Relief fund activated to help community heal after racist mass shooting 

A relief fund that’s helped Jacksonville recover from past hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic has been reactivated in response to Saturday’s racial violence on Kings Road that left three people plus the gunman dead.  

The First Coast Relief Fund has been activated since Tuesday in an attempt to spur philanthropy and private donations to help the New Town and Grand Park communities with a round of grants. 

“We would be looking at providing support to community organizations that are addressing the disparities that exist in that community,” United Way of Northeast Florida CEO Melanie Patz tells Jacksonville Today. “And also, depending upon the resources that are generated, in other communities.”

The grants will be aimed at supporting those affected by this weekend’s mass shooting as well as addressing “systemic issues that have created disparities in our communities,” according to a city of Jacksonville press release. Focus areas of the grants could include community mobilization, grief counseling or capacity building for addressing racial inequities.

The fund is a collaboration between the United Way chapters of Northeast Florida and St. Johns County, the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, Jessie Ball duPont Fund and the Jewish Federation and Foundation, with new partnership from the Together Strong Community Fund, which was formed to advance community-wide conversation and education following projections of hate speech in Downtown Jacksonville last year.

According to the United Way of Northeast Florida’s ALICE report this year, in the Census division where the shooting occurred, 52% of residents either live in poverty or cannot afford essential items. The area’s 8.9% unemployment rate is also much higher than the state’s.

In the 32209 ZIP code, where the Dollar General that the deaths occurred, 34.9% of residents live in poverty, compared with the 14.9% of county residents who live in poverty or 13% of state residents. 

Two of the three victims, Angela Carr and Anolt “A.J.” Laguerre Jr., were working at the time they were killed. Carr was a rideshare driver who had dropped off a passenger moments before her death, police said. Laguerre was an employee at the Dollar General, according to his family. 

Patz says investment cannot come solely from the philanthropic and nonprofit communities, but from the public and private sectors as well.

Since its inception in 2016, the First Coast Relief Fund has distributed nearly $9 million to 128 organizations in Northeast Florida, with donations coming from public agencies, foundations, corporations and individuals. This is the first time the fund has been activated for a man-made disaster.

“The Relief Fund is a near-term fundraising option for donors and has the capability to distribute funds that address the medium- and longer-term needs of the community as we make progress against all forms of hate in our region,” Community Foundation of Northeast Florida President Isaiah Oliver says in a statement.

Oliver, like Patz, Jacksonville Jewish Federation CEO Miriam Feist and Together Strong Community Fund founder David Miller, were among the hundreds who attended a vigil in Grand Park on Sunday evening, alongside community members and business and political leaders.

Throughout her campaign for the position, Mayor Donna Deegan acknowledged the lack of investment in many of Jacksonville’s majority-Black neighborhoods.

In a resolution presented to longtime Jacksonville historian and activist Rodney Hurst on Sunday afternoon, Deegan once again referenced acknowledging underinvestment and reversing the trend.

“It is imperative that the city of Jacksonville recognizes its history of institutionalized racism. Moving past the legacy of racism and discrimination requires an acknowledgement and a commitment to build a legacy of truth,” Deegan said. 

Edward Waters University President A. Zachary Faison believes the massacre that was fueled by a desire to kill Black people, could have been worse.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says the gunman targeted a Durkeeville retailer and Edward Waters before arriving at the Dollar General.

Faison used a Monday press conference to call on federal, state and local leaders to invest in Historically Black Colleges and Universities beyond his own. Though Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a decision to direct $1 million from the Volunteer Florida Foundation to help fortify Edward Waters, Florida’s oldest HBCU, its president says more must be done.

“The future of our nation is inextricably connected to our ability to educate against white supremacy, to educate against hate, to educate against racism,” Faison says of a university that has been located on Kings Road for 119 years. “So, I am sounding a clarion call to protect our future, protect our histories, maximize this miracle moment and protect the sacred space of Edward Waters University and all of our nation’s historically Black colleges and universities.”

Contribute to the First Coast Relief Fund at firstcoastrelieffund.org/donate; text HEALINGJAX to 50503; or write a check to First Coast Relief Fund and mail to 40 E. Adams St., Suite 310, Jacksonville, FL 32202. Note “Healing Jax” in the memo of the check.

Lead photo: Community members hold a prayer vigil in Grand Park on Sunday, the day after the mass shooting that’s being investigated as a federal hate crime. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today