Jacksonville City Council Honors Kevin Gay

On September 27, 2022, the Jacksonville City Council honored Kevin Gay with a resolution nominating and commencing his work as CEO and Founder of Operation New Hope. Kevin founded the nonprofit 23 years ago to address the problems facing Jacksonville’s Historic Springfield neighborhood – poverty, crime, homelessness, disrepair, and drug addiction – and the organization successfully brought together a community once lost to blight, poverty, and outright neglect. Kevin’s work caught the attention of President Bush and in 2003, he selected Operation New Hope as the pilot site for the Ready4Work program. Kevin has been praised by the last four White House Administrations, as well as, federal, state and local representatives, law enforcement officers, and business leaders. Internationally, Kevin has been recognized by House of Mandela as leading a model program for the world. Kevin retired from Operation New Hope in June 2022. 

Former Council President Sam Newby presented the honor to Kevin at Tuesday night’s meeting.  Kevin accepted the award by saying, “Thank you for this honor. It touches me more than you can imagine.” He went on to add, “Like all of you, I love this city!”

“Twenty-three years ago, I was trying to find one employer that was willing to hire somebody with a record. It was hard. Today we have over 300 who are willing to step up and hire.”

“I have to say what touched my heart was the 10,000 men, women, and youth  that we have been very blessed to work with over the years… they changed me!”

“I am blessed beyond words that I’ve had a chance to be part of this work.”