Building a resilient neighborhood through community hubs

The Corner at Debs Store in Jacksonville’s Historic Eastside neighborhood is the kind of place communities work hard to build. It’s a neighborhood grocery with fresh food and familiar faces, but it’s also a place where people come for job-seeking support, financial services, and connection.

And it’s community hubs like these that become as essential as ever to local residents but are also directly impacted when the safety net begins to fray.

Building a community hub takes time, planning, and a larger strategy

The Corner at Debs Store had been a family business until it had to close in 2011, and for years, the Eastside lived with the reality of a food desert. Families had to travel long distances, if they had access to transportation at all, to buy fresh food. When LIFT JAX partnered with Goodwill Industries of North Florida, Historic Eastside Community Development Corporation, and VyStar Credit Union to bring The Corner at Debs Store back as a part of a neighborhood revitalization plan, it was designed as a community hub, not just a grocery store.

Community hubs like The Corner at Debs Store take years of planning and partnership and are built as part of a larger strategy to create opportunity in a neighborhood. Residents emphasized the need to end the food desert. We wanted the new store to be a place families could rely on today while advancing community transformation and economic mobility over time. The goal was for families to have consistent access to healthy food, career development opportunities, and financial wellness education in their neighborhood.

A fraying safety net impacts both families and the community hub they rely on

For millions of families who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, the lapse in funding that occurred in fall 2025 meant not knowing how they would put food on the table. Families told me plainly that without SNAP payments, they did not know how they would feed their family that month. Many shared how much they depend on that benefit and how Debs had become their primary place to shop.

What I heard from these families went beyond financial strain. The disruption hit people’s sense of dignity and self-agency. Families who had regained ownership over how they fed themselves suddenly felt that power slipping away. Some feared returning to food pantries or giveaways after months or years of not needing them. Losing SNAP did not just change what was on the table. It set families back in their well-earned progress.

For neighborhood businesses that rely on SNAP like The Corner at Debs Store, it meant a significant negative impact to monthly revenue—and the impact was immediate. SNAP accounts for nearly 50% of its monthly revenue. It is a social enterprise, but it is still a business; the math does not work differently because the mission matters. Payroll does not stop. Rent still comes due. Suppliers still need to be paid. Losing almost half of its revenue overnight presented these new challenges, especially when no one knew how long the disruption would last.

If a community anchor like The Corner at Debs Store closes due to financial failure, it’s not just a grocery store shutting its doors. It’s also a job center, a place to access services, and a gathering space the neighborhood relies on.

Funders can support community hubs in moments of instability

During the SNAP disruption, philanthropic partners stepped up in different but complementary ways. National funders like the Bainum Family Foundation provided critical support to help stabilize the work. Local funders provided dollars that enabled The Corner at Debs Store to distribute gift cards to replace SNAP benefits temporarily. That support helped the store stay open and allowed families to continue shopping with dignity in their own neighborhood.

That experience reinforced what effective philanthropy looks like in moments of instability: It moves quickly. It trusts partners. It does not overcomplicate urgent needs. It recognizes that sometimes the most important investment is not a new program but a long-standing, community-centered enterprise itself. Organizations need good, qualified people to do this work, and they need to make payroll to do it.

At LIFT JAX, our long-term goal is to create paths to prosperity for residents by building neighborhoods where fewer families need benefits like SNAP because they have greater stability and opportunity. Community hubs like The Corner at Debs Store expand opportunity and drive long-term revitalization. They become especially critical when safety nets fray and communities end up vulnerable.

If we want neighborhoods like Jacksonville’s Eastside to thrive, we need resources that provide stability and long-term opportunity—systems that provide access to food, health care, housing, and income support so residents can focus on advancing their communities. Philanthropy can elevate community stories, respond with urgency in moments of instability, and invest in the organizations and enterprises that make opportunity possible.

Photo credit: Courtesy of LIFT JAX