In St. Augustine’s historic Lincolnville neighborhood, families who were sleeping in cars and camps now have a roof of their own at the newly opened Goff Family Shelter, a small center designed to keep parents and children together instead of splitting households across different facilities.
The shelter can house up to nine families at a time, with 37 beds spread across nine family rooms. Operated by the St. Augustine Society, which also runs St. Francis House and other local programs, the center will focus on families in the most precarious situations and connect them with caseworkers to help parents secure jobs and child care. Staff have already selected the first families to move in, Jacksonville Today reported.
"We're going to take families who are in cars and camps before we’re going to take families who are doubled up," Executive Director Judith Dembowski said.
Services and staffing
The St. Augustine Society says the Goff Family Shelter will offer case management, employment and housing referrals, and connections to medical and mental health services to help families move into permanent housing, according to the group’s website. The building also includes communal space and a planned on-site laundry facility.
The society has been fundraising specifically to add that free laundry service and hosted a "Fall Fling" event to support it, News4Jax reported.
Where it is and why it matters
The shelter sits in a restored building on Washington Street in Lincolnville that once served as the Florida state headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, according to Visit St. Augustine. The site’s new role as a family shelter adds another chapter to a property already tied to social justice work.
Recent numbers highlight why those beds are needed. The St. Johns County Continuum of Care 2026 Point-in-Time count found 367 people experiencing homelessness in the county, with 177 sheltered and 190 unsheltered, a roughly 16% increase from 2025. The rise underscores the push for more family-focused options like the Goff Family Shelter.
Funding and memorial
City grants and private donations helped pay for the renovation, but shelter leaders say the Goff family’s support was key to getting the doors open. As Jacksonville Today reported, Robert Goff described the shelter as a tribute to his daughter Katie, and staff have set aside a small reading area in her memory.
How to help
The St. Augustine Society is asking for donations and volunteers and offers monthly tours for anyone who wants to see the space and learn how to support the families staying there, according to the organization. Community groups, churches and individual donors are furnishing rooms and helping fund services, while the ongoing effort to add a free laundry facility at the shelter drew extra attention last fall during a public fundraiser, News4Jax reported.
