Not long after she joined Mill Village Ministries, Rhonda Rawlings dropped into the Village Wrench, a bicycle shop that’s part of the social-enterprises organization. There, she saw a child — “he must have been about 3 years old,” she says — with his grandfather.
“And the little boy just started talking to me about how he used to have a Spider-Man bike and it broke and he didn’t think he could ever get another bicycle,” she says. “Then the guy who works in the bicycle shop wheels out this little bicycle for him, with this helmet with the spikes.”
She adds, “Oh, and I almost burst into tears.”
Today, she looks back too on how she got to where she is, musing on her work as she thinks about this particular month.
“I think about Black history every day,” she says, “but I do think there are those that don’t, so that’s why I think Black History Month is important. It’s really important to know the past because as, the saying goes, it opens the door to the future.”
Back to her past: A native of Mount Vernon, New York, Rawlings took her longtime love of broadcast, TV and film to Temple University in Philadelphia, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in radio and television in 1991. While there, she interned for New Line Cinema and worked on the film “Deep Cover” with Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum. She then found work on the FOX television series “Roc” and as production secretary on “The Chris Rock Show.”
In 2008, she moved to Greenville to be closer to family. She applied to 107.3 JAMZ, where she worked part-time as the station’s news and community affairs director.
Then, after a dozen years with SummitMedia, which owns JAMZ and Hot 91.1, among other stations, she left because, as she says, “I just knew it was time. I felt like God was calling me to do something else. I just prayed that he placed me in a position where I still had a platform of service because that’s my passion.”
She began volunteering for Mill Village Ministries and, she says, “After a couple of months, I really just fell in love with the organization. The people, the executive director Dan Weidenbenner, everyone there is just so intentional about service to the community, and I realized that that’s where I wanted to be.”
Last February, the West Greenville-based Mill Village Ministries created a job for her as community director.
Says Weidenbenner: “Rhonda’s passion for service is truly contagious and that boundless energy makes our community stronger, one connection and one person at a time.”
Mill Village Ministries, which marks its 10th anniversary next year and bills itself as a collection of social entrepreneurs, operates Mill Village Farms, Village Engage, Village Launch and the bicycle shop.
One of those, the farms’ FoodShare Greenville program, has delivered some 1 million pounds of produce and nearly 70,000 boxes of fresh food since its inception in 2018 to communities in so-called food deserts.
Says Rawlings, “People will come up to me to say, ‘Oh, my gosh, I didn’t know what a butternut squash was, and now I’m cooking with it, I’m learning to do healthy recipes and teach my children how to cook and how to eat more healthy food.”
Village Launch and Village Engage promote entrepreneurship and social justice, while its bicycle shop, Rawlings says, works to address transportation issues facing the community.
At Village Wrench, cyclists can purchase thousand-dollar wheels and get professional bike maintenance. Others, like the child’s grandfather, can earn a bicycle through community service.
In the meantime, Rawlings keeps her toes in the radio waters, appearing on air with “Rhonda’s Raise the Praise” and “Pastor Lenny’s Praise Party,” which is syndicated in 20 markets nationwide, from 96.9 Rejoice. (She is also a contributor to The Greenville Journal.)
At Mill Village Ministries, she sees her work as yet another way to share her personal life, too.
“I pull from experiences that I’ve had,” says Rawlings, a single mom. “And I think people can really relate to that because I’m very comfortable with opening up about issues that are delicate and some heartbreaking issues, as well.”
That is, she continues to give voice to those whose voices may otherwise not be heard.
As Weidenbenner puts it: “Whether that be supporting minority entrepreneurs, uplifting youth or championing the health of the community, Rhonda has a supernatural ability to invite and bring together a broad group of people together to create change in our community.”
Likewise, her work on the ground serves to amplify her platform over the air.
“I’m living the life that God has chosen me to live, like I’m doing the thing that I am called to do, which is to speak to the community and speak to people and really help them to live their best lives,” she says.
And during Black History Month, she applauds those who helped bring her here.
“I think about the people who have paved the way, who have given some of the ultimate sacrifice for me to be sitting in the chairs that I’m sitting in today, sitting at the tables I have the opportunity to sit at today.” she says. “So I’m extremely grateful for that legacy.”
More about Rhonda Rawlings
Neighborhood Engagement Director, Mill Community Ministries
Started full time in February 2021 after several years as a volunteer
News and Community Affairs, SummitMedia
Worked for WJMZ-FM 107.3 JAMZ and WHZT-FM Hot 98.1, two Greenville radio properties
From October 2008 to the present (part time)
Source: LinkedIn
