A server remembers your order. A hotel employee makes sure your room is ready. A barista hands you the coffee that gets your morning moving. Across Nashville, hospitality workers spend their days anticipating what other people need. Less visible is what they might need themselves.
Becky Kinder understands that difference. Before becoming Nashville city director for Big Table, she spent about eight years working in local restaurants, including during COVID-19. The experience changed how she understood an industry built around making others feel welcome.
“In some places that I worked, it felt like a smile was part of your uniform,” Kinder says.
Behind that smile, someone may be facing an overdue utility bill, struggling with their mental health or wondering where they will sleep after their shift. Big Table works with restaurant and hotel employees experiencing crises, offering practical assistance and relationships that continue beyond the immediate emergency.
The nonprofit launched its Nashville chapter in summer 2021. For Kinder, its presence answers a need in a city whose growth depends heavily on hospitality. New restaurants and hotels create jobs, but the people filling those positions can still struggle to find stability.
Housing is one of the biggest challenges Kinder sees. Big Table helps with apartment deposits, utility bills, and back rent, and connects workers with more affordable housing options. Some people the organization serves live in their cars or sleep outside while continuing to show up for work.
That contrast has stayed with Kinder: a customer can leave a restaurant remembering a beautiful meal and a kind server, without knowing that employee has no place to sleep that night.
Mental and emotional health is another major area of care. Big Table connects workers with therapists and sometimes helps cover the cost. Just as meaningful are the conversations that happen over coffee, when someone finally has the space to talk about their own life.
“Day in and day out, hospitality workers are asking everybody else what they need and serving them,” Kinder says. “But very rarely is someone sitting down with them and asking how they’re doing.”
Once an urgent problem is addressed, those conversations continue. The team considers what else may be contributing to a person’s circumstances and what support could help them move forward. A paid bill can ease immediate pressure; an ongoing relationship allows someone to keep asking for help as new challenges arise.
Kinder recalls one hospitality worker who needed extensive dental care. Working with a local dental partner, Big Table helped make treatment financially possible. Over roughly a year, Kinder met with the woman weekly to check in, encourage her, and support her through the process.
The result extended beyond a restored smile. Kinder watched her confidence grow, and her trust in others deepen. What mattered was both the care she received and the feeling that the people helping her were invested in her well-being.
Those connections are central to Kinder’s role. Through meetings with community members, health care providers, and other nonprofits, she builds relationships that can become resources for hospitality workers. A conversation with a dental office or therapist may eventually open a door for someone who needs care.
Restaurants and hotels are essential partners, too. Managers often recognize when employees are struggling but lack the time or financial resources to provide all the support needed. Their referrals help Big Table reach workers in crisis. Businesses also contribute through fundraising, including menu items that direct a portion of proceeds to the nonprofit.
For residents and companies interested in helping, opportunities include donations, corporate sponsorships, and volunteering. Big Table’s industry dinners bring 48 hospitality workers together around one long table for a six-course meal with wine and mocktails. Volunteers help create an evening when the people accustomed to serving others get to be the guests.
Community members can also help meet specific needs, such as supplying household essentials for someone moving into an apartment. As winter and the holidays approach, Kinder welcomes connections with people eager to contribute.
Her hope is that readers carry a greater awareness into their next restaurant visit or hotel stay.
“We are relying on Nashville’s hospitality workers,” Kinder says. “I think much more than anyone really realizes.”
Recognizing that reliance begins with noticing the person across the counter or beside the table. Big Table gives Nashville a way to turn that recognition into care.
Learn more or get involved by visiting their website or following along on social media.
bigtable.org/nashville
“We are relying on Nashville’s hospitality workers,” Kinder says. “I think much more than anyone really realizes.”