Jacksonville Revives Unhoused Steering Committee With Faith Leaders, Service Providers

Prairieland United Way announced the formation of Jacksonville's Unhoused Steering Committee, bringing together a cross-sector group to coordinate the city's fragmented response to homelessness and housing instability after years of stalled efforts and mounting local pressure.

The committee's known members span five institutions: Rabbi Rob Thomas representing the faith community; Karen Walker of Prairieland United Way; Justian Corliss of the Salvation Army; Jacksonville Alderman Joe Lockman; and Claire Peak, a community health consultant with Jacksonville Memorial Hospital. On social media, Rabbi Thomas called himself "honored to be a part of this awesome, compassionate, and dedicated team."

The group is still in its early stages and plans to begin collecting data this summer to better understand the scope of homelessness in Jacksonville, identify gaps in services, and explore ways to improve coordination among local organizations. No data collection methodology, full membership roster, or meeting schedule has been announced yet.

The revival follows a difficult recent history. Jacksonville Memorial Hospital launched a similar committee in 2023, but that effort ultimately stalled due to a lack of consensus on how to consolidate services and move forward. Community conversations began to regain traction in 2025 through the Moving Jacksonville Forward initiative, which directed attention in part to the former Jacksonville Developmental Center property, where unhoused individuals had been staying in abandoned buildings despite safety concerns, trespassing issues, and repeated fires.

The urgency has since sharpened. Both the City of Jacksonville and the Village of South Jacksonville recently approved public camping ordinances, pressing local organizations to find safer and more sustainable alternatives before enforcement creates new crises for people without stable housing.

Whether this committee can succeed where the 2023 effort could not may depend on whether the broader coalition can do what that earlier group could not: agree on a path forward.