How Nashville nonprofit Big Table is serving those who serve others

Kenyetta Fowler said she was struggling until Big Table stepped in.

Fowler works at Hattie B's. She has three children, ages 1, 3 and 4. She was dealing with personal and financial issues.

"I was faced by some hardships, a whole bunch of personal problems," Fowler said. "It hit me all at once to where I wasn't able to focus at work."

Then her manager referred her to Big Table, where she met the group's Nashville director, Jen Seger. Fowler said the nonprofit helped her pay rent and electric bills and find food programs and furniture.

It's a Southern thing: Are the South's meat-and-three restaurants a 'dying breed'?

"Maybe it's family problems, or maybe I need help with baby stuff," Fowler said. "Having somebody outside of work that you know is in your corner, that's going to be there for you and help you, is pretty great."

Fowler said Big Table helped her navigate obstacles in her life, and Seger said she enjoyed getting to know Fowler.

"It just gave me the confidence to deal with situations, issues that I didn't have confidence to deal with," Fowler said. "I feel like I'm definitely in a better place. I'm much happier, my focus is on my kids."

Building relationships

Big Table Nashville has been serving restaurant and hospitality workers since it began operations on July 1, 2021, according to Seger.

Kevin Finch, president of Big Table, said the nonprofit helps workers with immediate issues in five areas: housing, mental health, medical and dental health, job readiness and addiction recovery.

Nashville favorites : Nashville restaurant scene changes every day, but don't miss these old favorites

Volunteers also regularly meet with workers to develop relationships and map success plans, according to Finch.

"These are relationships that last for years," he said.

Hattie B's human resources director Lola Conway said she offers Big Table as a resource for employees, and appreciates the group's emphasis on relationship building.

"Big Table doesn't push. They go, 'Let's meet for coffee, these are some options for you.' Then it's always up to the employee," Conway said. "We've got to check in on each other."

Conway said Big Table's model works well with what she called Hattie B's "work family."

Conway started referring workers after seeing an article about Big Table in a local paper. Since last July, Conway has referred six employees to the nonprofit. She even recommends the group to other Nashville businesses.

"It's sort of word of mouth, it's experience," Seger said. "Somebody gets help and then they talk about it."

Bringing people together

Big Table seats guests at a literal table, according to Finch. Each city hosts 48 restaurant and hospitality workers at a large table for roughly three dinners a year, he said.

"When we do these dinners, it's this amazing reversal where the folks who would normally be serving others get to be served for a night," Finch said.

Conway said she volunteered at several of these dinners.

"I'll be serving them food, and they'll look up, and go, 'Lola! What are you doing here?'" Conway said. "They're a tremendous group of people with big hearts."

The Wash: A look inside The Wash, East Nashville's mini food hall giving new restaurants a leg up

Those who attend the dinners often direct others to the nonprofit, according to Finch.

"That referral from the person who knows them is our ticket in to say, 'Tell me about what's going on. Tell me how we can help,'" he said. "Those with the biggest need that are really hurting are the ones that move to the top of the list."

Finch said Big Table helps roughly 1,500 people across the country each year, not including friends and family that indirectly benefit from each care recipient.

"What changes peoples' lives is not just that crisis care," Finch said. "It's someone to walk alongside them."

Big Table also recently partnered with a group that tentatively calls itself "The Vacancy" to fight homelessness, Seger said.

"We sort of felt like we were this hodgepodge," she said. "We would say, as people of faith, that it felt like God bringing people together."

RELATED: National leaders hope 'No Vacancy' screening can inspire action against homelessness

Finch is a former pastor who moonlighted as a food critic, he said. After five years of working around restaurants and hospitality, Finch noticed service workers' needs often went unnoticed due to the nature of their job.

"The most important part of the uniform for anyone in this industry is their smile," he said. "Seems like there are more folks that are right on the edge than I've seen anywhere else in the community."

Providing support for the industry

Substance abuse has historically been highest among restaurant and hospitality workers, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This often combines with stress, lower incomes, and broken relationships, according to Big Table.

"We know the restaurant industry has a very high burnout rate," Conway said.

Finch said he looked in 2006 for a nonprofit to support that was geared toward these workers but could not find one.

"I'm literally just this pastor who kind of stumbled onto this," he said. "I just couldn't not do something. That's where the idea of creating community around the table began."

Finch said he established Big Table in Spokane, Washington, in 2009, during the Great Recession.

"It was an incredibly stupid time to start, but I'm grateful," he said.

The nonprofit then began operating in other states. Seger, a longtime Nashville resident, said Finch first reached out to her through church, hoping to establish a Big Table branch in the area.

"You're also looking for somewhere that would recognize how restaurants and hotels impact the economy," she said. "The other thing is that Nashville is a generous city."

Big Table has also branched out to other cities, according to Finch, and plans to continue expanding its operations.

"We're just really, really excited that Big Table assists with the care coordinating, the mentorship," Conway said. "We have to take care of our employees first. We have to make sure that we are loving and supporting them."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nonprofit Big Table aids Nashville restaurant and hospitality workers