Youth Initiatives and the Black-on-Black Crime Prevention Programs (YCP/BOB)

The JUL is in a consortium of eight urban league affiliates in the state of Florida that administers the YCP and BOB programs. YCP/BOB provides youths with positive exposure to activities that influence personal growth and development, career choices and academic achievement. Activities include Young Urban Poet Society. Behind-the-Scenes Business Tours. Teen and Young Parents Symposium. Jail Tours, and the OAG Conference. More than 1,600 children and families have received services locally in parenting skills, tutorial assistance, teen pregnancy prevention, residential security surveys,
and school dropout prevention counseling.

Youth Initiatives
The Youth Crime Prevention program of the Jacksonville Urban League provides services to prevent at-risk youth from engaging in criminal activities. Community Bridge Building and Teen Summit are among the programs offered through the Youth Crime Prevention Program. Community Bridge Building discusses significant crime issues and prevention strategies with local residents, law enforcement officials, and educators. Teen Summit promotes personal and community empowerment among youth through field trips, community service projects and workshops.

The Youth Crime Prevention Program provides tutorial assistance to enable youth to achieve success academically. An employability skill-training program is also provided to youth ages 16-18 years old. Services for first time offenders are provided in conjunction with the juvenile court system and Department of Juvenile Justice. Participants receive a specially designed curriculum to prevent repeat violations. At risk children are engaged in enjoyable activities to reduce risk factors. Counseling and intervention are also provided.

Black-on-Black Crime Prevention Program
The Jacksonville Urban League participates in the statewide Black on Black Crime Prevention program. The program is designed as a public awareness and education effort to unify the Black community and to support crime prevention activities.

The program goals include increasing the community awareness of the negative effects of crime and to educate and motivate the community to stand against crime by working with their law enforcement agencies. The Black on Black Crime Prevention program seeks to establish a collective network of individuals and groups who will safeguard their community. Youth participants are involved in after-school activities, such as tutoring, arts, crime prevention workshops and visits to area attractions.

Accomplishments

Economic Development

Jacksonville Urban Entrepreneur Partnership

The Urban Entrepreneur Partnership works with private, public and nonprofit resources to build strong, sustainable and successful minority businesses. The result will be wealth creation, job creation and better economic health in the minority and urban core communities of Jacksonville.

What does the Urban Entrepreneur Partnership do?

The Urban Entrepreneur Partnership assesses the needs and capabilities of minority business owners in the Jacksonville area. Then those aspiring or current business owners are linked with resources, classes, training and counseling that will help them grow to the next level of success. Each person contacting the UEP will receive an initial assessment of their needs. Then they will be matched to the appropriate resource or service that meets those needs.

Who sponsors it?

The Urban Entrepreneur Partnership is part of a national program, by the same name, developed through a partnership of the National Urban League, the Business Roundtable, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the White House National Economic Council. In Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Urban League has been designated as the local branch of the UEP.

How can I get assistance with my business?

Simply contact the Jacksonville Urban League through our
Hotline number, 904-356-8336 or through our online UEPNet Resource Navigator.

What kind of services are offered?

Many resources are available in the Jacksonville area to help start or expand businesses. The list below highlights the most frequently requested services:

• Business planning
• Financial resources and assistance
• Franchising
• Legal services
• Libraries and research organizations
• Management issues and training
• Manufacturing, high tech and life sciences development
• Marketing
• Networking
• Nonprofit development
• Office, laboratory and meeting space
• Product development
• Regulatory compliance
• Selling to the government and large corporations
• Tax services
• Technical assistance

How much do services cost?

The initial assessment and matching is free. There may be fees for counseling, training classes, etc.

Do I have to meet a certain set of standards to get help?

The program is designed for minority business owners who live or work in the Jacksonville area.

Employment and Career Development Center

The Employment and Career Development Center (ECDC) offers job placement for clients with different levels of experience.  A vital service of the Employment and Career Development Center is providing encouragement to those who are seeking to enter the workforce or change careers.  Clients are given the opportunity to discuss career issues and questions individually with a counselor.  The issues discussed may include making career decisions, career change, skill identification, and a variety of other careers or work concerns.

The Employment and Career Development Center includes a fully equipped computer center.  Students receive hands on computer training in classes ranging from introduction to computers to more detailed computer applications such as word process.  Workshops and training classes are held weekly at the center. Topics include:

• Interview Skills
• Job Search Techniques
• Communication Skills
• Dressing for Success
• Employment Etiquette
• Diversity Training
• Test Preparation
• Self Development

Looking for a good Employer or Employee, click here.

The Jacksonville Urban League is committed to helping job seekers obtain gainful employment and become productive citizens who are able to provide a high quality of life for themselves and their families.

Advocacy and Racial Inclusion

Through advocacy and community education initiatives, the Jacksonville Urban league is a resource and advocate for building bridges of understanding and communication among all races.

Advocacy initiatives of the Jacksonville Urban League include implementing community organization strategies to effectively advocate for the poor and disenfranchised; fostering consensus bu9ilding through partnership and collaborations, voter registration workshops and forums, and providing leadership in addressing community concerns.

The Jacksonville Urban League co-sponsors the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast with the Chamber of Commerce, NAACP and City of Jacksonville.  The breakfast brings the community of Jacksonville together to commemorate the life and ideas of the civil rights leader.

The annual Jacksonville Urban League Annual Equal Opportunity Luncheon is an event that honors individuals and corporations who exemplify the principle of equal opportunity.  The Jacksonville Urban League continues to collaborate with organizations throughout the community to bring about inclusion of all races within our community.

Education

Centers for Leveraging Literacy

The Jacksonville Urban League will be launching centers designed to improve the overall performance of students and provide support through scholarship awards to students with the aptitude to enter college or vocational training.

Services

Housing Initiatives
For 28 years, the Jacksonville Urban League has been a premier, local
HUD-approved housing counseling agency. Program coordinators collectively offer more than 50 years of housing counseling and loss mitigation experience, and are certified under Federal Housing and Urban Development (FUD), tile National Federation of Housing Counselors and the NeighborWorks Training Institute.

The Housing Education and Counseling Program (HECP) and the Comprehensive Housing Counseling Program (CHCP) have been combined under the heading of the Housing Initiatives Program (HIP]. The HIP provides counseling and educational programs in the area of homelessness to home ownership. Its primary focus is to provide home ownership opportunities to low-and middle-income families who may not receive services from traditional financial institutions.

First-Time Home Buyers education programs are offered monthly to prepare potential homeowners for the home buying process. A comprehensive 10-hour program covers such topics as qualifying for a mortgage, obtaining a mortgage, closing loans, responsibilities of home ownership, understanding credit scores and history, and credit enhancement.

The HIP networks with many local businesses such as AmSouth, Watson Realty, Wells Fargo Mortgage, SunTrust, Funding America Mortgage, Wachovia and Amerispec. These companies render more than 400 volunteer hours as presenters during first-time home buyer classes and community outreach activities. HIP also collaborates with the City of Jacksonville to provide monthly Fair Housing presentations and semi-annually Property Taxes and Homestead exemption forums.

The HIP offers taxes and insurance workshops and collaborates with the City of Jacksonville and Maxwell Insurance Company to dialogue and answer questions from attendees on renters insurance, blackout issuing times and flood insurance.
The HIP offers Budget and Money Management classes, as well as the Money Smart curriculum to Jacksonville residents. Loss Mitigation training was field in collaboration with more than 25 representatives from Legal Aid. local lenders and other HUD-approved housing counseling agencies.

HIP counselors have been guests on local community television programs and radio talk shows, including a local Hispanic radio program during Fair Housing Month.

Home Repair
The Housing Emergency Repair Program (HERP) provides relief from costly repairs and hazardous emergencies. Repair services improve sub-standard housing conditions for low and moderate-income families. Over 2000 residents have received home repair services such as plumbing, septic tank and drain-field services, electrical, roofing, carpentry and flooring. Licensed contractors perform the repairs.

The Jacksonville Urban League’s Housing Repair Program works with other city and state agencies. A unique feature of the HERP is the expediency in which repairs are completed. The Jacksonville Urban League is funded specifically to provide emergency repairs. Most of the housing requests to HERP are fulfilled within a short period of time. Many services are provided to elderly residents who would not otherwise be able to repair their home. Young families, single parents and others also receive assistance from the Housing Repair Program of the Jacksonville Urban League.

Housing Counseling

The Jacksonville Urban League offers two housing counseling programs; The Comprehensive Housing Counseling Program and the Housing Education and Counseling Program. Counseling is provided by certified home counselors who are specifically trained in areas such as credit, budgeting, housekeeping, rental improvement and money management.

The Comprehensive Housing Counseling Program offers rental and resident counseling services to low and moderate income residents. The Comprehensive Housing Program assists clients in obtaining and maintaining safe and affordable housing. Counselors meet one on one to provide residents with detailed information and education on how to rent, landlord tenant issues, budgeting and housekeeping and maintenance.

The Housing Education and Counseling Program offer counseling to home buyers and residents. Services are offered to those desiring to move from renting to home ownership. Certified housing counselors educate potential homeowners on credit applications, budgeting, mortgage, and relocation. The Housing Education and Counseling Program provide counseling to over three hundred clients each year.