One thing that’s apparent from the way Lacey McGowan has spent her life is her strong desire to help people. Though not a social worker, she has worked in social work, psychology and humanitarian work.
McGowan first arrived in Jacksonville in 2020 to take care of her grandmother, a responsibility she still shares with her sister. She has worked as a rehab case manager for City Rescue Mission and in the anti-sex trafficking space.
“I feel very bent towards social justice [and] wanting to physically be a vessel to help someone from a situation of distress to somewhere that’s been restored in some way,” said McGowan.
A few years into that line of work, McGowan realized that while her passion for helping people had not changed, burnout was depleting her ability to assist those in her care. Seeking a change of pace, she took a job with Clover Farms of Florida in Starke, where she spent two years.
Her responsibilities on the farm included lugging 50-pound buckets of feed, caring for livestock, driving tractors and tending the crops with special care – crops that were non-GMO and used regenerative agriculture. The days were long, hot and physically demanding, but they brought McGowan back to her childhood, much of which was spent outside and working with her family in the yard.
“I enjoyed being outside, getting my hands dirty. It was the reset and the break that I needed,” explained McGowan.
Since her stint at the farm, McGowan has taken courses at FSCJ and has begun a two-year sponsorship with a private investigator. She hopes to obtain her own P.I. license soon and get back into combatting sex crimes, a cause she says has “never quite left her.”
McGowan’s professional life mirrors the importance she places on strong human connections in her personal life. Once a month, she hosts a small circle of friends at her house for a “full moon dinner:” a home-cooked meal that coincides with the appearance of a full moon. Her get-togethers have become a cherished tradition and an opportunity for everyone to put away their phones and have meaningful conversations.
“The intention is for everyone to be able to sit around one table, make eye contact with each other and be present with one another,” said McGowan.
In addition to her full moon dinners, McGowan enjoys a wide range of hobbies and activities. A Disney adult, she’ll never pass up an opportunity to head down to Orlando. McGowan is a former D1 soccer player who enjoys shooting hoops at Fishweir Park with friends and participating in JAX Fray’s bowling and kickball leagues.
You’re also likely to see McGowan on walks around Riverside, where she lives with her sister Holly, dog Boogie, and outdoor cat Oake – named in honor of Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp. Oake follows Boogie, his best friend, all around the block on their walks.
McGowan is partial to several personal traditions: She marks each birthday by eating a corn dog. Saturdays are for getting donuts at Sweet Theory, while lazy Sundays are her day to buy pastry treats from Bakehouse. She also frequents Buchner’s Bierhalle in Murray Hill, where she orders a Guinness and works on a crossword, often with a little help from the bartender.
Though not originally a Duval County native, both her parents grew up in Jacksonville, and she feels a strong connection to the area.
“I can sense that I come from here. There is a sense that I get, and it’s very comforting,” said McGowan.
Driving down Beach Boulevard with the top down on her Jeep on her way to enjoy a beach day – something her mother did often in her youth – McGowan feels especially close to her mom, who is no longer with her.
“It makes me feel like she’s sitting there with me,” said McGowan.
One final thing McGowan’s story conveys is the way she doesn’t stress over the little details, choosing instead to believe things will turn out all right. As a kid, she spent many summers tubing with her family on the Sante Fe River at her grandparents’ house near Live Oak. It wasn’t until she was in college that McGowan learned they weren’t alone in that water.
“Turns out, we were just tubing with gators all our lives. No one told us, and that was probably exactly the right thing to do, because clearly, we were fine,” said McGowan.
In that same spirit, McGowan has chosen to let her life take her where it may rather than stressing, and it is working out well for her.
