After years at the helm, former CEO of GRACE Marketplace Jon DeCarmine announced his resignation in October 2024, and a search started for a replacement.  

The GRACE Marketplace Board of Directors selected Darius Williams in September, and he started getting busy with an organization that he said he wasn’t well-acquainted with. 

Two months into his role, Mainstreet sat down to discuss his background, the state of GRACE and what might be in store for 2026. 

The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length. 

When did you start working within homeless services and what has that looked like? 

Darius Williams: I began working in homeless services back in 2006. I ran a program up in Ohio. It was a part of a nonprofit community mental health agency, but one of the programs was directly working with the homeless. 

It was a very unique program, and one of the only of its kind at its time in the (United) States. We had a 24/7 care van, and so we worked with the local police department, and they would radio us when they came upon people that didn’t quite meet that “we need to arrest them” (level). It was more mental health or drug and alcohol. Store owners would call and say, “Someone’s been lying here all day. Can someone come and help them?” 

And we would come out, make assessments and then take them wherever they needed to be. Sometimes it was back home. Other times it would be to shelters or day programs to get them off the streets. So, I did that for a few years up there.  

Since 2008, moving back to Florida, what have you been involved with? 

DW: Once I moved back to Florida, I began teaching. I’m a professor also at Rasmussen University. I teach all the behavioral and psychology courses.  

But when I came back, I ran the program for the School of Justice Studies. So, I taught, hired adjuncts, trained—all the administrative parts of running a college program. 

Worked a lot with different agencies, from homelessness to substance abuse, to make connections for my students, internships and things of that nature. 

What drew you to GRACE Marketplace and this position? 

DW: To be honest, I was sitting on my back porch and watching the news, and it came across the news that they were looking for a CEO. And I pondered it for a few days.  

I am the type, even in my directorship programs, I’m hands on. I like working directly with people, and so I thought this would be an opportunity to do that.  

I came out and interviewed and just really fell in love with it. Out here is a mixture of all my experiences. My background is in forensic psychology and behavioral with mental health and substance abuse. Out here, that’s what we have. 

How familiar were you with GRACE prior? 

DW: I had not been familiar. Living over in Williston, I just wasn’t. And so, before my interview, I actually came out here to see what it was and what it was about. I did my research online, as well, but I rode out here to see what it was. 

What stood out to you the most in starting at GRACE? 

DW: The size of GRACE. Most people, when they think of those experiencing homelessness and homelessness shelters, they think of a building, maybe downtown, a fence around it, and you just see people hanging around. And that wasn’t it.  

When I saw it was actually like a campus and a lot of buildings, that was just surprising. And most people that come out, they say the same thing, like, “wow, this is really big.” 

How aware do you think most people are in the community of GRACE, what it does and the size of it?  

DW: I’m finding that it’s kind of a 50/50. I’ve gone to some fundraising events, and people are just like, “Yeah, I see that sign, but I never knew what it was.” 

Then I give them a rundown of all the services, and they’re like, “Wow.” 

And then there are others that they know, and they’re out here, and they’re giving donations.  

I think there is a misconception because people haven’t been out here, and so they assume a lot. But most people, when they see the services that we provide, they’re shocked. 

What has the onboarding process been like? 

DW: The onboarding process for me has been great. The former interim CEO, John Thomas, is great. He stayed probably a month or so. We worked every day, and he had a whole book. It was an onboarding book he had created that had been passed down from Jon DeCarmine. It’s been good. 

Where do you think most of your energy will be spent this coming year?  

DW: Most of my energy right now is observing and then implementing some things. I’m implementing a training program, looking at how we service our guests in terms of advocates, making sure we are visible. 

I am the type of leader that is pretty transparent, but I also like to lead by example. Probably two, three times a day, I’m out on campus. I’m walking around talking to guests, trying to show staff and advocates that that is a way to reduce some of the things that have been going on here at GRACE. From the discord between guests, and then they want to call the police and things like that 

If you’re visible and they feel comfortable with you, then you can be a mediator there. So, my goal is to reduce some of the service calls out here from the Gainesville Police Department.  

I really think that being more visible will help reduce some of that. 

So, 2026 is still a learning, observing year? 

DW: Yeah, learning, observing. We have some projects that are in the forefront coming.  

One being solar. We have a solar company that has been working with us, and they want to put solar out here. So that will really help us in terms of reducing the cost of electricity. It doesn’t cut it out, but it reduces it greatly, and then we can take those funds and use them in other places to help service the guests. 

We’re opening the dorm in January that we’ve remodeled. From my understanding, that has been a process. I think a year or two, they’ve been working on it, but it’s finally coming to fruition.  

We are still deciding what we’re going to do, but we’re looking at possibly a sober living dorm or an elderly dorm because our elderly population is much higher than what most people would think. A lot of fragile older people, so we’ve been thinking about separating them.  

But we’re really waiting on, with the new administration, the new NOFO, which is Notice of Funding Opportunity.  

It’s all changed. There are different requirements, so we’re just kind of waiting to see, to make sure we’re in line with what the expectation is of the new administration. 

How impactful will HUD financing be in the coming year and years with some of the changes? 

DW: The NOFO came out and then they just rescinded it because they have probably changed some language or whatever, but from what we saw, it’s workable for us. We already do a lot of things that they’re asking for. 

They ask for things like “your agency must work closely with local police.” We have monthly meetings; we have reports back and forth. I’ve met with the chief and Major Kurnick. That’s something that we do. They gladly gave us a letter of support, so things like that, I think we’re going to be okay.  

We are the largest homeless agency between Jacksonville and Orlando. So, we’re trying to set the standard and how to service people. 

What’s one takeaway for community residents to remember, whether about you, GRACE or the work being done? 

DW: One takeaway, I would say, is to just remember that it takes a village. The things that we do, please don’t assume. Come out and see. I think within the community, there’s a lot of misconceptions. So, the takeaway is to get on our website, see what we do and come out and see me so I can give you a tour. 

What’s the easiest way for people to come out? 

DW: I mean you can come out and you can just show up at the front door. Or you can call our community person, yeah, so Anyelo (anyelo@gracemarketplace.org). He is our volunteer community coordinator and he can set up tours.