SPECIAL-SECTIONS

Transformation celebration

Beth Reese Cravey
beth.cravey@jacksonville.com
Naomi Sobers (from left), 11, mother Saleana Smith, brother Aiden Smith, 3, and stepfather Anthony Smith pass the time in the apartment at Sulzbacher Village that her family now calls home. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]

Earlier this year, Anthony and Saleana Smith and their children were living happily in a 2,400-square-foot rental house on Jacksonville's Westside that had a Florida room and a pool. They frequently invited friends and family over for barbecue. It was bliss.

Then life happened.

Saleana Smith took a leave of absence from her city call-center job to help a troubled older son from a previous marriage who had a drug problem. That reduced the family's income. Then her husband was laid off from Amazon, where he had taken a job after his insurance broker boss died and stalled his hoped-for career as an insurance agent. There went the rest of their income. Their landlord allowed them to stay in the house for a few months rent-free but then planned to sell it. They had to leave by August and had nowhere to go.

"That was the place we were expecting to raise our family," Anthony Smith said.

But on July 16, a few weeks before they would have been homeless, they moved into Sulzbacher Village, a $21 million subsidized, permanent housing community for homeless women and children in Jacksonville that opened a month earlier. Thursday they will be among several Village families to tell their stories at Transformations, the annual fundraiser by parent organization Sulzbacher, which provides comprehensive services for the homeless.

"It's a humbling experience. I've worked all my life," said Anthony Smith, 52. "But we are grateful. … Thank God for Sulzbacher."

JOURNEY TO INDEPENDENCE

The Village is Sulzbacher's latest entry into Jacksonville's homeless prevention efforts.

An offshoot of the Sulzbacher center for the homeless downtown, the complex has 70 subsidized, permanent housing units — studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments — for single women, female veterans and single- and two-parent families, totaling about 340 people.

About 30 additional units will accommodate women and families in need of short-term emergency housing and medical respite. On site, residents will receive case management, behavioral health services, job training and life skills and there are also health care and other programs for children and teens. The pediatric health center will offer primary care, dental, vision and behavioral health services not only to the youth who live there, but to neighborhood children.

"Our families at the Village are doing well and are inspired by the aesthetics of the environment and their apartments," said Cindy Funkhouser, Sulzbacher CEO. "The programs and services that are being provided there have been embraced enthusiastically and there is a great feeling of community and support. … It’s thrilling for us to see things falling into place as we had hoped."

After two decades, this year's Transformations event is particularly special, she said.

"For 20 years, we have been telling stories of the transformation that results when people with few options, little hope and nowhere to go take advantage of Sulzbacher’s holistic approach to overcoming homelessness. Learning about the resiliency, determination and hard work that most of our residents and clients demonstrate to improve their circumstances has been eye-opening," she said. "Their stories have painted a totally different view of homelessness for the audience. Our residents … who, for reasons that are often no fault of their own, end up in a situation they never expected to be in."

Sulzbacher's mission, she said, is help them on their journey to independence and self-sufficiency.

FOCUS ON FUTURE, NOT PAST

The Smiths are determined to get there.

For now they and their son Aiden, 3, and her daughter Naomi Sobers, 11, live in a tiny studio apartment. The parents are in Sulzbacher-provided budgeting and parenting classes as well as job training: she in medical billing and nursing assistant programs, he in medical billing and coding. Naomi is a fifth-grader at Cedar Hills Elementary School, and Aiden is at the Village's Crawford Early Learning Center.

They are trying to focus on the future, not grieve for the past. Anthony Smith's veteran status recently got them a housing voucher from the Veterans Administration, so they will soon be out looking for their next home.

"With all the the tools and resources Sulzbacher has, we are definitely going to be a success story," said Saleana Smith.

When they were financially stable, they volunteered in the community. They want to do so again and will have a new level of empathy toward people in crisis.

"We can't wait to start giving back, paying it forward," she said.

Beth Reese Cravey: (904) 359-4109

Sulzbacher

Sulzbacher provides comprehensive services for the homeless. Its main center is at 611 E. Adams St., Jacksonville, FL 32202. The newly opened Sulzbacher Village for women and families is at 5455 Springfield Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32208. To seek services, donate, volunteer or get general information, call (904) 359-0457 or go to sulzbacherjax.org. For information about the Village, contact Brian Snow at (904) 394-1358 or BrianSnow@sulzbacherjax.org.

Transformations

Sulzbacher's 20th annual Transformations fundraiser will be Thursday at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts, 300 Water St., Jacksonville. A reception and silent auction will be 5:30-7 p.m., followed by a presentation from 7-8 p.m. General admission tickets are $50; sponsorships are also available. To purchase tickets or get more information about the event go to bit.ly/2NHvZXH or contact Brooks Dame at (904) 394-8082 or BrooksDame@sulzbacherjax.org.

For more information