Stabilizing families in crisis, providing food security for the hungry, and empowering the community to meet neighbors’ needs.
Founded in 1979 by representatives of local churches who received many personal appeals for emergency financial assistance, United Community Outreach Ministry, or UCOM, was created to provide help in a coordinated way and to prevent duplication of services. Today the community support for UCOM has extended well beyond the faith community to include individuals, businesses, local organizations, and local foundations. We are a 501(c)(3) community-based organization serving low-income and asset limited residents living or working in South Jacksonville communities and serve residents of the following zip codes; 32207, 32205, 32216, 32217, 32256, 32257, 32246. In 1998, the Pine Forest Community was added to the mayor’s Intensive Care Neighborhood Program. The program started as an initiative to improve long-neglected neighborhoods in the City of Jacksonville. The process involves coordinating local government, the school system, non-profit organizations, businesses, churches, and residents to not only identify and prioritize problems but to also work together to solve them. The neighborhoods chosen were low-income, inner-city, with low-achieving schools, poor housing conditions, high crime rate and high unemployment. With a lean operational practice, we rely heavily on community support to assist our neighbors in times of need. To prevent homelessness, we provide navigation in emergency services assistance to address overdue rent and utility payments. To help families struggling with food insecurity, we operate a client-choice food pantry at our Emergency Service Center, satellite pantries at local income sensitive and senior living apartments, and a food locker for after business hours food pick up. Our raised garden beds support our pantry operation by supplying fresh organic herbs to those in our nutrition programs. And for our aging seniors, deliver Meals On Wheels, we have dedicated efforts in building social capital in their income-sensitive apartment complexes providing batch meal prep classes, nutritional bingo and social engagements that always include food, and household goods to meet the physical needs of our aging neighbors so they can stay independent longer. In addition, we offer nutrition education, assistance with applications for SNAP benefits and Medicaid, and case management for those families with children working to break the cycle of poverty. Our seasonal programs include feast assistance for all of the holidays – including national holidays to augment the cost of ‘feasting as a family’ and other services such as Birthday Party Kits and Breakfast with Santa. We also participate in the whole City of Jacksonville story in Continuum of Care goals. Through collaborative case management with other agencies and many other service providers, we ensure that clients receive coordinated guidance and empowerment toward self-reliance.
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