by David Ball
Staff Writer
Sherry Burns didn’t have too much time to relish the party during her final Transformations fundraising and tribute event as outgoing president and chief executive officer of the Sulzbacher Center on Thursday night.
The block of Forsyth Street between Newnan and Ocean was completely blocked off as a thousand guests noshed on chocolate fondue and hors d’oeuvres, sipped wine and listened to the band play on. Inside the adjacent Florida Theatre, Burns made sure everything was ready for the night’s featured presentations.
“Every year it seems to get better and better,” said Burns. “But the stories define the show. It’s wonderful to pay tribute to the successes we’ve had, but also to let the community know all the services that are available at the Sulzbacher Center.”
These stories, told by formerly homeless men, women and families who have all had their lives transformed by the work of the Sulzbacher Center, are the reason that Transformations is noted as one of Downtown Jacksonville’s premier community events.
The center, started in 1995, is named after local philanthropist I.M. Sulzbacher and serves as a 300-bed shelter and medical resource center for Jacksonville’s homeless. Today, the center employs a staff of 98 to handle more than 2,000 individuals each year.
The center operates with a $6 million budget, with half of the funds coming from government grants and the rest provided by private donations. Transformations is always the biggest fundraiser of the year, and Thursday’s event was expected to raise more than $340,000.
But for Burns, Thursday was also the last time she got to watch guests fill the Florida Theatre, as she prepares for her next journey – refurbishing a 150-year home along the Virginia shore and relaxing with her cat and two dogs.
“I’m pulling the plug for now,” she said.
Stepping into the presidency on Monday will be Audrey Moran, who is already very familiar with the Sulzbacher Center after serving as interim director before Burns was hired in 2003. Moran said it will be her job to build upon the accomplishments forged by her predecessor, particularly the expansion of a children’s center and medical and dental clinic at the center’s campus near the Maxwell House roasting plant.
“Sherry and her team have done an incredible job with the infrastructure,” said Moran. “It was a huge undertaking, and she did all of that without ever skipping a beat. Now, we are ready to take the next step.”
Moran, a mediation attorney and former chief of staff under former Mayor John Delaney, said she wants to look closely at the root causes of homelessness in Jacksonville in order to prevent more of it, as well as investigate affordable housing options so those who come out of the center have places to live.
And, of course, there will be the everyday challenges of running one of the largest centers of its kind in North Florida.
“Every day will be different,” she said. “Simply dealing with how, on a cold night, we can shelter more people than we have room for, or attracting more volunteers and raising more money.”
As for Burns, she said she’ll likely be returning to Jacksonville soon, and not just to visit her new grandchild.
“No one really leaves the Sulzbacher Center. It touches you,” said Burns. “Everyone comes back.”