Pace In the News

Pace Center for Girls, Alachua has long recognized Juneteenth, but with the addition of the day as a Federal holiday, the Center took the step of creating a day of celebration and learning for staff and students.

In February 2021 Charity Navigator shared a co-authored blog post, our intent to showcase nonprofits and their constituent feedback practices within their Charity Navigator profiles. Today, we are pleased to feature one such organization -- Pace Center for Girls Inc., an Encompass rated organization with an overall 100 out of 100 score, which includes a perfect score of 100 within the Culture & Community beacon where Constituent Feedback resides. Pace has used feedback to change the life trajectories of girls who are likely to have experienced risk factors associated with delinquency and adverse childhood experiences. 

Shrouded by trees at the corner of 26th Street West and 36th Avenue West, the local Pace Center for Girls could easily be overlooked. The 9,000-square-foot school — painted a bluish-gray color — is inconspicuous. But what happens inside that building is far from ordinary, students said. Though all the students range from 11 to 17 years old, and most arrive about two years behind in their education, Pace girls come from diverse backgrounds. Some have a juvenile justice record, some grapple with trauma and some feel uncomfortable at traditional schools with packed hallways and one-size-fits-all classes.

TAMPA, Fla. — During this pandemic, adolescents and teens have had faced some of the toughest times trying to deal with isolation. According to the most recent Mental Health America survey, youth ages 11 to 17 were more likely than any other age group to have moderate to severe depression, anxiety, and even suicide or self-harming thoughts. But, there's a local center that is trying to help, and it's free for any girl 11 to 18-years-old.

Pace Center for Girls (Pace), a nationally-recognized program that provides girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy, received an $85,000 grant from The State Farm Companies Foundation which gives charitable grants to nonprofit initiatives that help build up and meet the needs of their communities.