Wilene Dozier – President of the Board of New Town Oasis Marketplace, Inc. Wilene Dozier – Ms. Dozier has been a part of “New Town” for three generations. When her great-grandmother moved here from Georgia, she and her husband bought a house on State St. in the “New Town” area. That house was a shotgun house. Ms. Dozier’s mother was born in that house. Her grandmother married again and they moved to a three-bedroom house with the bathroom on the back porch and it could get very cold back there during the winter.
Wilene even remembers 5th Street before it was paved. She and her cousin used to walk down Kings Rd. past the Drive-in Theater where Campus Towers sits now. There was one grocery store in the area: Daylight Grocers, where Advance Auto Parts sits now on the corner of Myrtle Ave. and Kings Rd..
Ms. Dozier, who is now a Reference Librarian at Edward Waters University, has been a part of the community since the 1960’s, and is in her DNA. When she moved back from California in 2016, she began volunteering at the New Town Success Zone. She taught an Entrepreneurship class, which had in its attendance an average of 60 students. It drew the attention of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Carlton Robinson wrote a grant and included New Town in the grant, specifically the business component.
Ms. Dozier has been on the front lines of bringing fresh produce to New Town for four years. She vowed she would not attend another meeting, but plowed ahead to bring fresh produce daily to New Town.
Several organizations distribute free food to New Town, but it is not daily. The grocers said they would not come into New Town. The citizens of New Town have to do this on their own.
