By Michelle Ruschman
Stephanie McMinn, founder of BeGenerous, has been providing resources and coming alongside women and their families since 2010. It all began with simply providing diapers to single mothers, but since then, her organization has grown into a source of hope for the women of Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay counties. “I was 16 when I had my first child, so I know what it’s like to be a young mother with limited resources. There were food pantries and clothes closets, but there was no diaper bank. One day, I called the health department trying to see where I could help, and the case worker shared with me that while she watched a client dress her baby, she noticed that the baby was dressed without a diaper. When she pointed out that it was missing, the mom told her she hadn’t forgotten. She hadn’t put it on because they couldn’t afford to have the baby in a diaper while they were at home. From that story, I started going into these homes and seeing how much the mothers were struggling when the home had an absent father, or the dad was in prison. There was poverty, drugs, and sexual exploitation. Once I saw this happening in my own backyard, it wasn’t something I could unsee, and I knew I had to do something about it.”
BeGenerous now includes “The Yellow House” and “Pearl House,” which offer refuge, healing, and transformation through a 24-month residential recovery program. The women come from the most desperate situations, including domestic abuse, sex trafficking, incarceration, and, especially close to Stephanie’s heart, addiction. In many situations, BeGenerous has been the bridge from death to life.
Sometimes, though, it’s when you’re battling darkness for others that you can be in the greatest fight of your own. Less than a year after starting BeGenerous, while Stephanie was helping so many families find their fresh start, Stephanie’s husband was in the midst of recovery while their sons were in the grip of addiction themselves. Today, Stephanie can say that her oldest son has recovered from addiction and is helping her in her massive efforts, but in 2021, the family got devastating news. “My baby boy, Gage, was 22 years old when he overdosed on fentanyl and passed away. Here I am, doing work in the community, and my kids know what I do, but addiction doesn’t respect anyone.”
To honor Gage, Stephanie started an outreach called “EnGAGE: From Death to Life,” an event that focuses on victory. Along with the concert featuring artists, ASAP Preach and Adrion Butler, attendees will hear messages of hope, learn about community resources, shop with local vendors, and local food trucks will be on-site. Last year, a concert-goer asked to be baptized. That will continue this year with the hopes that it will become an annual tradition. “During one intermission, a guy came up and said, ‘I want Mama Steph to baptize me. I want to lay this down and leave it behind.’ I just dove right into that water with him, and the next thing you know, there’s a line of kids waiting to be baptized. We got to close that night, soaking wet, and we knew we had to make this a part of every year from now on.”
Coming to EnGAGE means throwing your expectations to the wind and letting the Holy Spirit move. That’s when you know it’s going to be fun!
EnGAGE will be held on April 25th at 1140 Circle Dr, Defuniak Springs Lakeyard. If you are a vendor, food truck, or non-profit resource who would like to be part of this dynamic event, you can email info@begenerousinc.org.
Michelle Ruschman is a local artist, speaker, and writer. She can be reached at michelleruschman@gmail.com or michelleruschman.com.
