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GRACE announces resignation of Jon DeCarmine

Press release from Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless & Hungry

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless & Hungry, which operates GRACE Marketplace, today announced the resignation of Jon DeCarmine as Chief Executive Officer, effective December 31, 2024. The Board of Directors has appointed John Thomas, currently serving as Vice President of Advancement, as Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2025. DeCarmine will work closely with the organization until February 16, 2025 to support the leadership transition. 

Kevin Spellicy, Chair of the Board of Directors, praised DeCarmine’s decade of dedicated service. “Jon has been a transformative leader for GRACE. Under his stewardship, the organization has flourished, improving the lives of our neighbors experiencing homelessness. We are immensely grateful for his vision, passion, and commitment to our mission and wish him nothing but the best.”. 

DeCarmine became CEO in 2017 after serving as Director of Operations for three years. During his tenure at GRACE, he has been instrumental in program growth and development, leading the organization as it moved more than 3,100 people off the streets and into permanent housing. Those housing placements helped drive a 47% reduction in homelessness in Alachua County, with the local homeless population falling from 1,202 when GRACE opened in 2014 to 639 in 2024. Under DeCarmine’s leadership, the organization has received national attention for its work to end homelessness from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy, the National Homelessness Law Center, and others. 

John Thomas, who joined GRACE in 2019, brings extensive experience in nonprofit leadership and fundraising to the role of Interim CEO. Prior to his current role at GRACE, he served as Director of Development at Peaceful Paths, contributing significantly to that organization’s growth and success. With nearly 15 years of nonprofit experience, Thomas has a strong track record in advancing organizational missions and securing strategic partnerships.

“It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to serve as Interim CEO,” Thomas stated. “I look forward to collaborating with our board, team, donors, and stakeholders to provide continuity of the nationally recognized programs and services that our community has come to know and trust. I am grateful for the board’s trust in leading our organization into this next chapter.”

The Board of Directors will undertake a comprehensive search for GRACE’s next CEO, ensuring the organization continues to thrive and meet the growing needs of the Gainesville community.

  • dude operates a FREE community for drug addicts and criminals.
    good riddance
    grace needs to relocate near stark near the prison.

    ever notice in a half decent town you down see any homeless crack heads on the loose?

    • “local homeless population falling from 1,202 when GRACE opened in 2014 to 639 in 2024.” AND YOU STILL BLAME HIM????

      • As another reader Steve H provided: https://www.alligator.org/article/2024/02/gainesville-homeless-population-struggles-with-encampment-sweeps-lack-of-options

        Of the 1,006 homeless people that live in Alachua, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Putnam counties, 725 live in Gainesville (72%).

        U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data for Alachua, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Putnam counties:

        Single night shelter counts:
        Sheltered homeless in 2009: 301
        Sheltered homeless in 2023: 308

        GRACE Marketplace has wasted tens of millions of dollars for absolutely ZERO effect on the number of sheltered homeless. They have failed, miserably and completely.

        The only effect they have had besides burning taxpayer dollars is to attract huge numbers of criminals and drug addicts to Gainesville.

    • Actually in all reality no it dont what grace needs to do is actually provide the profit money we need to house more people like look at it this way the City is the reason why we are like this to where Grace is at our full capacity they need to actually think smart for once and open up more of these dorms and actually house more people

  • During his tenure, GRACE Marketplace has been a wide magnet for criminal vagrants from all around the USA.

    • Good riddance…when someone donated 2 or 3 houses to Grace a few years ago, the nut was found to have wrestled one out for himself at a fire sale price. all ignored by Po boy and crooked dem city collusion commission. Bet he made a handsome profit on it too.

  • Are they trying to make him look like Dr. Andrew Weil meets Jesus in the photo instead of a lowlife dirtbag grifter? Good grief. I can only figure that they must be under audit or investigation or something.

  • Guess he’s milked all he can from the community before he gets caught. Shait-eating grin on his face says, “you people are so gullible and trusting.”

    Hey liberal lemmings! He’s looking at you.

  • Jon DeCarmine is one of the most hated men in Gainesville, a true villain in the same tier as Pegeen Hanrahan in terms of lasting negative impact on our city. He will not be missed and we are all actively rooting for the downfall of his co-conspirator John Thomas.

    DeCarmine is in my opinion a con man that found an easy way to siphon off unlimited taxpayer money from the weak and gullible members of our local city and county government.

    GRACE Marketplace is a perfect scam. They have received tens of millions of dollars over a decade to “solve” the homeless problem. How the money is actually used is completely untraceable and the organization has zero performance metrics or independent auditing. The money just disappears into a vague abyss “to help the homeless”, yet every year more and more bums show up in town, aggressively panhandling at every major intersection and ruining every public space with their filth and drug use.

    Jon DeCarmine shamelessly begs for increased funding every single year to counter the rising homeless population he has created, while simultaneously boasting that his organization has reduced homelessness by 47% (a complete lie, utterly laughable).

    Donated goods like furniture are picked through by staff and the rest sold at The Recycle Project. Are donors aware? Where does that cash go? Inquiring minds want to know, but we have a pretty good idea and it isn’t going to help the homeless, that’s for sure.

    DeCarmine himself lives in a house that was donated to the organization to provide living space for homeless people. Instead, DeCarmine purchased it right after $29k in homeless funding was used to fix it up in a deal that a city auditor called a “serious violation” and “breach of public trust”. The house also received a $40k price cut AFTER the repair, and Slick Johnny bought the home with $0 down. Does that sound above board to you? Details here:

    https://alachuachronicle.com/alachua-county-commission-approves-350000-to-fund-grace-street-outreach-team-for-one-year/#comments/42600

    GRACE Marketplace serves as a beacon to criminal homeless all over the country. Unlike legitimate shelters like St. Francis House, GRACE does not require police vetting. This is done intentionally to draw in the most homeless possible from all over the country so that they can secure even more funding. Create the problem, then sell the solution–all while you continue to make the problem worse.

    The number of homeless in our city has not decreased during DeCarmine’s tenure but has skyrocketed to the point that permanent California-style tent cities began popping up all over. Only the exposure of another scam–the city’s misappropriation of GRU funds–finally led to some cleanup as the city sought to divert attention from themselves.

    The ultimate legacy of Jon DeCarmine is a legacy of failure and misery. Tens of millions of dollars wasted, a once-beautiful and peaceful city tainted, countless lives shattered and businesses ruined by the criminal assaults, robberies, and murders committed by DeCarmine’s imported criminals. His fake “non-profit” has siphoned off money from legitimate organizations like St. Francis House and permanently hardened the hearts of citizens against the homeless.

    Why is DeCarmine leaving the gravy train behind? Was he caught doing something else unsavory after spending so long surrounded by the criminal element? We can only speculate. I can only hope that like any good con-man he knows when his mark is tapped out, which means that taxpayer funding is drying up and it’s time to slink out of our city & move on to the next target.

    GRACE Marketplace and any other low/no-barrier shelters are not welcome in our community. Go to California if you want to live surrounded by willfully homeless drug addicts and criminals.

  • Gee, just when he was supposed to start paying on that mortgage that Grace Marketplace gave him for a house that was donated to them to use for homeless people. Instead, he kept the house for himself and made a deal that the didn’t need to make any payments for the first ten years.

    • He will probably sell the house, pay off the small mortgage, and slither away with a nice profit.

  • Maybe now we can get some law and order out there. Let’s start with background checks. This will provide some sort of safety for folks who really need help. I thought this was going to be a ten-year plan. Instead, a magnet for anyone running away from trouble in other states and for released prisoners. I am not totally against this place but should be funded by local churches and charities. Not taxpayer. Which brings me to another point when are Commissioners going to resign. For those Commissioners who vote to fund this place donate your paycheck from your part-time job as Commissioners if you really believe in Grace. You all look like “Queens” when allocating funds.

  • I’m totally disgusted…give no more taxpayer $ to that sh!thole bum magnet Grace mkt…

    Let the churches help their fellow man with their million $ mega churches..

    Give an Uber code to all the vagrants one way to Daytona Beach…

    DeCarmine “king of the bums”….

    “Build it and they will come”

    Double the size of the jail!

  • I will volunteer to be the next CEO for free! I’ll quickly solve homelessness and addiction rates here in no time.
    🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸MAGA

  • When I am elected I intend to nominate Gainesville as a Tier 1 homeless destination. This will immediately put into action the resources to allow the homeless from all over the Southeastern USA to flock to Gainesville. We are talking many thousands of people. They will be living alongside the thousands of migrants that mayor Joe is bringing in. I am sure that the county commission under the leadership of Dr Prizzia will support my plan. Are you with me?

  • It’s not just Jon who is corrupt; I know four people who are or have been employed by Grace, and the operation is quite shady. You should look into the former housing director, who now holds the same position at St. Francis, as well as the current COO at Grace. They’re all engaged in under-the-table deals, especially in real estate.

  • The change is most obvious in downtown Gainesville which used to be homeless central for the city, with the Plaza occupied by them full time. The city and county will now need to provide options, but the new state law means no more sleeping on public property.

    “….he has been instrumental in program growth and development, leading the organization as it moved more than 3,100 people off the streets and into permanent housing. Those housing placements helped drive a 47% reduction in homelessness in Alachua County, with the local homeless population falling from 1,202 when GRACE opened in 2014 to 639 in 2024.>>>”

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