{"id":123431,"date":"2025-08-06T11:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/123431\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T11:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:14:10","slug":"thousands-of-jacksonville-students-face-homelessness-hunger-as-new-school-year-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/123431\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Jacksonville students face homelessness, hunger as new school year begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 As the new school year begins, thousands of students across Duval County are facing more than just academic challenges. Many don\u2019t know where they\u2019ll sleep tonight\u2014or if they\u2019ll eat again after the school bell rings.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, in Duval County Public Schools alone, we have over 3,000 students who are homeless,\u201d said Leon Baxton, CEO of Communities in Schools of Jacksonville (CIS).<\/p>\n

That number climbs even higher when you include those struggling with food insecurity. Heading into the 2025-2026 school year, approximately 5,500 students in the area are affected, according to CIS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may be living in shelters, they may be living with Grandma\u2014it\u2019s everywhere,\u201d Baxton said. \u201cYou often don\u2019t hear about it because families try to keep it quiet, and so does the school district.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leon Baxton, CEO of Communities in Schools of Jacksonville (Jesse Hanson\/News4JAX photojournalist)<\/p>\n

Baxton\u2019s connection to the issue is deeply personal. At just 10 years old, he lost his mother to a heroin overdose. By 12, his grandmother had passed away, and he entered the foster care system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018What I want to do with my life is help those kids not go through what I went through.\u2019 And I\u2019ve dedicated my life to it,\u201d Baxton said.<\/p>\n

Baxton now leads Communities in Schools, a dropout prevention program operating in 37 schools across Jacksonville. The organization provides literacy support, mentorship, after-school programs, and case management to help students overcome barriers to success.<\/p>\n

Dominic Cummings, a CIS alumnus, knows firsthand the impact of the program. He joined at age 11 while living in Jacksonville\u2019s Springfield neighborhood, an area that was once plagued by crime and poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom entrusted the organization with me,\u201d Cummings said. \u201cThere were times I didn\u2019t know if I\u2019d get a meal after school, so I relied on free lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said CIS gave him structure, safety, and the confidence to pursue higher education. After earning a scholarship and graduating from college, Cummings landed a job with JPMorganChase, with help from CIS mentors.<\/p>\n

Dominic Cummings, a CIS alumnus, knows firsthand the impact of the program. (Jesse Hanson\/News4JAX photojournalist)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey helped me negotiate and get the interview,\u201d he said. \u201cThat job was because of Communities in Schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now a financial analyst, small business owner, husband and father, Cummings said he continues to stay connected with his mentors\u2014and wants other students to have the same opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to advocate for the organization to make sure it continues to live on,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are other little Dominics out there who deserve the same chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The need has only grown since the COVID-19 pandemic. Rising rent, evictions, and inflation have forced more families into financial instability, which impacts student attendance and performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur parents are struggling,\u201d Baxton said. \u201cEverything from housing to transportation affects academic success. Our goal is to eliminate as many of those barriers as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

To do that, CIS places site coordinators in schools who check in with students, even visiting homes if a child misses multiple days. The goal is to understand what\u2019s going on and offer support before a student falls behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, someone asked me, \u2018Leon, how did you overcome your pain?\u2019\u201d Baxton recalled. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018The greatest way I overcame it was that I was able to help somebody else.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know is in need of support, visit cisjax.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 As the new school year begins, thousands of students across Duval County are facing more…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":123432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,13915,718,407,3188,723,7310,12013,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-123431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-back-to-school","10":"tag-community","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-fl","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-morning-show","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114981533519031802","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}