LISC Jacksonville Launches New Homeownership Program: Project Boots

9.24.2021 — LISC StoriesLISC Jacksonville Newsletter

Earlier this month, LISC Jacksonville launched “Project Boots,” a new program that will guide five local residents on their path towards homeownership in Jacksonville’s Historic Eastside neighborhood.

Funded by LISC Jacksonville and LIFT JAX, Project Boots will provide down payment assistance and a homeownership training curriculum to the five participants over the course of 12 months. Upon successful completion of the program, the five participants – all of whom are Jacksonville natives – will be able to purchase and build a new home on existing vacant lots in Historic Eastside.

“Our goal with Project Boots is to disrupt poverty and change the trajectory and narrative of Jacksonville’s most under-resourced communities, starting with the Eastside,” said LISC Jacksonville Executive Director Dr. Irvin “PeDro” Cohen. “Project Boots is about providing support mechanisms to increase homeownership – a historically essential component in creating generational wealth – and inviting folks back to the neighborhoods in which some of them grew up in. These residents are passionate about their communities and will demand more for their neighborhood, helping uplift the community as a whole in the process.”

To purchase their new home, the five participants must meet a monthly savings requirement, which will be matched by the Project Boots program during the 12-month program commitment. They must also complete 12 homeownership training sessions, which will cover areas such as financial components of homeownership, using homeownership as a wealth-building mechanism, health-related topics, home maintenance, and others. The sessions, which began on September 11, will be led by LISC Jacksonville and various subject-matter experts with completion anticipated to occur in Sept. 2022.

LISC Jacksonville press conference on Sept. 9. Those pictured, left to right, include: Dr. Rudy F. Jamison Jr., Ed.D., Project Boots Participant; Sherry Magill, Chair, LISC Jacksonville Advisory Committee; Dr. Irvin “PeDro” Cohen, Executive Director, LISC Jacksonville; Suzanne Pickett, Executive Director, Historic Eastside CDC; David Garfunkel, President, LIFT JAX: Bruce Moye, Project Boots Participant.

“The Eastside is the first step in a larger, three-year initiative to support homeownership in other neighborhoods throughout Jacksonville that have historically very low rates of homeownership,” added Cohen. “Our plan is to replicate this process in neighborhoods such as Durkeeville, North Riverside, and others. In doing so, we begin to positively change the fabric of these communities by increasing homeownership and bringing greater capacity back to some of our traditional neighborhoods. It truly comes down to improving the quality of life of the people who live in these areas by helping them become more financially sound and build wealth for themselves, their children, and their grandchildren.”

LISC Jacksonville launched Project Boots during a press conference on September 9 at the Eastside Brotherhood, a staple of the Eastside community. Multiple local news outlets covered the launch, including:

For more information about Project Boots and LISC Jacksonville’s work in the Historic Eastside, click here.