Clara White Mission
mission logo
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| Motto | Food for today, skills for life. |
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| Formation | 1904 |
| Type | NGO |
| Legal status | Foundation |
| Purpose | Humanitarianism |
| Headquarters |
 Jacksonville, Florida
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Region served
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Duval County, Florida |
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President/CEO
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Ju’Coby Pittman-Peele |
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Main organ
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Board of Directors |
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Budget
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US$ 1,391,512 (2007) |
| Website | www.clarawhitemission.org |
The Clara White Mission (CWM) is a non-profit organization in downtown Jacksonville, Florida that advocates for the poor and provides social services. According to their website, "The Clara White Mission is to reduce homelessness through advocacy, housing, job training and employment by partnering with business and local community resources." CWM created an extensive and diverse network of public and private funding sources.
The Clara White Mission was formally founded in 1904, but Clara English White began feeding hungry people in her Clay street neighborhood in the 1880s. During the period between 1900 and 1950, Dr. Eartha M. M. White, a nationally recognized humanitarian who was Clara's daughter, turned the soup kitchen into an effective social agency.
Clara White died in 1920, but Eartha continued their "mission work", and at the height of the great depression the operation grew so large, it had to be moved from its residential location. The Globe Theatre had been closed for years, and Eartha White was able to purchase it. The West Ashley Street building was then dedicated in her mother's memory. At the time, the CWM was the only non-profit organization serving daily meals to the needy in Jacksonville. The mission incorporated in 1934.
The Clara White Mission was Eartha's home for over 40 years and the center of her activities. Besides the original feeding program, the building was home to a myriad of projects and initiatives through the years. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) used the mission as the work site for sewing and arts projects during the Depression; the building's top floors housed soldiers stationed in Jacksonville during World War II.
Beginning with Clara and continuing with Eartha, the mission provided rooms to prisoners after their release from jail; they were also fed, given clothing and assistance finding a job. The homeless received similar assistance.
The mission provided hands-on training for cooking/canning and business skills including typing, in addition to Braille instruction. The facility was renovated in 1946 and local business owners were encouraged to lease office space on the building's first and third floors to help pay the bills.
In 1902, Eartha and Clara White began the "Colored Old Folks Home", which became the "Eartha White Nursing Home". In 1965, construction began on Eartha M. M. White Health Care, Inc., a 125-bed, $780,000.00 facility, initiated by Eartha at age 89.
Throughout Eartha White's life, she actively collected period furniture, historical documents, and photos of Jacksonville's past as well as Black Americans. She solicited donations from all her contacts, both business and personal. The accumulation was housed in a building near Moncrief Springs until her death in 1974, after which many items were stolen or damaged. The remaining documents were turned over to the University of North Florida for safe keeping; the furniture and objets d'art were stored by the CWM.
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Wikipedia