JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As housing costs continue to strain household budgets, a Jacksonville program aimed at preventing evictions is offering a lifeline to families facing short-term financial hardship.
The City of Jacksonville’s Eviction Diversion Program provides rental assistance to qualifying tenants in Duval County, helping them catch up on rent, utilities and energy bills with the goal of keeping people housed.
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For Shamekia Bell, the assistance came just in time.
“It was amazing,” Bell said. “It was just a right-on-time, very fortunate, very blessed situation.”
Bell said she fell behind on rent after missing work due to health issues. Without paid time off, her income dropped, and late fees quickly piled up.
“When you have no PTO, of course you don’t get paid,” she said. “There were times when I could not pay the full balance in rent.”
Her experience reflects a broader reality for many Americans. A widely cited 2019 report from financial firm Charles Schwab found that nearly 60% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck or at risk of financial instability.
For Bell, the stress of falling behind was overwhelming.
“You’re wondering day to day, is this going to be the day that you’re going to be evicted?” she said. “You get that whole sunken, helpless feeling.”
The Eviction Diversion Program, administered in part through Jewish Family & Community Services and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, works with both tenants and landlords to prevent evictions before they happen.
“We work directly with landlords trying to prevent evictions from going through, trying to help tenants stay in their homes,” said Brooke Golzbein, an eviction coordinator with the organization.
Golzbein said the program has helped more than 400 households so far and reports a success rate of more than 80%.
Eligible tenants can receive up to three months of back rent, with the program focusing on those who have experienced a one-time financial setback but previously maintained consistent payments.
In Bell’s case, the assistance covered thousands of dollars in back rent and more.
“They paid off that balance, and they also paid the deposit and the first month’s rent in the new place,” she said. “It was more than I could have ever thought of.”
Without that support, Bell said her situation could have been drastically different.
“I have no idea what my life would be like,” she said. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
The need for programs like this remains high. Golzbein said tens of thousands of eviction filings are made in Duval County each year.
“We have so many evictions filed every year, over 14,000 to 15,000,” she said. “It’s only going to keep growing if we don’t step in now and help people maintain what they already have.”
Bell said the program can make a life-changing difference.
“It can really save so many lives on so many levels,” she said.
Residents seeking assistance through Jacksonville’s Eviction Diversion Program must live in Duval County and demonstrate a recent financial hardship after previously keeping up with rent. Eligible households must also include a child, senior, veteran or disabled adult.
More information on eligibility and how to apply is available here.