While development in those areas is a good thing, Jacksonville’s historic urban core neighborhoods, which include predominantly African American communities, are often overlooked despite their tremendous investment potential.

Arlington 20/20 was founded to address this issue in Arlington and create better economic opportunity for all by bringing together the right partners with a powerful combination of grassroots community engagement, empowerment, and inclusive development.

This “recipe” is proving successful in Arlington and it is a replicable model that other urban communities can follow.

The premise was to connect the residents of the Arlington community with faith, business, higher education, nonprofit, and government partners to address five focus areas: Community Empowerment, Family Strengthening, Economic Development, Housing Development, and Workforce Development.

Accomplishments include establishing two food pantries; mobilizing 1,000+ volunteers to contribute more than 4,000 hours of service in the Arlington community; leveraging over $240,000 in financial support for community development efforts; revitalizing neglected neighborhoods through adaptive reuse of vacant buildings, support of small businesses, and public art; and implementing the Arlington Center for Economic Opportunity, which provides employment coaching, financial coaching, workforce development, and income supports.

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