Every other Saturday at Out O’ Space Storage is a bustling scene with volunteers of The Village Hands packing up clothes, diapers, hygiene products — whatever they have to give — to mothers in need.
On a monthly average, the nonprofit provides needed items for at least 200 children in underserved areas of Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties. Kate Peabody established the organization in 2019, inspired by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s charity work, and the nonprofit Baby2Baby, which provides basic necessities to mothers in need.
She reached out to other local agencies to gauge interest and need. What she heard back was a resounding “yes, do it.”
“And that's how the Village Hands was born,” she said.
With the help of her nephew, she established the 501c3. Not long after the nonprofit was formed, there was COVID and Hurricane Sally.
“We were very impactful during COVID,” said Peabody. “We were working with agencies that donated food so we could make food bags for our clients. We collected masks and stuff like that.”
Personal struggles
Peabody is able to connect with her clients because she has been on the receiving end of help before. Her husband, Alvin, was sick for 10 years with renal failure before he died in 2015. She was raising her son and caring for her husband while going to school at the University of West Florida to become a social worker.
“It’s hard for people to ask for help, because I know,” she said. “I was there.”
“My husband was on disability, and at one point that was our only income,” she added. “We were struggling. You never know a person’s situation, so when someone gathers the strength to ask for help, you don’t want to be judgmental. You don’t want them to feel less-than.”
In 2023, Peabody faced another tragedy — the death of her son, Khaifa Peabody. He was only 26. In the early days of The Village Hands, Khaifa sacrificed his room to house donated items.
“He was always my cheerleader,” she said. “Now, in his memory, I started a hygiene program called ‘Koof’s Kare’ — Coach Koof is what his players called him when he coached little league.”
“I am going to create his foundation one of these days when I retire.”
Growing pains
The Village Hands is run by a small network of volunteers. Most of them have full-time jobs, including Peabody, who provides support to pregnant women as a social worker.
She credits Village Hands Outreach Coordinator, Yolanda Moultrie, for working “hand in hand” with her.
On the days they see clients, they use the hallway of the indoor storage facility to spread out. There are racks of clothes and storage bins lined up. Sometimes they get donations of gently used, or “gently-loved” as Peabody would say, toys and furniture.
“We are very blessed in that vein,” Peabody said about donations. “The community has been so generous to us.”
Diapers and wipes are the two most common items in demand. Peabody has also been working with school navigators to identify needs.
“One of the things they told us is that young kids are going to school — some of them don’t have underwear, some of them don’t have socks,” she said. “Those are things that people take for granted.
Looking toward the future of The Village Hands, Peabody said the nonprofit will need office space to keep growing.
“We are busting at the seams,” she said. “I always tell people, if you know of anybody who wants to donate a little small building or small room to us to be able to house our inventory and meet our families and work with them … that's on my wish list.”
At their annual Christmas party, clients and volunteers enjoyed treats and at the storage unit which was decorated with garland and bows.
‘Saving Grace’
What started as inspiration has become what Peabody calls her “saving grace.”
“This and my professional work have really saved my life,” she said. “It saved me mentally. When women come in (to my work) and deliver babies and come back, and they want to show me pictures and come see me … things like that have helped me tremendously.
She thinks of her son when she sees the families she can help, whether it’s at work or at the storage unit.
“The fact that he was instrumental in getting me to go ahead and start this has played a huge role in me continuing to do what I do,” she said. “It's been a saving grace for me in more ways than one.”
