Executive Director’s Column: “Not Like Us”

One of the summer’s most popular songs is Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” and in reflecting upon the work of LISC Jacksonville recently, it became obvious to me that many agencies are not like us. I say that from the humblest of places while highlighting the momentum LISC Jacksonville has been able to generate over the last four years.

Through strategic partnerships like those we have established with the United Way of Northeast Florida, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and others, we have launched some catalytic work around heirs’ property. Over the last three years, we have returned an estimated $14 million of dead equity back to residents in zip codes 32204, 32206, 32208, 32209, and 32254. This work has not only allowed us to blaze a trail locally for how we help vulnerable members of our community retain family wealth, but it has opened the door as a blueprint for communities beyond ours as well.

As a result of our work regarding heirs’ property, we have created momentum, which has allowed us to partner with Wells Fargo to work on a solution to address issues associated with tax abatement for many of the properties in the communities mentioned above. Our research in conjunction with the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida has suggested as much as 25% of the households in the communities LISC Jacksonville supports are at risk of being lost to potential investors because of back taxes.

This targeted, research-informed, community-centered work at LISC Jacksonville is part of a larger strategic initiative aimed at Family Wealth Creation. Furthermore, it is our goal to make communities we support destinations where people want to live, build families, and start businesses.  

The beauty of the work we are engaged in – no matter if its heirs’ property or tax abatement, home repair, Project Boots, or our latest initiative, Creative Placekeeping – is that it all requires a collective voice that hears and responds to the voices at the bottom of the well. LISC Jacksonville is by no stretch of the imagination a monolith in this work of community change. We are more like the conductor of a community chorus whose signature song has evolved into “Not Like Us.”

The momentum we are experiencing is simply a reflection of community partners who “get it.” Partners who understand the fact that place matters, the people who live in those places matter, and the people who start businesses in those places matter. And because of that, many of the cities we find ourselves lusting after or in some cases emulating, simply are “Not Like Us.”