by David Chapman
Staff Writer
A record crowd turned out to participate in Jacksonville Community Council Inc.’s 34th annual meeting Wednesday, celebrating the progress the organization’s numerous studies have made while also looking ahead to what officials see as a very challenging year.
The meeting’s theme, “At A Crossroads,” was aptly named and alludes to multiple things occurring within the city and organization itself.
“We really are at a crossroads on multiple levels,” said JCCI Executive Director Skip Cramer. “There’s been a sea change in our funding sources, much like every other nonprofit group, and it’s forced us to find a new model.”
The mission to improve the quality of life in Jacksonville remains the same, he said, but how staff and the volunteers who provide the effort to study and implement findings could alter as dedicated funding sources from the City and agencies — once 70 percent of the organization’s budget — have declined and created the need for funding through means such as gifts and endowments from the community.
“Our focus remains the same, but it is a challenge,” said Cramer.
The focus of the past year was on full display, as now-Immediate Past Board President Dr. Quinton White Jr. of Jacksonville University discussed his leadership of the past year and provided snapshots of the organization’s studies to the close to 350 attendees.
“To say this has been an extraordinary year would be an understatement,” he said, referring to the progress made and coinciding economic downturn, later adding: “No one can say this has not been an interesting year for JCCI and, quite frankly, the world.”
White discussed the organization’s annual study, “Our Money, Our City: Financing Jacksonville’s Future,” describing it as an important piece that’s been frequently cited by all parties in the City’s budget issue, both in the short- and long term.
Judith Rodriguez, filling in for study chair J.F. Bryan IV, then told the crowd of the study’s implementation process that began several months ago and will continue for the next two years through subcommittees that were formed to tackle individual issues.
White then introduced Tom Rodgers, chair of the organization’s recent study on infant mortality, who provided an update to the crowd on the implementation of the study’s stark findings from a year ago.
“Our babies are dying at an intolerable rate here in Jacksonville,” said Rodgers. “Infant mortality is a silent indicator of health in the community ... a ‘canary in the coal mine.’”
Rodgers said significant progress has been made during the implementation process, as contributing factors like poverty and racism are being overcome through things such as grants and achievements like food stamps acceptance at farmers market’s making an impact.
“We are making a difference,” said Rodgers.
The organization’s air quality study, conducted two years ago as an annual study with its findings implemented since, will have its final implementation results unveiled in November, said White.
Though challenges have arisen due to the economy, JCCI announced some technological advances that will make information readily available to the community. Deputy Director Ben Warner debuted the “Community Snapshot” feature on the organization’s revamped Web site and provided a short session on how the online database can interact with information contained within JCCI’s various progress reports.
With the program, members of the community can see how different quality of life and progress indicators progress over time and even compare to other counties in Florida and the country. The charts, graphs and maps should make it easier for people to understand, compare and use the information as they need.
Additionally, JCCI’s new board and leadership members were sworn in during the meeting, including 2009-10 Board President Christine Arab, who talked about the new program and challenges ahead.
“Our annual meeting is a great opportunity to look back while also looking ahead,” she said. “The coming year is going to be both exciting and challenging ... I’m realistically optimistic.”
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