Fourteen years ago, Sheila Brown-Jefferson was walking along Jacksonville’s Riverwalk when she noticed people sleeping on benches and along the river. Like so many of us, she could have just continued on with her day.
Instead, she started carrying personal hygiene kits with her and handing them out as she walked.
There was no nonprofit behind her then, no staff, office, or organized program. There was simply a woman who saw people in need and decided there was something she could do.
The following year, that simple act of kindness grew into Blessing Others All The Time, Inc. — BOATT, a Jacksonville nonprofit that has now spent more than a decade serving people experiencing homelessness, Veterans, seniors, students, and under-resourced families throughout Duval and surrounding counties.
The organization has grown considerably since those first walks along the Riverwalk, but the idea behind it remains remarkably simple: notice people, preserve their dignity, and help when you can.
When Something Small Means Much More
Over the years, BOATT’s work has taken many forms. The organization provides food, clothing and basic necessities, supports families facing financial hardship, helps students prepare for school, assists people with obtaining important documents, and connects individuals with other community resources.
On paper, some of those things can sound small.
But a backpack can feel very different to a child walking into school without the supplies their classmates have. Groceries delivered during a difficult month can give a family room to pay another bill. Helping someone replace an identification document can remove a barrier standing between them and employment or services.
And for someone living on the street, being offered something useful by a person who first took the time to look them in the eye can mean more than what is inside the bag. That human element runs throughout Sheila’s approach to the work.
Around Mother’s Day, BOATT has filled purses for mothers experiencing homelessness. At Christmas, the organization provides necessities alongside something intended simply to make the recipient feel remembered during the holiday.
These gestures aren’t presented as solutions to homelessness or poverty. They’re acknowledgments of the person experiencing them.
As Sheila explains:
“It is about serving people with love, preserving their dignity, and helping them move forward; one person, one family, and one blessing at a time.”
Before You Walk Past Someone, Look Again
When we asked Sheila what she wished more people understood about the people BOATT serves, her answer wasn’t about the organization at all.
It was about us.
“As you walk past a person who may not look or smell the way you think they should, just give them a smile and ask how they are doing.”
She followed that with an important reminder:
“Those you see on the streets may have been a lawyer, doctor, or a person who made an impact in this community. Treat them like you would want to be treated.”
It’s easy to see someone’s current circumstances and unknowingly make them their entire story. But we don’t know who someone was before we encountered them. We don’t know what happened along the way, what they lost, what they’re carrying today, or what they may still become.
BOATT’s work asks us to remember the person before we see the circumstance.
Sometimes Dignity Looks Like a Backpack
That philosophy extends to Jacksonville’s children and families. Each year, BOATT helps students prepare for school through back-to-school initiatives in the community and directly inside local schools. The organization also supports school food pantries and helps connect families with additional resources when they need them.
For Sheila, helping a child arrive at school with the supplies they need isn’t simply about providing things. It’s about helping that child walk through the door feeling prepared and included, rather than beginning the year already aware of what they don’t have.
The same thinking shapes BOATT’s food assistance. Families don’t become hungry according to the schedule of a food drive, so when resources allow, the organization responds throughout the year — including arranging grocery deliveries directly to families experiencing an immediate need.
It’s practical help, but behind it is something larger: reducing the small barriers that can become very large when resources are limited.
Fourteen Years of Showing Up
Perhaps one of the most remarkable parts of BOATT’s story is how much of it has been built through volunteerism. The organization has no paid staff. Sheila has volunteered throughout its fourteen years, and its board members serve while maintaining full-time jobs of their own. Businesses, schools, churches, volunteers, donors, and community organizations have stepped in along the way to provide space, resources, time, and support.
BOATT also became the first nonprofit to receive the City of Jacksonville’s Jacksonville Small and Emerging Business (JSEB) certification, an accomplishment Sheila is particularly proud of.
But the story she tells isn’t really one of a single person or organization doing extraordinary things. It’s a story about what can happen when enough people decide to do something. That may be the most important part of BOATT’s message.
You don’t have to solve homelessness to treat someone experiencing it with dignity.
You don’t have to eliminate food insecurity to help one family through a difficult week.
And you don’t have to start a nonprofit to make someone’s day a little easier.
Fourteen years ago, Sheila didn’t know where handing out those first hygiene kits would lead.
She simply saw a need and responded.
Where BOATT Hopes to Go Next
Today, Sheila’s vision is increasingly focused on helping people move beyond immediate relief toward greater stability and self-sustainability. That means continuing to meet urgent needs while also connecting people to resources that can help remove the barriers keeping them stuck.
To do more of that, BOATT needs a stronger foundation of its own. The organization is seeking sustainable funding and more people willing to contribute their time, expertise, connections, and resources. It is also looking for committed board members and, eventually, a permanent space from which it can serve the community more consistently.
But perhaps the invitation behind BOATT is broader than any one of those needs.
It’s an invitation to notice.
Why We Wanted You to Meet BOATT
At JAX Business Calendar, we spend a lot of time talking about connections — the people we should meet, the rooms we should enter, and the conversations that can create opportunity.
But a strong community isn’t built only through business connections. It’s also built in the moments when someone who can help encounters someone who needs help — and chooses not to look away.
Fourteen years ago, that happened on Jacksonville’s Riverwalk.
Sheila Brown-Jefferson noticed. She stopped. And BOATT grew from there.
Maybe that’s the part of this story worth carrying with us.
We don’t have to fix every problem we see. But we can notice. We can care. And when there is something within our reach to do, we can choose not to keep walking.
The Ask: How You Can Help BOATT Keep Showing Up
BOATT is currently seeking:
Sustainable funding
Volunteers
Sponsors, community and corporate partners
Committed board members
In-kind goods and professional support
Connections that could help the organization secure a permanent space
There are also two upcoming opportunities to be part of BOATT’s work.
Community Wide Thanksgiving Drive-Up. Saturday, November 14, 2026. BOATT will provide individuals and families with groceries to help them get their Thanksgiving meals started.
Kicks 4 A Cause Sneaker Ball. Saturday, December 5, 2026 at the UNF Adam W. Herbert University Center. Tickets are on sale now — get tickets for Kicks 4 A Cause.
Whether you can give your time, expertise, resources, an introduction, financial support — or simply show up and help more people discover BOATT — there is a place for you in this story.
Connect With BOATT
Blessing Others All The Time, Inc. (BOATT)
Founder / Executive Director: Sheila Brown-Jefferson
Website:
www.boatt.online
Email:
support@boatt.online
Phone:
904-318-2000
LinkedIn: Blessing Others All The Time, Inc. BOATT | Facebook: Blessing Others All The Time | Instagram: @blessingothersallthetime
BOATT does not currently have a permanent public location. Its programs and outreach take place throughout Jacksonville and surrounding communities.
Community Spotlight
Community Spotlight is a JAX Business Calendar storytelling series created to help more people discover the nonprofits, startups, and community builders strengthening Northeast Florida every day.
Our hope is simple: that the right story reaches the right person. The next volunteer. Donor. Board member. Sponsor. Partner. Advocate. Or simply someone who knows someone.
Because sometimes changing a community doesn’t begin with doing something enormous.
It begins with noticing — and choosing not to keep walking.
