Since 2001, the Crisis Center Foundation in Jacksonville has called their building on the JDC grounds home where they carry out their mission to help victims of domestic violence through a variety of services. Now as the state plans to redevelop those grounds, the Foundation may be left looking for a new home.
Executive Director Dona Leonard says they recently had a meeting with Rep. Kyle Moore to discuss issues including possible federal funding cuts and the situation with the property. She says the foundation wants to stay at their current location, and even expand as the need for their services grows, but with the remediation of the JDC grounds that may not be the case. “The last couple of years we’ve had to rent some office space for our outreach department. We’d obviously like to Have everyone under one roof.”
Leonard says that fundraising would help with the expansion but, those efforts are on hold until the foundation knows if they will be staying put, or if the search for a new home is needed. “We don’t want to start fundraising and say ‘we need this much money and we’re going to stay here’ and that doesn’t end up being the case. We want to be truthful with people,” Leonard says, “We’d like to get a better idea from the state. We don’t even have a time frame.”
Members of the Crisis Center Foundation have spoke with local representatives and plan to have more talks in the future as the situation with the property on the JDC grounds continues to develop. You can learn more about the crisis center at crisiscenterfoundation.org.