Jantrice Johnson Grew a Backpack Drive Into We Give

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Welcome to You Matter Nashville, where we celebrate the people and stories that make our community so special. We believe that everyone has a story to tell, and more importantly, everyone here matters.

We're your host, Jason and Mindy Hoover, and we're passionate about shining a light on individuals who are making a real impact right here in Middle Tennessee. This is about community, connection, and the incredible people who are making a difference.

Let's dive in as we uncover powerful stories and meet remarkable people whose journeys will inspire us all, right here on You Matter Nashville.

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Welcome back to You Matter Nashville. I'm Jason and I'm joined with my lovely wife, Mindy. And today we're really excited to share a story that embodies what this show is all about. Serving others with compassion, dignity, and purpose. Our guest today is Jan Treese Johnson. She is the founder of We Give. Now Jan Treese is also a local realtor based in Murfreesboro whose passion for community turns simple back-to-back supply drive into a powerful nonprofit that has now served

more than 10,000 children and families across Middle Tennessee. Since 2014, We Give has supported students and families experiencing poverty and homelessness, by providing school supplies, winter clothing, haircuts, hygiene items, and most recently through their Warm Wishes store, which is a free pop-up shopping experience where families can choose essential items at no cost, all while being treated with dignity and care. Jen Trees, welcome to the show. We're so glad that you're here.

Thank you, Jason and Mindy. Thank you.

Oh, Jen and Trace, before we get into this incredible work that you're doing, I would love for you to take us back to the beginning when you saw the need and how you just started all of this.

It actually started before I moved to Murfreesboro. I was a teacher in Nashville and I worked in the inner city school in East Nashville. And this was East Nashville before East Nashville now, right? This is the Gallatin Road, Mrs. Winters, the chicken biscuit Gallatin Road.

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What was trendy, right?

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Yes!

And so I taught at East Nashville and I always as a teacher, always knew that it was a gap between actually the learning part and what the kids came to school with. And so when I decided to move to Nashville and join in into real estate with my mom and sister, I knew that there was an area that I still wanted to be in and that was the part of being a part of giving back.

to students and teachers who are always a step behind in supplies. So that's how I started. I got with a group from my church. It was probably about six of us. And I said, hey, I think this year we can give away a couple of hundred of backpacks. And they were like, yeah, we can do it. And so that year we did. And then if you know anything about me.

We can start here, but I'm always going to push myself to go more. So then the next year I'm saying, y'all, think that we can actually turn this into a weekend. And they're like, Hey, we did, we did a couple hundred, you know, we did a couple hundred. What's the weekend look like? And I'm saying, Hey, I don't think these families just need supplies. I think they need a support of a whole VIP experience. So it started with a hundred backpacks.

And then now we have a full weekend to where it's a VIP experience to where not only do we give away backpacks, but we give haircuts. We get food for the week, we get food for the day. And like you said in the introduction, we have a Warm Wishes pop-up store. So now we support the families pretty much throughout the school year. I just believe that families who are already experienced.

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experiencing some things financially should not feel a struggle during the school year. And that's why we, that's why I decided to start WeGit.

That's amazing. You know, we had discussed, we both started out as teachers. Yes. And found our way into real estate and joined our family. He was already in real estate. Yes. But you carried on the need. And I love that. You know, I started love the dress because of a need. I saw girls that were in the impoverished level that were not able to go to prom and things like that because they didn't have the money. The family didn't have the money.

started off small, like 100 dresses for one year, and now we have like 4,500. It's like you just keep dreaming bigger and bigger and bigger. Yeah, it starts small. And you're like, I can do this better. I can have hairdressers come. I can have makeup artists come. And you just keep on until you're like, like you said, this VIP boutique experience. And because I think when it comes down to it, you just want them to feel special. You want them to leave feeling elevated that

All these people care for me. Look how good I look going back to school. I mean, it's a confidence builder. It's not just, oh, I get to go and get my backpack off the freight truck, you know, that, you know, they have pre-packed for me. You're really making them feel special. And that's just a whole new level.

So you have this every weekend, is that right?

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No, so we have it the weekend before school starts. And then we also have a couple of days before Christmas, the Warm Wishes event.

very nice.

I on that a little bit.

So we just had it in December. we had the Warm Wishes event was from the 19th through the 23rd. And it really is a store that parents can come into. They can shop for Christmas gifts. They can shop for coats, hygiene items, warm essentials, and they can literally shop in a grocery store.

And that's pretty much all it is, is to make sure that during the time that the kids are out of school, that they are taken care of. And you have to see it for yourself. We served over 1,600 people.

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Stop, that's amazing. That is amazing.

You walk in, you're greeted by our greeters. are, you're asked, hey, what hygiene items do you need? You get a hygiene bag of the toothbrush, the deodorant, the toothpaste, everything that you can, the travel, toiletry items. Then you can shop at the toy store because I think every kid deserves gifts during the Christmas season. And then you go from there and the kids can drive.

can try on coats and then they can get the hat, the glove and the scars because I think everybody deserves warm essentials. Then they leave it there and my favorite part is the grocery store. And I'm talking about, and I'm not talking about the canned good stuff. I'm talking about we had steaks, we had oxtails, we had chicken, we had hamburger meat.

And you can leave with these items. Like we had volunteers that had to go help the people to their cars. That's how many items from the grocery store. You know anything about groceries now, they're expensive. So the warm wishes store is literally just a store that people can go into for free. Feel like they are loved and cared about.

wow. That's

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It just gives them a little bit of hope during the holiday season. And we do that for five days. Volunteers come and it literally is set up like a store and we just welcome you in and it's free.

You know, one thing that you mentioned that I love is the fact that they get toys, right? The kids that get toys, we all too often go to the essentials, what we think everybody needs. And they do, you know, the food, the shelter, water, all of the stuff. But for a kid that's in school and that does not receive a gift, that I think is just as important because of their mental health.

Yeah. They're seeing all these other kids talk about what they get. And yes, it's material, but that material feeds the soul too, as far as a gift is not really the inanimate object. It is what the kid feels inside. So I love that you don't ignore that, that you let them pick out toys as well. That's just...

Yes, mean, they're kids and I think Mindy, you can understand this as being a former teacher. sometimes as teachers and sometimes parents, we put them in those adult situations. They're kids. And I think sometimes we have to see that from their perspective. They're kids. They enjoy toys. Their other peers will be receiving toys, nice toys.

And, and that's one thing that my group will tell you that I am very particular about. People will say, Hey, we have these used items that we would like to give. I have nothing against used items, but we do new toys. do new coats because they're already in this financial strain. I feel like they deserve the best.

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Good.

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Yeah. They're already being compared.

Yes, it's no other like in the summertime when we do the shoe store. We so are back to school bash is not just backpacks we do a free shoe store where kids come on it come in and try on new pairs of shoes new pairs of shoes because it's nothing like a new pairs of shoes. And so it's not the like a new toy and so I'm very I like to say that.

I want the kid and the parent to experience that feeling of going into a store. Yes. And getting feeling in what we do as well.

Yeah, I love that. I know with our with our boutique, we give away the dresses. Everyone dresses up like all the attendants that help out. They're all wearing solid black with a little lanyard. Like they look like they're working like in Dillards or whatever, because we want the kids to feel like they're walking in. Yes, that they're walking into an experience and they feel special. And they're not just like an afterthought of, oh, just go pick out whatever. Now they feel like, oh, wow, like I'm walking into an actual shoe store and

Purchasing something, you know, but I'm not. I just want to kind of go back to, you know, like your teacher days and what a lot of people don't understand that so many of us teachers, I'll probably say the majority of us teachers had a closet in their room where they had deodorant, they had female hygiene products, they had deodorants, they had all this stuff and

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No.

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If a kid came up and said, hey, I don't have this, you literally had a place in your classroom where you go get something. You know, I had some kids that were right above the poverty line and their parents didn't have money to give them lunch money because they didn't qualify for free lunch. And they were kind of caught in that in between. And their bill was too high in the lunch room already. And I'm like, just go get a can of soup. I had some microwave soup in there and they go grab it. But I mean,

I don't think people know that so many teachers do this on a small level and they shouldn't have to, but they do because there's not enough programs like this that are bridging the gap that are like, here's some hygiene products. Here is, you know, the shampoo, you know, that doesn't come off of, you know, EBT, you know, you can't go buy all those things. And so a lot of times the kids just go without, unless they have programs like this facilitating it.

And those items get expensive. for even for those families who may not be in that struggle, those items are expensive. So even after our first year, I thought about Mindy, those teachers who do that. that comes out of their own. So we open up a teacher store just for teachers to come in to shop for their classroom for free, because I understood how much

Yes.

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into my classroom, but how much money went into my students. So we wanted to even help, hey, if you're gonna decorate your classroom, if you're gonna give the classroom supplies, what if we gave, what if we just helped with the supplies and the classroom decorations? So we have a teacher store that opens for three days in the summertime. The three days right before school starts, it's free.

to help those teachers who have a heart of service that say, hey, majority of my check goes right back into the classroom. And that's important because it is a gap. Because you are serving the kids. And my thing is, hey, teachers need just as much as support.

And love.

Yeah. Sorry, did I? Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, in love, but you know, and they're poor to begin with. I mean, you're not making any money as a teacher and then you're putting money back into your classroom with decorations and supplies and all this other stuff. So yeah, I mean, they're literally pouring themselves out.

You know, the pay difference, being a teacher, that's a dedication from the heart. I was in corporate at the time and with Lowe's, Home Depot, doing all of this, I saw her work nonstop. She would come home, grading papers. And I kid you not, she would fall asleep on the couch.

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with papers in her lap and I'd have to come wake her up to go to bed. I even threatened her. I was just going to get the marker, give everybody an A, just get her to.

Yeah, like I thought AP I can't do that

But the thing is, it's something that most people don't understand about teaching. It does it. does not turn off. your emotional piece of it. You see those kids every day. You get to know those kids.

It doesn't turn off.

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and know what they know, know what their whole lives are like. And you are that daytime just extension to the world.

I was a teacher and coach. So not only was daytime, I was nighttime. You have to understand, I was there early in the morning and sometimes at eight, nine o'clock at night. So that service is.

Yeah.

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And when you have that coaching side, you get another side to them too. You know, I was a music director, so I did the musicals and the practices after school, and like you said, until like late at night. And when you have that extra piece and you're there where you feel like 18 hours a day, sometimes you are.

I was a bachelor during those.

Yeah, during those years. But it's like, you really get to know these kids and sometimes it's overwhelming.

It is. But I think it also, and I know you can speak to this Mindy, it helps your service and your nonprofit. It helps every family that comes in, you understand it completely because you're on the other side. So I know even the people that help me volunteer, when they see me,

yeah.

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Exactly.

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on 10 are giving everything I have. I'm like, hey, I've been on the other side of this. This is the least that I can do. This is the least of the service that I can do because I've been on the other side. And understand what goes on.

Mm-hmm.

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And if you've never been at that point, you really don't get it. know, Mindy and I, when we first started out, you know, wasn't just the jobs that we had, but there were some other instances, other things in our life that happened that, you know, we were, we were pretty broke. And I mean, at one point we were needing government help. I mean,

Yeah.

And so, and I think I shared this story on one of the podcasts, I'll give the short version, but we were, you know, just essentials. We were looking for soap at Walmart. the soap that I wanted was 32 cents more, but our budget was so tight that I gave that up for 32 cents.

tight.

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Isn't that crazy? mean, to think back at that, you know, now, you know, that we've altered our, I guess you say our paths, we changed our, our trajectory in life. And, but it was an uphill built battle for a long, long time. And so being on the receiving end, like you said, or being a teacher or whatever, it just puts things in perspective that, because a lot of people look and go,

Well, it's their fault. They can just go get a job. know, while lot of these, most of these people do have jobs, you know, they just, they still can't afford it because it's just that expensive to live in the U S now. You can't afford everything, you know, that you want.

Speaking of, did you see the report that came out the other day about the cost of childcare?

it was disgusting.

Yes. my goodness. said what 15,000 for Williamson County.

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15,000. People are not having children because they have to work and they can't afford childcare.

And when you all talk about that, my husband and I say all the time when we first got married, we were one emergency away. Yes. Just one emergency away from being like some of these f****s. When we first got married, it was the same for us. We're in two totally different careers now, but when we got married, teacher, coach, and he was in a different career. Yeah. One emergency away.

we could have been in that situation. now when I see families, I'm like, I get it. Because that one emergency, you're saying with budgeting, that budget was, it was.

Push to the next time. Push to the next week. Yeah.

This next week and we tell our girls all the time this the life that you all live now was not the life that mom and dad live when when we first got together when we didn't have furniture when we have to budget out and saying hey next month we will get next month we'll get the couch next month we'll get the chair right so we're not we were blessed with a village who

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We had one couch.

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who blessed us with the fridge, who blessed us with the washer and dryer. It's little things like that, that now that we give so freely because we understand, hey, one emergency had us there.

Yeah, right. That was kind of what, you know, with our daughter, she had medical problems. And then that one emergency you talk about, yeah, it happened. She had cancer. And so if you know how much that stuff costs, just even the aftercare, she had to have what, two MRIs every three months, right?

But she had to have a once a month from low. Yeah. Once a month for a while. Cause it was very aggressive.

And each eat one just one of those two was over $5,000

It's insane because it was a two and a half hour MRI that they had to do. And it was just insane. so, you know, it's they say to have what six months saved and we just laugh. We still laugh about that. Like six months saved up. That's good for you all. But I mean, the majority of the US has less than two months.

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yeah, I wouldn't even say a month, but yeah.

The majority of the US has, yeah, they don't have the storehouses they need for an emergency.

That's why people like you are so imperative in the lives of others. And, you know, I just, love people like you.

Now, how do people find you? Do you work with schools to get lists? How do you get the word out about your programming? How do you reach everybody you need to reach?

you

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So we work closely with the school systems. are, we work with the Atlas and the McKinney programs. So we work with the directors. We have a close relationship with the directors. I just got off the phone with one of the directors laughing when I see their name on my cell number. I know they're asking me something, right? And so the school, the school systems, you have to think about this. Who do they call when a teacher is in a financial struggle?

They don't have anyone to So we are that we are the group that fills in that gap. And people ask all the time what happens. They call us with a need. And recently the need was a teacher. A teacher was in a financial struggle. And literally what happens is we talk to the teacher. I send out a group message and sometimes there's through group me, sometimes it's through our group message system.

and I wait to see who gives. And that literally is where the name came from is because I have groups of people being in real estate. have lenders, I have the association, I have our church, I have my friends. Now my friends don't even know why I'm calling. Am I calling because I need shoes for child or am I calling because I need a friendship question, right?

A real estate.

little cyber-laden.

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And so it is really who's going to take this request. And so we work with the school system through that, but we have a website we give tn.org. And that's how you can see some of our things that we've done, but we work closely with the groups right now.

With the Atlas and McKinney-Vento students, we are probably on the list of helping.

It's probably about 3,000 students we helped throughout.

Now what districts do you work with?

We have connections with Rutherford County and Murfreesboro City Schools, but we accept phone calls from the surrounding counties. Like the 1600 individuals that we helped with the warm wishes, some people came all the way from the other side of Nashville.

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Okay.

So we still help the surrounding counties, but the majority of our people come from Rutherford County and Murfreesboro City Schools. And through that, McKinney, Bento and Atlas is over 3,000 students. And that's not including, we don't stop with students, we help their families. So you have to think one student may come with three or four individuals.

Okay.

And so do you work with K through 12 then? Okay.

Yes.

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So we talked a lot about you being a teacher. How has being a realtor helped you or supported your work in the community? I know you mentioned something about lenders and different vendors, but dive in a little bit on that for me.

work with.

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just truly believe if you are a realtor or work in the community space, because that's what I feel like a real estate agent is, you are a community leader. I just feel like there should be a gift back area. I don't want my service just to be in helping buyers and sellers. I want my service to be in the community.

So, you know, people ask me all the time, hey, what do you do? I serve the community. I happen to serve the community in buying, selling homes, but I also help those who are dealing in the fact that they may not have a home. Right. So it doesn't stop with just because they're, I'm helping people with buying and selling homes. I also want to help those who may not have a home. Right. Because that is

calling as well. have a calling on my life and it just doesn't stop on the, is what makes me money. It have a calling on my life to give back in that area as well. So it has helped me because we have the association here, here, MTAR. They have fully committed to the calls. The, my volunteers are from the association. I love that.

They work hard. They know when they see me. Like I said, is it about real estate or is it about we give? You never know with me. But I've been blessed that, you know, when I walk into a room, it's either one of those two things. It's about a house or someone dealing with an issue with the house. it's one of those two things. the association and the group of lenders that our team, the Smothering Pros, that we work with.

And our clients, know that what we do in the real estate space, we give back to this cause.

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So what I was going to say is that you definitely practice what you preach so much so that you were given a pretty big award here recently. Do you mind sharing what that was?

Yes, I was recognized by the National Association of Realtors, NAR.

Which is nationwide for those that don't know.

Nationwide Top 10 in their Good Neighbor Award. That experience was just, it was just awesome. The last part was in Houston and that was literally a red carpet experience.

Wow.

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And everything was red carpet experience. My husband and my mom and dad got to experience the, um, the banquet and, and all that. And the video was great. But the fact that I was able to talk about the families that often go unseen and unheard on the news and in the paper and online.

That experience was great. It was great.

I bet it was. Now you said it ended in in Dallas or Houston? Houston. Houston.

Yes, at the national conference, that last part was the banquet. It was actually a movie premiere.

Okay. I like this. And back to your website, I pulled it up here, wegettn.org. you know, looked at it earlier and I watched your video on here. Great video, by the way. I love the website. It's very easy to manage. But for those that are interested, I you do have the way to donate and find out more information. And on here, as just for listeners,

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It's an even showdown here where your donation goes back to school, holiday giving, teacher support, and vulnerable family support. So if you're listening and you're interested, please check out the website for more information on that.

And our email is on there. even if you have questions about what's coming up in the ways you can give, you can always email us through the site as well.

Yeah, there's volunteer opportunities throughout the year, Yes. Even though you have different types of events.

Well, moving forward with we give, what are your goals? Your next, you know, we're always told to have vision boards and have your five tenure goals in mind. How big and how, guess, incredible are you wanting to make this thing? Are you wanting just to keep going with what you're going? Are you gonna be diving into different ventures in this and expanding?

So we are in a transition year. For the last seven or eight years, we've been known as the Back to School Bash, giving away backpacks, plus things. We are transitioning to now where the Back to School Bash will be a store for a shoe store, a shoe and a central store.

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Okay.

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So we will no longer be the, we've noticed that groups have been giving away backpacks, but shoes and essentials for a back to school, like the haircuts and the food. And I'm a sickler on hygiene, making sure that all kids have the deodorant and the toothpaste and all that. we are, instead of the bash, we will be opening up a store.

We're transitioning into becoming official shoe store, shoe and essentials store this year. And so that's a big thing because we want people to come in and shop for free. And kids can come in to try on shoes in their size, get essentials, and we don't stop where it's just for the kids. We support the parents in making sure they're signed up for all the services.

that can help them locally. So we wanna make sure when they come in, that they can get shoes, that they can get haircuts, they can get food for the day. We actually have cooks that come in and cook food for the day and food for the week, but also make sure that the services that are available in our county are all there, all in one. So when you come in, all of your essentials are taken care of before the school year. So that is a big thing that we're...

We will actually have a meeting in a couple of weeks to start planning for August because our goal is to collect in between 3,000 and 5,000 pairs of shoes. That's a big undertaking.

It is a huge undertaking.

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And the reason why we're doing this, because every kid that comes in, we treat it like a shoe store. We size them, like we have sizers. We give them a fresh pair of socks. We want to take them through, hey, do you like this color of Nikes? Do you like this color of Reeboks? You try on the shoes. We want to make sure that they have a nice pair of shoes. So our goal is to make sure we have sizes, shoes in all different types of sizes. So we're coming away from the backpacks.

We want to fulfill all the other needs that a lot of the other organizations are not, because it's a lot of backpack drive. We want to make sure that all the other things, yes, they can get their eyes checked, they can get a physical. We want to make sure that all the other items are taken care of. And so we are growing and we will continue to grow the Warm Wishes store.

Fill in the gap.

speaker-2 (33:47.246)

That was just a huge success this year. It will grow into bigger. So we are starting the collection of even our warm essentials even now because some of those things as it gets warmer in March and coming up in March and April, we'll start doing the collection of some of warm essentials because coats will go on sale. So this year is our transition as we grow into some of those things.

but one of our biggest needs is storage. if I receive a call today and someone has a hundred pairs of shoes, right now my family is looking at me because I'm telling my husband, we got to store it at the house, right? Our extra bedroom is always filled with coats and hats.

All that because I don't want to turn it away. But right now our biggest thing is so it's a transition. So that's how big we are turning. We need storage space. But we're collecting items to give to more people because as you said, the word is getting out. The national attention held, but we are serving more families, not just in Rutherford County, but the surrounding counties.

Okay, and while a of people take for granted is, you know, having transportation and going to all these different places for their kids to go into the eye, getting the eyes checked and going to get all the supplies and all those different services, having that all in one place, they can get it all checked in one place is really huge for them. So I'd love that too.

but you're always trying to stay on top of storage. So that's definitely a little bit of a hurdle that you have to face.

speaker-1 (35:41.494)

Yeah. I know I called for years until finally a storage facility said that we could have space for a huge reduction. And because when you're throwing away hundreds of dollars a month in storage, I mean, it's money that you could be servicing children. It's all people are like, just go get a building or a storage facility. I'm like, yeah, throw away six, seven hundred bucks. Like, no.

Yeah. Yeah.

I don't want to do that.

Storage is expensive. Talking about the hurdles, a lot of our listeners are nonprofit owners or actively involved. And there's always hurdles. There's always things that come up and you have to find ways around it. I'm sure in your years, have you had an issue like that?

It was very expensive.

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that kind of, I don't want to say blindsided you, made you have to kind of stop and think and find a way around it.

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I every year, I'm blindsided by issue. I think every year, here's the thing, and Mindy, I'm always going back to this. I think every year I'm blindsided by an issue, but as a teacher, it happened every day. Every period, something happened and I had to think quick on my toes, right? And so for me, it's like,

Died.

speaker-1 (37:16.152)

Yeah.

speaker-2 (37:24.172)

this is the thing that happened this year, but as a teacher, it was something every period, right? From first period to second period, something was going to happen that I had to.

mini crisis somewhere, especially in those teenage babies, something was happening.

I have 60 seconds to figure it out before it's a fight, right? And so the big things that happen, so there are some hurdles we're coming up on. We came up on the issue that we needed space for the event that we had to figure out. And we were blessed that Patterson Community Center here in Murfreesboro gave us a space that we didn't have to pay for, right? That was the biggest thing is like, if I spend money on this,

Then little Johnny doesn't get a pair of shoes. I have to spend money on the space where all these families are going to come. Right. So every year it's a hurdle. And I'm in the eight and nine years that we've done this. It hasn't been a hurdle that we have not jumped over. It has here. Not as the night before a couple of years ago, I literally was hooked up to a, a, a IV.

Hmm.

speaker-2 (38:38.798)

because I was so sick the night before the event and I got dehydrated. That is the year that we probably had the most volunteers show up the next day. And so every time it happens that I think, here's another hurdle, I'm physically not well. That next day we had over 200 volunteers to help fill in the gap where

I could come in and then leave. And so every year it happens that the hurdles happen, but seeing the faces, getting the hugs, seeing the thank yous, it makes it all worth it. And are there some days where I look, you have to think I have two girls, they're growing up. When I started this, my girls were young and they could just hold my hand and go with me.

Now I have two teenage girls who now I have to juggle this and their volleyball schedule. We're in travel volleyball. They require a lot more mom attention. Now I have to, I got to pay attention to these teenage stories. Cause now I'm like, okay, this is a clue to this and this means that. So now it's.

Now I have to balance a little bit more. That is a hurdle for me now. So little things are coming up and I'm just seeing God providing more help for me, more volunteers, more resources, even when I think, my goodness, we're not going to be able to make it. And then the next day it happens.

You know, we talked a little bit before we started, but in it being a teacher and then becoming a realtor having a nonprofit do know those things. I mean, it's yeah. And a mom, it's a lot. It's a lot, you know, and we always show around people in the industry always joke around and say, former teachers make great realtors and.

speaker-0 (40:33.582)

out.

speaker-1 (40:45.634)

And I know it's because we're used to juggling and it happened to shift gears so quickly. Like you said, you have 60 seconds to make that, you know, to fix that problem or to get it going or keep kids out of a fight. And, you know, you go into real estate and a lot of that happens too, right? Like things come up in a deal and you're always trying to put out fires. And I think that's why we do so well, transferring from one to the other. But which was harder?

being a realtor or being a teacher.

speaker-2 (41:18.964)

Being a teacher hands down, I think when you go through that list of teaching, being a realtor, nonprofit work, and a mom of teenagers, my real estate work is probably the easiest work that I do.

Exactly, you know, even though in real estate you wake up every day and you have to find work, right? Like it's not given to you. You got to go find that.

If I look at my roles, that is probably the easiest thing that I've

And it's still hard!

It's not the easiest. It takes a special person to do the real estate work. Yes. Because I still feel like the real estate work is a calling. Yes. It is not something that you can just say, hey, I'm in it for this because it will quickly eat you up. I've been blessed that I'm on a team with my mom who's been in a business for over 35 years. So even when I wasn't in the business,

speaker-0 (42:17.774)

not for the faint of heart.

speaker-2 (42:28.354)

I was in the business. So I came in the business already knowing some things from when I was younger that I just knew about the business. So when I look at my roles, being a teenage mom is not for the weak. Being a teacher, I think the hardest one was being the teacher and coach because quick, you have to deal with a lot of things. But I think it prepared me for the season that I'm in.

100 % 100 % you know and when you love people and you have a nonprofit and you're pouring into them you're naturally going to do that into your business because you I mean you work for families because you want to find them a home not yours it's not working to get the next transaction like you're really trying to connect with those people and find a place that they can raise their family or they can retire or whatever the situation is and then

There are a lot of really great realtors out there that are doing the same thing, but as in all businesses, we're not all built the same.

I looked at this stat up here from the US Census Bureau and it's still surprising to find that it says nearly one in five children in the US live in poverty. One in five, 20 % of the kids in America, in America, live in poverty.

Yes.

speaker-1 (43:59.342)

I it. I worked in a Title I where 90 % of the children were in poverty. That was in Texas. And then, and I've taught here in Centennial in Williamson County, where a huge percentage of the children in Centennial High School are below the poverty line.

We live in Texas for a little bit.

speaker-1 (44:26.574)

And people don't believe that. They're like, what? You're in Williamson County? Yes. And, you know, and it's just staggering to see the statistics, you know, in the metro area and in Rutherford County of how many people are below the poverty line and showing up and trying to learn. And, you know, teachers do their best to like bridge the gap that those kids in poverty are getting the same level of comprehension as the kids who, you know,

here.

speaker-1 (44:56.462)

may have both parents at home at night helping them with their homework. You know, a lot of times the kids on the poverty side, their parents are going to their second job.

Mm-hmm.

and they don't have somebody to help them with their homework. I mean, the gap is real in that one in five. Most definitely. So however we can do to support them in the daily things is huge. Put them on the same playing field, playing field as much as possible.

And it not only helps them in that moment or even in that, you know, that month, that year, it's a ripple effect. Yeah. Because it is, it's going to impact them for the rest of their life. It's going to change how they perceive. It's going to change their whole paradigm. another thing on here, was saying studies show that stable housing dramatically improves children's school attendance.

and academic outcomes. Kids without secure homes are absent more and fall behind socially and academically. So you're seeing a, you know, someone who is, or a kid that's experiencing that now, you're seeing this whole path laid out in front of them. Now we do have free will, but there's still, you know, there's still a major, major challenges and

speaker-1 (46:17.997)

Yeah.

speaker-0 (46:27.534)

You know, people like you that are helping, I mean, you're literally impacting their future. You're not just putting new shoes on their feet. You're giving them an opportunity to a whole different life.

this confidence comes in and feeling that they're accepted. And it starts on the playground. We all know this. If you don't feel like you are accepted by your peers, I mean, every day it's a struggle. Like I'm not good enough to have friends. I'm not good enough to do my schoolwork. I'm not smart enough. It's just, you know, a lot of things that start to stack against you. So.

I I'm going to tell you, the stable, not even the stable, the stable housing. We have a prime example in our home. Our youngest is adopted and she came into our home when she was six and she's about to be 13 this year. And from six until about 10, 10 or 11, she struggled academically.

and around 10 or 11 is when we officially adopted her. That's how long it took. That's how long she was a part of the system. Right. So she struggled academically from six 11 now stable housing, but she wasn't fully adopted from the time that she's been adopted to now academically and confidence. Totally different child.

Identity.

speaker-0 (48:00.383)

I believe it.

As a teacher, I knew that, right? But seeing it live, it is mind blowing, the confidence. even the year that we adopted her, we decided, hey, we're going to put her in the same grade. And that teacher decided I want her in the same class. The teacher emailed me and said, I don't even know who this student is, right?

you

And so that housing stability, I don't think people realize how important that is. You all have the words written behind you. The fact that you know that you matter changes your whole scope of your life. It changes, it changes where you go. It changes where you're, it changes your future. It changes everything. So I,

That is a passion of mine to show people, hey, one kind deed, one thing of service, one thing that you're giving up, it can change someone's life and it matters. It definitely matters and it can change someone's life.

speaker-0 (49:22.978)

Yes, it does. more than we will ever know. You are going to be such an influence in so many people's lives that you've never even met because of what you're doing for the kids right now. And that's just, that gets me chills just even thinking about it. I do too. I can see it in you. You definitely do have a passion.

Yeah.

speaker-1 (49:44.814)

love your passion.

speaker-0 (49:51.31)

You know, speaking of story, I mean, I'm kind of putting you on the spot here. I has there been a story that just kind of has just set with you and like really resonated with you over the years when doing this or while doing this?

I think it's so me.

Yeah, it's kind of on the spot, but.

No, it's, I think it was the shoes store, the pop-up shoe store we had a couple years ago with Jeffrey Simmons. Yes. With the tights. We had a pop-up shoe store where we partnered with him, where we were able to give away shoes to an entire school here in Murfreesboro. It was, they, the principal invited the school to a Christmas party.

Nobody knew, but we transformed their school from the time they got out of school to the time the Christmas party. We transfer, we transformed the whole school into a winter wonderland. Wow. And Jeffrey Simmons was there and they didn't know that we had collected their shoe sizes and they got free pairs of shoes. Right? Yes. They, they got pictures with Santa. They got pizza, they got chocolate and a visit from Jeffrey Simmons and free shoes.

speaker-2 (51:11.866)

They were like, well, just thought we were coming to a school Christmas party. And so you had a grandmother who comes up to me and she says, they tell me that you were the one that was over this. She comes with tears in her eyes and she says, do you know that I have six kids that I am the guardian for?

I was coming because this gave me a chance of a night off that my kids, that my green kids could have fun. She said, do you know what this did for me? And so she, she, she holds my hand. know how older people are. She holds my hand and it's a, it's like a crumbled up $5 bill. She said, this is all I have. She says, but I don't think you realize that I was, I was never going to be able to buy all of the kids shoes.

She said, and here I am thinking I'm just coming to a Christmas party and all of my kids were able to receive shoes. that is why I do what I do. Right? So it's, it's stories like that. Like we, we have a certain registration. So when you come in, you are greeted with a smile. And so you just don't come into our events.

You are coming in and greeted with a smile and a hug to let you know that you care. And so we have lines for our events. And so you have a, a mom of, think she had four boys who went through the line twice just to come and give me.

wow, no way, that's amazing.

speaker-2 (52:57.742)

Right? And so it's those things that people say, why do you do what you do? Those stories, the crumpled up, the crumpled up $5 bill. mom of four boys who says, do you know how much it would have cost me to get not only, says, not, I'm not talking about the shoes. I'm not talking about the backpacks. All those things were important. She says to get four haircuts.

Yes.

which have now gone through the roof.

Because they've had two years, they keep increasing risk.

I know.

speaker-2 (53:37.742)

$20, $25 per cut. Right? And so it's those stories that keep me going. And people say, hey, you give up a lot of time. I do. Because as I tell my husband, I could give all this up. Right? But it's those stories. I'm like, this is why I do. This is it. These are the late nights that we're looking

Yeah.

speaker-2 (54:06.484)

They're like, we could be on the beach.

But I tell people all the time, when at my funeral, I want someone to stand up and say, did gentry have an impact on your life? I want 90 % of the people to stand up and say yes. And the 10 % who don't stand up, maybe they just didn't hear the question.

You're like, come on.

Or maybe they were just shy, you know?

Yes, that is the goal of my life that I just want to have an impact.

speaker-0 (54:51.534)

Yeah, I'd stand in line to give you a hug too.

there's the stories that you get to experience. It's a lifetime of smiles. I mean, it really is. And I know with Mindy, the stories that she gets to experience through her organization. She does. She does. She's a movie crier.

problem.

speaker-2 (55:20.386)

My daughter says all the time, she looks at me, she's gonna, you're gonna cry in the car.

I don't know.

Here comes the water work.

But it's true. It's like, you know, every time you see that look of just excitement and relief, it's a lot of emotions that they are going through when they are receiving something special. And it's different than getting my tenth pair of shoes for my closet. It's kids that are like this relief that's on their face and peace and they're full of joy. They're just so excited that they have something that's brand new and it's theirs.

You it's just, yeah, you cry. You cry.

speaker-2 (56:01.142)

Happy Seat!

You have to have that.

Well, this has just been an amazing experience for us just to learn more about you and what you're doing and just the positive impact that you're making in our community. And I can't thank you enough for that. And you mentioned those kids coming back through for the hug. I'm serious. I can definitely tell why they wanted to do that.

Your heart is shining through the video here and even the audio for the ones that are listening. But thank you for taking time to be on the show and share. So, but before we wrap up, you do have events, you do ask for donations and volunteer. So would you mind sharing what type of volunteering is out there? What type of donations that you take and any other details that you care to give?

So you can go on our website, wegiveTN.org to find out about our next event, which will be in August. And you can also go on our Instagram page. We do have Instagram at wegiveTN. You can find out about the volunteering opportunities. You can see about our next couple of meetings. Volunteers can come from wherever we accept the donations. We are starting our donations of shoes.

speaker-2 (57:32.902)

and essential items for kids starting back school.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Been a wonderful time spending time with you today. And again, thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for sharing your time. know, time is our most valuable asset. And I know we were saying, you we give up our time, but really I like to look at it. We're investing our time. We're investing it into a better future for other people. And I think that's at

At the end of the day, I think that's what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to love on others. And you're doing just that. You're setting a great example. Thank you so much for your heart. you mean more than you probably understand.

So.

But thank you again. And to our listeners, thank you for joining us. Thank you for listening to the story. And please, if this has touched your heart, reach out, volunteer. Everything helps. These kids, these families, like I mentioned earlier, it's a ripple effect.

speaker-0 (58:49.934)

please just go to the website, see what you can do to give back. But yes, so thank you for listening friends. And as always, remember, you matter.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of You Matter Nashville. We hope you found inspiration on this episode and are reminded that no matter where you are or what you do, you matter.

If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and even share it with your friends and family. Also, stay connected with us on social media and tune in next time for more incredible stories from the heart of our community.

Until then, remember, your story matters, your voice matters, and most of all, you matter.