Joyce Delifus, founder of the Shawn D. Delifus Foundation recently received the Janet Owens Award, in honor of LISC Jacksonville’s former executive director and community visionary. As director of the Shawn D. Delifus Foundation, the honoree embodies safety, justice, and positive community engagement through her work with the foundation. Since its founding, the foundation has provided swimming lessons to hundreds of children in underserved communities.
Also awarded was The 2022 J.F. Bryan Award award presented to Kingdom Plaza Mall founders Bishop Vaughn and Narlene McLaughlin. The McLaughlin’s have created a ministry that is socially, economically, educationally, and spiritually uplifting the lives of many in the Westside Normandy Village community. Their purchase and renovation of the former dilapidated Normandy Village Mall, transforming it into the thriving Kingdom Plaza Mall, has created an entity that has created an economic powerhouse housing a bowling alley, fitness gym, restaurant, and a small-business incubator.
The Igniter Award,which recognizes a real estate project that advances the urban core in Jacksonville’s underserved neighborhoods, was presented to James Smith. Entrepreneur Smith purchased and rehabilitated a nearly 4,000-square-feet commercial property in Springfield. The early investment encouraged additional investment on Main Street, helping it become an active commercial district with increasing property values.
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