JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A project to help homeless men in Jacksonville opened after overcoming initial community pushback, with a ribbon-cutting for the first phase of Sulzbacher’s Enterprise Village in the Moncrief neighborhood on Walgreen Road.
The first 30 men begin moving into the new affordable housing complex this week. Some of them have been on the street for more than 20 years. Each apartment has its own living room, sitting area and kitchen table set.
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Mayor Donna Deegan joined local leaders in the fight against homelessness for the ribbon-cutting.
The four-story project will provide 100 workforce apartments and wrap-around services for men. Sulzbacher Center President and CEO Cindy Funkhouser said women and families are served at another site.
“We have the Sulzbacher Village for women and families, which is less than a mile from here,” Funkhouser said.
Construction on Phase 1 began last year and cost $37 million. Phase 2A will include health and job training centers.
Jacksonville City Council member Ju’Coby Pittman spoke about the funding behind the project.
“When you have a vision, you gotta have some what? … say it again, you gotta have some money,” Pittman said.
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Finding shelter for the homeless is important given Florida banned public sleeping and camping statewide in 2024.
The organization Changing Homelessness conducted a study documenting homelessness in Baker, Clay, Duval and Nassau counties. The annual count identified 1,146 people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2026.
Of those, 767 were living in shelters and 379 were living in places not meant for human habitation.
Funkhouser said she hopes the new residents will feel at home.
“I’m home, I’m home,” Funkhouser said, describing what she hopes the men will say about their new housing.
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The ribbon will be cut on Phase 2B in 2028. It will include emergency housing, corporate headquarters and an assisted living facility.
Phase 3 is also under construction. It will include a manufacturing plant where tiny homes for the homeless are made, and it will employ homeless men.
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