NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Great musicians often embody great empathy. Gina Payne is a perfect example.
“When I think of others, I think of myself and then I imagine what it would be like if someone would reach out to help me,” Payne said.
Payne plays violin and has a band called Step Up Connection LLC. She feels the need to serve others.
“It has always bothered me when people are without without shelter, without basic needs,” Payne said.
In 2018, she was moved to begin a ministry called The Road Less Traveled.
“Homelessness doesn’t care how old you are,” Payne said. “It just robs you of the ability to take care of yourself.”
She packed bags with basic items she said most of us take for granted, including socks, gloves, toothbrushes and other hygiene products.
“So, it started out with just me and now I do have a team of people that are helping me each month,” Payne said.
To date, they have given away more than 2,000 bags and hundreds of meals.
Payne, who is also a school teacher, began the Youth Performing Arts Groups for inner city kids at the Achievable Dream Academy in Newport News in 2000.
“It was great because not only was it great for them to express themselves and their gifts and talents, but it kept them off the street,” Payne said.
She now teaches in Norfolk Public Schools. In 2022, she had a youth orchestra perform for the Donovan Wayne Lynch Foundation.
Lynch was fatally shot by a police officer during a night of violence at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront in 2021. Lynch’s father commissioned the music to help mend broken hearts. Payne was proud to contribute.
“It is very important to make an impact like that and then to have youth be a part of it, too, to know that this is something that you can do,” Payne said.
Whether on the stage, or on the street, the virtue of the violin virtuoso resonates throughout the community.
“If you show a person compassion and you show them that you love them where they are, they have the incentive to do better,” Payne said. “That’s what I believe.”
Payne is one of four local finalists in Nexstar’s Remarkable Women Contest. It is a nationwide initiative to honor the influence that women have had on public policy, social progress and the quality of life, and celebrates local women that inspire, lead and forge the way for other women.
WAVY will announce our local winner April 2, 2024. That woman will receive $1,000 contribution on her behalf to a nonprofit of her choice. That winner is then considered for “Nexstar Woman of the Year.” The Nexstar Charitable Foundation will make a $10,000 contribution on behalf of the “Nexstar Woman of the Year” to the nonprofit organization of her choice.