Secretary Carson visits Jacksonville EnVision Center, holds roundtable and reads a segment for his Summer Reading Program

Sulzbacher Village EnVision Center also offers a career closet as part of the support given to former homeless women and their families on their road to self-sufficiency.

On Monday, July 20, 2020 Jacksonville welcomed HUD Secretary Ben Carson to Florida as he participated in several activities with local elected officials and community leaders at the EnVision Center Sulzbacher Village for Homeless Women and Families.

Accompanied by Southeast Regional Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett, Deputy Regional Administrator Michael Browder, and Jacksonville Field Office Director Alesia Scott-Ford, the day started with a roundtable about HUD programs and initiatives, the homeless crisis in the area, affordable housing and COVID-19 related issues. Sulzbacher President and CEO Cindy Funkhouser hosted the activity. Participants included Congressman John Rutherford (4th Congressional District of Florida), State Attorney Melissa Nelson, City of Jacksonville Director of Strategic Partnerships Dawn Lockhart, and Sulzbacher Board Chair Amy Hardman.

A tour of the village highlighted for Secretary Carson the services offered at the facility. Following CDC guidelines to stop the spread of the pandemic, not all Sulzbacher community partners were present but key providers showcased their contributions to the EnVision Center. Among them were Goodwill Industries (job training), Feeding North East Florida (mobile food unit and pantry donor), Jacksonville Transit Authority (career closet), Child Guidance/Early Learning Center Therapeutic Services, and the Sulzbacher Mobile Medical Health Unit staff. Sulzbacher became Florida's 1st EnVision Center in November 2019. For more details about their service to of the most vulnerable populations in Jacksonville, visit the HUD website.

Secretary Carson concluded his visit by taping a reading segment with Congressman Rutherford in the Sulzbacher Children's Center Library. The reading session will be featured in his series Summer Reading with Secretary Carson, weekly story time videos for children and parents that can be viewed on his Instagram channel.

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