The Northeast Florida Builders Association Charitable Foundation has pledged $100,000 to help construct a Women’s and Children’s Emergency Shelter in conjunction with Trinity Rescue Mission’s capital fundraising campaign.
The foundation will match up to $100,000 of private donations raised by NEFBA staffer and City Council member Daniel Davis for construction of the new 14,000-square-foot emergency shelter, which is designed to meet the needs of 100 women and children.
The property adjacent to the existing Men’s Mission on West Union Street already has been purchased and money raised during the campaign will be used to build the center, furnish it and staff it for the first two years.
The overall goal is $2 million.
Some NEFBA members are assisting through the donation of labor and materials - for instance, Williams & Rowe is spearheading the project by providing all construction management services.
The new emergency shelter will be available at all times to homeless women and children and is projected to serve at least 1,200 women and children annually.
It will include several small dormitories for single women and private rooms for each mother with children.
The facility also will include a child-care center, a medical clinic, a playground, a common living room, a laundry room, a small kitchen and counseling rooms for individual counseling and case management by Trinity Mission staff.
It is estimated that on any given day there are 1,040 women and children without homes, and many are without shelter each night in Jacksonville because the city’s 18 shelters and transitional housing agencies are full.
“According to our homeless survey, there are approximately 130 unsheltered women and children on the streets of Jacksonville each night who could benefit from shelter and case management services to help them transition to long-term supportive housing,” said Wanda Lanier, executive director of Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition of Jacksonville.
Trinity Rescue Mission was established 41 years ago by Trinity Baptist Church, and the church has provided a leadership gift of $400,000.