Father’s legacy inspires nonprofit

Hope Massey grew up in a family that believed in community outreach and thought everyone deserved equal access to healthy food, clothing, medical services and spiritual nourishment. Her father, the Rev. Frankie L. Massey, pastored St. Paul AME Church in east Winter Garden and was known for his decades of charitable work in the neighborhood in which she grew up.

When he passed away in 2022 at the age of 74, Hope Massey was inspired to continue his work — and she has started a nonprofit organization in 2023 that does just that. Her mother, Vanessa Williams, joins her in her passion for serving others.

Hope Along the Way was named after a phrase Hope Massey’s father frequently said when they talked. She was his only child, and the two had an extremely close relationship, providing assistance side-by-side in the community whenever possible.

“He definitely was a leader in the community, and as a church, we did a lot of outreach; we had weekly community feedings every Wednesday,” Hope Massey said. “We (started) health care initiatives, we had a 24-hour emergency food pantry. Hope Along the Way was birthed as an extension of the work my father did. … He just loved what he did. I feel like I’m building on the foundation that was established by him.”

Feeding the community is at the core of Hope Along the Way’s mission. On the third Wednesday of each month, partners join Hope Massey in providing food for more than 100 residents. Meals are packaged and delivered first to about 30 senior citizens, and then folks can line up for a free hot meal doled out by volunteers. To date, the organization has fed nearly 1,000 residents.

The nonprofit is led by Hope Massey and three other board members: Valerie Ivey, LaTonya Blair-Miller and Regina Gamble-Scott. But it takes dozens of other volunteers and organizations, including the city of Winter Garden, Winter Garden Police Department and Orange County’s District 1 representatives, to help meet the community’s needs.

“Everything we do is based on donations and partnership,” Hope Massey said.

PUTTING HEALTH FIRST

At a recent health fair held in the community for about 200 residents, many partners jumped in. The 15 service providers offered health education and free screenings for blood pressure, memory, glucose, diabetes, colon cancer and HIV. Kingdom Culture Church gave away free hot food. Orange County District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson arranged for 100 food boxes from Second Harvest Food Bank, and St. Paul provided fresh fruit and vegetables to be handed out with the boxes.

Hope Massey is encouraged to hold another health fair in the future because of the first one’s success. She even had a waiting list of eight service providers who wanted to come but there was no space.

“I’m very humbled that it happened the way it did,” she said. “There were so many residents who benefited from this.”

REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY

Hope Along the Way provides more than food and health fairs. The outreach offers free hygiene products, clothing for job interviews, résumé services, mental health referral services, grief forums and scholarships — all with the goal of improving the quality of life for residents.

Monthly initiatives focus on a particular need.

In February, Hope Massey hosted a Matters of the Heart forum for American Heart Month, in part, because of her personal journey with her father and his heart issues. Her organization collects donations for the American Heart Association.

Hope Massey holds fundraisers in the spring to be able to help others throughout the year.

A mental health awareness forum took place in May with 20 attendees and facilitated by Scott, a board-certified family nurse practitioner.

“Our ultimate goal is to make sure our residents are healthy from the inside out,” Hope Massey said.

In September, she is planning a suicide awareness forum in honor of her 16-year-old bonus son and to recognize his death.

“I am just determined to not sit in the pain and turn it into purpose,” Hope Massey said. “This work fuels me, and I find great pleasure. Above anything else, I’m always humbled to serve.”

In October of last year, the nonprofit honored 10 breast cancer survivors with gift bags full of gift cards and other goodies.

A big Thanksgiving community feeding takes place in November. Last year, more than 300 residents enjoyed a hot meal.

The largest community event happens at Christmastime. Last year, Hope Along the Way blessed 20 single mothers and grandmothers with $75 gift cards and provided three senior facilities with 175 gift bags with essential items and some fun gifts through the Hope for the Holidays program. Hope Massey also offered a Healing for the Holidays grief counseling session with licensed therapist Tara Boddie. She said she was moved to provide this opportunity to residents after losing her father and her bonus son within three months and learning of other folks dealing with loss.

“It was so therapeutic and much-needed,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve cried that much in my life. They were all asking if there will be another one. You don’t realize how much you need something until you have it.”

PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES

Hope Massey’s father supported higher-education learning and worked for Orange County Public Schools as a migrant specialist at Orange Technical College – West Campus. She created a scholarship fund to honor her father, and select graduating seniors in east Winter Garden receive $250 to go toward their continued education.

This year, five scholarships will be awarded — four to West Orange High School graduates and one to a student who graduated from Jones High School, Hope Massey’s alma mater.

She said she is proud to be able to follow in her father’s footsteps and make a difference in her hometown.

“I am humbled and honored to continue his legacy of servitude and community service,” she said. “We are a nonprofit organization that serves with the heart of the community in mind, and we serve with love, we serve with compassion, we serve with integrity, and we just want to provide hope to families that are in need.”