Sulzbacher Village provides a long-term solution to homelessness in Jacksonville, Fla.
Developed by The Vestcor Cos. on behalf of Sulzbacher Center, the area’s largest provider of services for people experiencing homelessness, the ambitious development features 70 permanent affordable homes along with 54 other critical housing units, including emergency housing and 10 units for women leaving a hospital and in need of a place to recover.
Single women and children make up about 90% of the community’s population.
The housing alone would have been an accomplishment, but Sulzbacher Village goes further by having a 7,000-square-foot Federally Qualified Health Center that offers primary-care, dental, vision, and behavioral services, a therapeutic learning center, and a commercial kitchen.
“Everything is encompassed under one roof,” says Ryan Hoover, president of TVC Development, the affordable housing group at Vestcor.
By providing housing and health care, the development will help keep people off the streets and out of the emergency room. The 10 respite units will be supported by local hospitals that have entered into contracts for the rooms. Sulzbacher will provide women leaving a hospital with a place to go and further recover from their medical conditions as well as needed case management, including working with them on their long-term housing needs.
To finance the approximately $20 million project, the team tapped several sources, including low-income housing tax credits. In addition, Sulzbacher raised more than $6 million from over 400 individuals and donor groups.
