Meet Ann-Marie Fitzsimmons Niki Keck | Co-Founders & Co-Executive Directors

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ann-Marie Fitzsimmons Niki Keck and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ann-Marie Fitzsimmons, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
We worked together at the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences (CSAS). Ann-Marie was the school librarian and Niki is the English/Theater/Journalism teacher. The library and Niki’s classroom were side by side, but we really didn’t speak until one day just before winter break. Ann-Marie was working with a program called On My Own Two Feet & Wheels and was leaving The Chatt Foundation and saw Niki and a bunch of CSAS on the sidewalk on 11th Street distributing care packages. We realized that we had a lot of talking to do.

We started with outreach on the streets all over Hamilton County, but especially downtown. We would offer shoes, water, ice, socks, and when we were lucky, someone we knew and had seen a Facebook post and dropped off a tent for someone we’d met. Niki’s background is in film and TV, and in 2019 we decided to get together an Independent Study with some of our students and create a documentary on homelessness. It was an incredible experience. The film was screened at the 2019 Chattanooga Film Festival. It’s called A Drop in the Bucket (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QFu3MvzHvU).

A Drop in the Bucket really opened our eyes to the lack of housing not only in Chattanooga, but globally.

We wanted to do more. We have nine kids between the 2 of us, and when we started back in 2019, we were both single moms. How much more could we really do? What we had was a workforce. We drug them everywhere delivering firewood or water. Whatever. They helped put up every tent on the opening day of the encampment we manage. They’ve been a huge support for us as we’ve grown.

We found a class hosted by Causeway in Chattanooga. They helped us form our 501c3 in 2019. That class was just an incredible experience. We met amazing people and saw so many people’s passions come to life throughout our work with Causeway.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What sets us apart from others? We are just so fortunate that our passions collided. We say we make one person. We aren’t afraid. And we aren’t afraid to make mistakes; we are both very real people. We can’t be fake. We’re probably more comfortable sitting under the gazebo at 12th & Peeples camp than we would be at a fancy restaurant.

It has not been easy, but it has been worthwhile every step of the way. We were both really busy with our families and school, but somehow we squeezed in homeless work on the side, between class changes sometimes. But we did it. Starting and running a nonprofit is hard, and we’re still figuring it out, but it’s getting easier.

Patience. We are learning patience. Homelessness is one of the most complex issues out there and change is slow.

What do we want the world to know about us? That we believe that it is a human right to have housing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We’re in Chattanooga, One of our favorite things to do no matter where we are is to find some woods.

We would hike trails. Float the Hiawassee or Ocoee. Downtown Chattanooga is great. We would take them to Nightfall and eat at Hello Monty Sushi Nabe and get coffee at BeCaffeinated or Burlaep. And we would for sure go on a ghost tour. Walking around the NorthShore/Coolidge Park and the Walnut Street Bridge, and a stop at The Ice Cream Show is a must.

The most interesting people in Chattanooga are at 12th & Peeples. We would spend an afternoon there no doubt.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The community of Chattanooga. We have had overwhelming support from the get-go. Anytime we had someone with a need, we put a Facebook post out, and BOOM! We had it. Chattanooga and the surrounding areas have been quick and on-going in their donations to 12th & Peeples. There are so, so many good people out there who want to help. Thank you guys!

Website: https://www.helprightherechattanooga.org

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Image Credits
We, or family members, have taken these images.