LIFT JAX proposes nonprofit grocery store & job training center on the Eastside

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Local organizations are working to bring healthy, accessible food to the Eastside, long considered a food desert in Jacksonville.

Expected in the next couple of years, the former Debs Store on Florida Avenue will become a nonprofit grocery store and job training center.

Community members are looking forward to the new project and the positive changes thereafter.

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“You know Bob Hayes stayed right around the corner,” Debs Store building owner Royce Fedd said.

Fedd has owned the former Debs Store building for more than 18 years. He knows his way around the Eastside. So he knows how hard it is to find affordable, healthy food.

“I have to go all the way to Harveys to get milk for my grandson,” Fedd said.

The closest major grocery store, Harveys Supermarket, is nearly a mile away from the former Debs Store. Without a car, that could be a 30-minute walk for some.

Another Harveys, Winn Dixie and Fresh Market are even farther away.

That’s why several local organizations are working together to bring the Debs Store back and better than before.

“This is going to be an affordable, accessible place where folks from the neighborhood can purchase food,” LIFT JAX President David Garfunkel said.

LIFT JAX, Goodwill Inc. and VyStar Credit Union are partnering to turn this building into a nonprofit grocery store on the bottom and a job training center on top.

“This is unique for Goodwill. This is going to be the first time we are operating a grocery store,” Goodwill Industries of North Florida Chief Mission Officer Leah Lynch said.

VyStar Credit Union will also be setting up an ATM at the store along with offering other services.

“There will be financial services on the second floor where residents can come to get financial counseling and talk about financial literacy,” VyStar Credit Union Community Leadership and Outreach Vice President Patricia McElroy said.

On Monday, the mayor’s budget review committee approved the submittal of legislation, basically allowing LIFT JAX to request a $650,000 grant from the city.

LIFT JAX officials said the memo will now be introduced to the full city council this month or next. They hope to break ground in the spring of 2022.

Folks like Fedd are ready for new beginnings in his community.

“It means so much to the Eastside and I’m so proud to be part of it,” Fedd said.

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The plans are still being drawn up.

Officials said they do not have an exact idea for the price points of the food yet, but we’re told they’re working with community partners to find competitive prices.

You can view the memo for the nonprofit grocery store here.

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