NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — There are many veteran service organizations in central Arkansas. Several food pantries are working to improve the state's disappointing numbers of people who experience hunger regularly.
A former soldier who herself had to reach out a hand for help decided the region needed one more.
"You feel like you have no voice. You feel like you have no power, and you feel like you can't go on," former soldier Michell Mothershed said. "You don't have the finances, and you don't have the support anymore like you did in the military. The structure is what we have in the military, and that's what you lose when you're back in the civilian world."
Mothershed's name should ring a bell. She's a daughter of Little Rock through and through; her aunt Thelma is among the famed Little Rock Nine that integrated Central High School in 1957.
Service to the city and the country is in her blood, and that drove her to join the Army, which also prompted her to do what she's doing today after injuries cut short her military and then her teaching careers.
"I had to figure it out," Mothershed said. "God gave me a vision to serve and to help and send compassion for all that just kept getting put in my life."
Her trips to Veterans Affairs made her realize that she and her fellow disabled service members need compassion. Humbling hard times also made her realize that hungry people need compassion.
So, using her connections and passion, she formed the non-profit Compassionately Connected for Veterans.
"Our mission is to serve as veterans and citizens in the community and to inspire them to be self-sufficient," Mothershed said. "Empower them to be vital and contributing citizens in the community."
She and her fellow board members open the doors twice a week.
Other times, she's on the streets, seeking out troubled vets she knows live there, offering "compassion packs."
That visibility drives more people beyond the veterans and military families that show up. It doesn't matter. All are welcome.
"I understand the pride thing," Mothershed said. "They say 'I'm working. I'm ashamed,' and I'm like, 'You don't have to be ashamed.'"
The group is awaiting a pending affiliation with the Arkansas Foodbank. When that comes, her bare-bones efforts get a little beefier. For now, she's confident her hustle will keep helping her clients at their crossroads.
"I talk to people that come to our pantry all the time," Mothershed said. "Whether it's a veteran or a civilian, I tell them, 'I'm thinking about you. I'm praying for you, and I'm encouraging you to go out and be the best version of yourself.'"
The group will hold a fundraising gala on Dec. 9 at the Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock. THV11's Rebecca Brown will emcee an evening of entertainment, including music from The Rodney Black Collective.