”
Following the completion of the children’s center, construction on a medical and dental complex will begin. According to Lanier, the Sulzbacher medical clinic saw an estimated 22,000 patient visits last year.
“Medical care is very important and we should be addressing that,” said City Council president Jerry Holland. “If we don’t provide adequate medical care at the center, many of these people will go to the ER at Shands when they don’t need to.”
Lanier agreed.
“There is no continuity of care in the emergency room,” she said. “People need that. We turn away nurses and physicians who want to volunteer and can provide that all the time because we simply don’t have enough space for them.”
Lanier said when construction is complete on the 15,000 square-foot facility, more medical professionals will have the opportunity to lend their services.
“It really works well for both sides,” she said. “We can definitely benefit from their services and they can give back to the community.”
The expansion project has been budgeted at $3.5 million. Currently, the center has raised about $2.2 million in grants and private donations. A City ordinance which would allocate $350,000 towards the expansion is making its way through City Council.
“Unfortunately, the first $2 million is typically the easiest to raise,” said Lanier. “It sounds like a lot, but that’s when you look towards the most obvious sources.”
Lanier is optimistic that the remainder of the necessary funds will be made available before too long from donations by local corporations and private individuals.
“People understand what we do,” she said. “No one is anti-homeless shelter.”
Despite being on schedule, Lanier said the project has been complicated and future headaches are to be expected.
“We’re dealing with a lot of different issues,” she said. “For starters, we’re underneath four bridges. We also have a lot of drainage to account for because we’re in a bit of a saucer. Plus, just coordinating with everyone else in the city can be tricky, although everyone has been wonderful.”
It is Lanier’s hope that by early 2004 “we’ll be cleaning up.”
“By the time the Super Bowl comes,” she said, “we’ll be a shining example of what the city should be; Jacksonville taking care of our own.”