On Saturday, January 18th, 2025 as part of Indivisible Mandarin's MLK Help Over Hate weekend, IM members participated in a fact-finding meeting with Lydia Bell, President of the Metro Gardens Neighborhood Association. Ms. Bell, a dedicated community leader, is working alongside her neighbors to oppose the construction of a morgue in the Brentwood community—planned without the knowledge or consent of its residents.
Ten advocates, representing Metro Gardens Neighborhood Association/Brentwood 300, Florida Rising, Indivisible Mandarin and JaxNOW, joined Ms. Bell to view the morgue construction site and witness how the building is extremely close to several homes as well as a local school.

At the meeting, Ms. Bell provided a detailed account of how, when construction began:
There were no legally required signs indicating upcoming zoning changes. Although the City claims to have mailed the required notices to Neighborhood Association members, the members insist they never received them.
Both the Association and the City were fully aware that the community would have opposed the zoning changes, given the Association’s longstanding commitment to protecting the neighborhood.
And, once construction was underway, on-site workers were either unable or unwilling to disclose details about the project.
Upon finally learning about the plans, the Neighborhood Association immediately urged the City to repurpose the morgue site into a neighborhood skills center.
The Neighborhood Association's current plan, titled Brentwood 300, aims to rally community support against the morgue project. Ms. Bell outlined a targeted strategy that the Metro Gardens Neighborhood Association will implement to get commitments from at least 300 Jacksonville residents to attend the "Death Does Not Belong Here" march and rally on February 22nd. The goal of the event is to peacefully advocate for repurposing the morgue site into a skills center—a far better alternative that would provide valuable resources and opportunities for local families and residents.