JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local landlord is accusing a nonprofit that helps the homeless of paying her tenants’ rent late.
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Natalie Collier, a member of Opportunity Zone America LLC, which owns about 60 properties, is speaking out, saying she hasn’t received a rent payment from Changing Homelessness since October.
“Overall, it’s been a great experience,” Collier said. “Just recently, there have been some changes in our experiences with Changing Homelessness.”
The landlord adds that the tenants are “homeless or housing insecure, and first and foremost, they are veterans.”
And after five months of not receiving payments, April’s rent is due.
News4JAX contacted Changing Homelessness CEO Dawn Gilman, who responded with the following statement.
Thank you for your interest in our work and your concern for our clients and landlord partners.
Changing Homelessness currently has over 1,000 client households receiving rental assistance. We have been administering predominantly federal funds for rental assistance for over 20 years.
Since the end of 2024, we have had a few unique situations that may have affected a few of our clients: 1) staffing issues, especially in finance, and 2) federal funding delay.
We remain committed to transparency, collaboration, and honoring the trust our community places in us.
Dawn Gilman, CEO of Changing Homelessness
In an interview over Zoom, Gilman added that there are “a number of reasons” that could explain why a rent check could be late, including:
- Landlord fault
- Forms need to be corrected
- Operations on premise
- Client error
Collier is still waiting on incentive payments, which Gilman says have been mailed, adding that she will check to make sure the issue is resolved.
Gilman also said she could not say exactly how many late rent payments were due to her staff but indicated that organizational changes could be on the horizon.
“We are currently going through a process review...we are looking for additional efficiencies and making sure we are making the best use of funding that we do have and looking for ways to improve that process,” she said.
The full interview with Dawn Gilman can be seen below.
