LIFT JAX

Thanks so much to our partners at the Jacksonville Transportation Authority for investing in and around The Corner at Debs Store, with a brand new bus stop right near the store that also features an OutEast legend, a historic marker highlighting the store's history, and a branded bus promoting it throughout the urban core!

Congratulations to our COO Travis Williams for being selected in the inaugural cohort of The EdRedesign Lab Fellowship for Cradle-to-Career Partnership Leaders at Harvard Graduate School of Education! Through this program, Travis will come together with leaders from across the country to hone the skills needed to drive systemic change and build robust ecosystems in neighborhoods for children & families.

R’Nee Martin started coming to Debs Store when she was 7 years old and now gets the chance to do so again: “It brings back a lot of memories. This is a community that’s unlike any other community, the people here are family, everyone knows each other, so it’s a great feeling”?

Throughout the 90 years they served the neighborhood, the Debs family welcomed every single person like they were family. The Corner at Debs Store is ready to be that familiar community cornerstone once again, with more services than ever before.??

"We all have places in our neighborhood where we have to describe what used to be there, on this corner & that corner. For the Eastside, this was The Corner, the one where Debs used to be." Mark Woods captured why even rain couldn't dampen the community spirit OutEast last week.

A historic investment in OutEast from the Jacksonville Jaguars and the City of Jacksonville! Proud to stand with the community leaders who worked to bring this to fruition and excited to build on the neighborhood’s positive momentum.

Incredible things happen when we work together towards a common goal. Reviving Debs Store was a mere dream years ago, quietly whispered into existence by Joe Debs, grandson of the founder. This week that dream became reality, thanks to these incredible donors:

What a monumental day! 103 years after first opening and 13 years after closing, Debs Store is back OutEast, now reborn as The Corner at Debs Store with expanded community services like career counseling from Goodwill Industries of North Florida and financial services from VyStar Credit Union. We’re so thankful to all the community champions, partners, donors and supporters who helped us get here.

Impacting lives one haircut at a time. We’re closing our #BlackBusinessMonth series with Dana Miller of the Man Cave Barbershop. Dana is much more than a barber, for over a decade he’s been providing a listening ear for anyone that comes into his shop on A Philip Randolph Blvd and sharing advice on how to overcome adversity. He also serves as the Vice President of the Eastside Legacy Business Council.

Our next #BlackBusinessMonth feature spotlights a true community leader: Avery McKnight. With his business, Concrete Renovations, Avery’s been working on concrete, asphalt, painting, masonry and remodeling projects for five years, including helping us revitalize several apartment buildings OutEast. As a fourth-generation Eastsider, Avery also serves as President of the Eastside Legacy Business Council and Chairman of the Board of The Avenue Main Street.?