I’m sharing one of my favorite people today! Rhonda is one of the most genuine and kind people I know! She and her husband run ShowerUp, a ministry to the homeless community! Read more about Rhonda and sign up to volunteer with me! I am seriously Rhonda’s Fan Club President!
Hometown: I was born and raised in Wichita, KS. Went to college at a Christian college in Edmond Oklahoma. Moved to Nashville (Spring Hill) in 2013 for my husbands job.
Favorite Nashville spot: As weird as it sounds Bridgestone Arena lol!! What? It hosts the Preds and I LOVE LOVE Preds games! But if its not the Preds, you can do so much more there! Concerts galore, and other fun things. Its always a happy moment at Bridgestone for me. Plus I am in love with our downtown. The people bustling walking around, visiting, in love with our area. It always makes me happy to be downtown. Always. The live music, the food, its simply amazing.
How did ShowerUp get it’s start?
We had been serving the homeless in Kansas when we lived there so when we moved we immediately plugged in here. We sat with our homeless friends every week. Alot of them have labor jobs and they were always telling us when they would get off work they were so very very dirty and they had no place to shower, They would sleep outside and then get up and work again getting dirtier. We started to research to tell them where they could go and found out there wasn’t really any place. Nashville has a few places but it is less than a dozen and the times are limited. Which we understand but it doesn’t work for everyone. So my husband woke up one day and said we need to start a mobile shower. We started fundraising in November and by December we had enough money to buy a truck. Then we we made an appointment with the Lee Company. When we went to the initial meeting they assured us they could make do what it takes to make it work. But then they said they had something to tell us and called in a few other men. It seems that a week before an executive had come into Lee Company and said..Man I had a dream that we were going to build a shower truck and shower the homeless. Everyone just stopped. We all had tears (or maybe that was just me). Everyone high fived and said lets do this!! Most amazing meeting ever. And they built it from there. Most amazing thing ever. God is so good!!
What is your favorite part of each week at Shower Up?
Honestly goes in two parts. One is the time I sit on the steps visiting with them, finding out how their lives are. Was their week good? How hard was it? Talking to them about their days.They crave someone to talk to. Someone who listens. I also love love the smiles I see on their faces when they get a shower and can put on clean underwear and socks. That is such a treat they don’t get. It truly changes their perspective. ——Part two are the volunteers I get to meet. We get all ages, and we get people who are scared but want to step out of their comfort zone. They want to serve but don’t know how . I say we are a stepping stone into serving, If they want to start off small and just pass out things they sure can, they don’t even have to talk. But they slowly do and they slowly step away from the table. They start to shake hands, to reach out, to talk. They start to be involved and then it CHANGES THEIR HEARTS. Its the most amazing thing to watch. I have seen people shed tears after tears about what God has done in their lives. Couples, men, women and even children.
How can people get involved?
You can sign up to be a volunteer on our website. www.showerup.org. You can show up anytime we are out. We have two days that are for sure and we do several more events that are special. We always post on our Instagram and Facebook. You can show up anytime we are out, we can find a job for you. You can pass out shower kits, towels, socks or underwear. You can also do your own creation. Do you want to bring water to pass out, cookies, or any other treat. Do you want to paint nails, make up? Cut Hair? What is your service or what would you like to do? We leave that very open to peoples skill and their ideas. We also clean the showers after each shower so we always need people who clean showers. We provide everything that someone needs to do all of this. You can also do a drive to collect items for us. We are always in need of things. The community has been so good in providing toiletries and so much more. They have given us everything we need to make this happen! Join the Nashville Mom Group Date on Dec. 9th!
When you’re not helping our homeless neighbors, how do you spend your time?
I am the Director of Store Operations for Hattie Jane’s. I travel between store to store. I get to live in the Ice Cream World and make people smile that way! Who doesn’t like Ice Cream? We also attend Rolling Hills Community and we lead a small group. We do lots of fun things with them, they are like family. We go hiking, lots of dinners and concerts or events around our Nashville Community. We make a list every summer and try to do them all. Then fall we change it to fall events! So fun!
What is a random fact about you?
Well…I love Christmas movies. I mean again..everyone is happy or will be by the end of the movie lol. I am always so busy during the holiday season and I don’t really get to watch them all like I want. So I watch them all year long! If I have time, you will see me watching a Christmas movie. It never loses its appeal to me.
Make sure to follow along with Rhonda and ShowerUp Nashville on Social Media! @showerupnashville
**Join me and my family to serve with ShowerUp on Sunday, December 9th from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in downtown Nashville. RSVP here
