by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Shortly after the Sulzbacher Center opened its doors 15 years ago, Susan Gentry got invited to serve as a volunteer cook at the city’s largest homeless shelter.
Over the next decade-and-a-half, she and her husband, attorney and School Board member W.C. Gentry, became fixtures at the Center — Susan as a volunteer and eventual board member and W.C. as a quiet contributor. Those contributions have added up to about $600,000 and Tuesday the Center opened the Gentry Family Dormitory.
“There is no place I am more proud to say I spent the last 15 years. It all started when I was asked to help cook,” she said. “Once you come here, you are hooked. Our money is well-spent and this is absolutely the maximum bang for the buck. The recognition wasn’t expected.”
The family dorm was built out of necessity. The current economy has created a surge in the homeless population. It has also, as Mayor John Peyton noted, changed the face of the homeless.
“The profile of the needs of the community has changed. The economy dictates changes,” said Peyton, adding the only way to handle the changing face of homelessness from the single man to the family is to evolve. “The Sulzbacher Center is probably one of the best organizations that adapts and meets the needs. The City and the Sulzbacher Center are probably one of the best examples of a public/private partnership. It’s an amazing collaboration.”
The family dorm consists of 22 beds and was built with financial assistance through a Community Development Block Grant. The rooms include wood-frame beds and brand new bathrooms. While they have a dorm room look, the colors and atmosphere are designed to make a family feel more at home than anything. The quarters are close, but they are clean and safe and warm.
Sulzbacher President and CEO Audrey Moran said the project — which is in the upstairs portion of the center’s main building — took about a year to complete and, because it was under budget, a few extra rooms were added. Moran said naming the dorm after the Gentrys was an easy decision.
“They have been one of our top donors since we opened 15 years ago,” said Moran. “Besides being involved on the board, they have especially focused on the needs of the families. There is no more fitting name. In this case, it was an easy choice.”
According to a study conducted by two professors in the Department of Economics and Geography at the University of North Florida, the Sulzbacher Center is much more than a homeless shelter. From July 2007-June 2008, the study concluded the Center had the following economic impacted on the community:
• $6.9 million generated by employment opportunities created by the center,
• $9 million generated by full-time employment created by job placements of Sulzbacher resident and
• $4.2 million in health care savings generated through the Sulzbacher Center’s health clinics by providing services similar to emergency rooms at a more cost effective rate.
Moran said in the next 30 days the center’s Behavioral Health Suite — which is being built entirely through federal stimulus funds — will be complete. After that, Moran is out of room.
“We are completely built out on our four-acre site,” she said.
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