Rhonda Rhodes: Rebuilding Lives, One Grant at a Time

Noteworthy Women - December 2023

The director of the Hancock Resource Center, Rhonda Rhodes played a crucial role the recovery of Hancock County after Katrina. Today, she is still instrumental in growing and improving it. 

- by Maurice Singleton

Rhonda Rhodes (second from l) with (l-r) daughter Kirby, youngest son, Trace, eldest son, Chase, and husband Rocky at Trace's graduation in December.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. The familiar expression comes to mind as one reflects on Hancock County in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and how efficiently and quickly Hancock County returned to functioning with some degree of normalcy. Many would argue the county came back even better than before.
 

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 Of course, things didn’t just get better on their own; there were people involved committed to Hancock County and willing to work to overcome the conditions in the aftermath of August 29, 2005.
 

Rhonda was a nominee for Hancock Citizen of the Year in 2014.

 
Rhonda Rhodes is one of those people. As the director of the Hancock Resource Center, formerly the Hancock Housing Resource Center, Rhonda played a crucial role in growing and improving Hancock County.
 
Prior to Katrina, Rhonda was a practicing nurse and worked in healthcare administration, ensuring quality management, patient safety, and compliance. Longtime neighbor and Hancock Chamber president Tish Williams knew Rhonda could help after the devastation of Katrina, so Tish called Rhonda and asked her to aid in the recovery of the county.
 

Waveland Crawfish Cookoff, 2023

 
“I feel like we’re leaving a lot of money on the table,” Williams told her. “Other communities are writing grant proposals and getting money, and we’re trying to figure things out.
 
“Have you ever written a grant proposal?” Williams asked her.
 
“No, but it can’t be that hard,” was Rhodes’s response.
 
“Famous last words,” she said recently with a laugh. “’I can try,’ I said, and that’s how it started.”
 

Rhonda (front r) and staff at the Hancock Resource Center Board Lunch, 2022.

 
With initial grants from United Way, NeighborWorks America, and Oprah Winfrey’s Angels Network, the new Community Recovery Manager for Hancock County was off and running, tracking down resources to help local businesses get back on their feet.
 
“She’s a very talented person,” said Williams of Rhodes. “The more I got to know her, the more I learned about her many talents. She’s a baker, a potter, a nurse, and one of the brightest and most organized people that I’ve ever worked with. So after Katrina, I said to her, ‘You’ve got to come help me.’ She’s the one who did all the paperwork to establish the Hancock County Community Development Foundation. She made that happen.”
 
Williams said that, as businesses got on their feet and the needs of the community began to change, she identified another area in which Rhodes’s talents could be used.
 

Rhonda with two of her managers, Kelli Billiups (left) and Kelly Kowalski (right), at HRC.

 
“Over time, we were asked to take on the housing issue,” Williams explained. And once again, she went to Rhodes. “You’re the one that’s got to take this on. You’re the one who can make this happen.
 
“And look what she’s done,” Williams recalled. “She started another non-profit. Now it’s this very successful, much-needed resource: Hancock Resource Center.”
 
The responsibilities of the Hancock Resource Center have also expanded and now include assisting veterans with housing and supporting families. While Rhodes works on the big-picture items such as securing funding and upholding HRC to federal standards for the most part, she still gets involved with some of the hands-on work as well.
 

Rhonda, the baker in the family, made this cake for her niece's high school graduation party.

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“If we have a family with children sleeping outside, I get involved,” said Rhodes. “We don’t want children sleeping on the street. We don’t want adults sleeping on the street either, but children are particularly vulnerable.”
 
The veteran housing issue is also of particular interest to Rhodes. HRC is the only program on the Coast that is dedicated to matching homeless veterans with housing. The Resource Center serves veterans in Hancock, Harrison, Stone, and Jackson Counties.
 
“If we identify a veteran who is homeless, we have the money and housing to place that veteran,” Rhodes explained. “We have the ability to get that veteran housed. It is just a matter of connecting that veteran with the housing unit.”
 

Rhonda Phodes and her husband, Rocky.

 
Another program run by Rhodes is the Hancock Youth Leadership Academy. She identifies high school students and eighth-graders who may not be in leadership positions but have skills that may be cultivated toward eventual leadership.
 
“We’re getting a lot of students who are not necessarily the class president,” Rhodes explained. “We do get the class president, too, but we also get kids who haven’t had that experience yet.”
 

 Rhodes said it’s not work for her when she is dealing with developing future leaders of Hancock County. She said that she really enjoys developing and helping them with college readiness. Students are selected from Bay High, Hancock High, St. Stanislaus, and Our Lady Academy as well as from home schooling.
 
Rhonda loves her job and is passionate about helping her community to the fullest extent of her abilities. However, she’s most proud of her family. She and her husband of 30 years, Rocky, have three children, Kirby, Chase, and Trace, who just celebrated his graduation from Southern Miss.

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