JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Joel Pace is the kind of person who sees a need and finds a way to meet it.
For 35 years, Pace has taught music. But outside the piano studio, he is also the founder of Be the Change Northeast Florida, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families, seniors and people experiencing homelessness.
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On his property, volunteers have a nickname for the growing collection of storage buildings: “The Compound.”
Inside, every space has a purpose.
One building stores hygiene items for care bags. Another is filled with clothing for families. A food pantry helps people in crisis. A trailer serves as a mobile clothing closet for homeless outreach.
Pace says people can come get clothing with no questions asked.
No applications. No income requirements. No judgment. Just help.
The nonprofit provides clothing to families, donates items to senior citizens and once a month takes food, hygiene supplies and clothes to people experiencing homelessness in downtown Jacksonville.
Be the Change Northeast Florida also holds yard sales to raise money for the nonprofit. Pace says clothing is never sold — it is always given away for free.
A partnership with Feeding Northeast Florida has helped the organization expand its food outreach, allowing volunteers to regularly pick up food and provide more support to people in need.
Pace still teaches music full time, and many of his students and their families have become volunteers.
For him, music and service are connected.
“You can’t change the world,” Pace said, “but you can change the world for one person.”
Whether he is teaching a student at the piano, loading food into a pantry or helping a family find clothes, Pace says the mission is simple: help people.
For dedicating his time, talent and heart to serving others, Joel Pace is News4JAX’s June Positively JAX winner.