Jacksonville's Eastside neighborhood could receive a boost as part of the community benefits agreement that is part of the $1.4 billion stadium renovation agreement. l Google
Published on July 23, 2026 at 2:49 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
The first round of public dollars available to Eastside organizations as part of the city of Jacksonville’s community benefits agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars will use dollars from the current and upcoming fiscal year.
The Eastside Grants Committee hopes organizations will apply before the Aug. 3 deadline.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Wednesday, during its monthly meeting, the committee noted that as much as $7.6 million will be available.
Mayor Donna Deegan, in her proposed budget to the City Council on Monday, allocated $4 million for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 for Eastside grants. Those dollars are subject to approval from the City Council during this fall’s budget process.
The proposed monies would be combined with the $4 million that has been set aside for Eastside grants during the current fiscal year.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
It has taken more than nine months to create the grants committee through local legislation, appoint its members and prepare them for the process of reviewing and doling out grants.
The committee will vote on the organizations that receive grants in early December.
In order to apply for the grants, people or organizations must have attended the mandatory ethics workshop the city of Jacksonville held in May. The next ethics workshop is not scheduled until May 2027.
Eastside Grants Committee timeline
Here is the timeline for the first grant approval process:
Aug. 3: Application deadline
Early August: City of Jacksonville staff reviews whether applicants are qualified and eligible to receive grants. Disqualified applicants will have five days to appeal.
Aug. 19 or 20: Appeal meeting for disqualified applicants
Aug. 21-Nov. 2: Grants scoring process
Nov. 3: Eastside Community Grants Committee votes on rankings for qualified applications.
Dec. 1: Release of final application rankings
Dec. 7: Committee submits list of recipients and funding allocations to City Council, the Mayor’s Office, the Council Auditor’s Office and the city’s director of finance.
“This is an incredible opportunity for the Out East community to be impacted, especially because it’s been disinvested in for such a long period of time,” said committee chair Rudy Jamison, Ph.D. “It’s imperative that we get as many applications as we possibly can so that we can better the Out East community.”
Future of Eastside Grants Committee
During Wednesday’s meeting, the committee also indicated microgrants — separate from the larger grants — might be available to businesses and organizations this fall.
The committee anticipates future meetings will be held at the Kids Hope Alliance headquarters on the Eastside. The intention is to make future conversations about the committee’s work and the grant funding process more accessible to the neighborhood.
Those meetings are tentatively scheduled for the second Tuesday of each month. Details about the date and time of future meetings will be finalized by the end of this month.
