25 in ‘25: Rodney Hopkins goes above and beyond for people seeking emergency shelter

When people seeking emergency shelter contact Housing Families First, they usually first encounter Rodney Hopkins. 

The 65-year-old Northside resident starts his day by listening to multiple voice messages, calling individuals back and responding to emails. He’s quick to provide information about the Henrico center – the programs that individuals qualify for, availability of shelter, how to get on the waitlist. 

“I really appreciate the support in helping me and my baby,” said one woman in a voicemail for Hopkins. 

He then moves on to ensure that the rooms, kitchen and bathrooms are stocked with essentials like toiletries, bedding, laundry materials and food. He’s the program operating manager at the center, so it is his job to ensure that everything runs smoothly for the families and youth temporarily living there. 

But Hopkins extends his help outside of his job description, an action noted by his supervisor. 

“He is also compassionate enough to offer, ‘What else do you need? I’ve got a list here. I know that they’re doing food over here. I know there’s hot showers at this church,’ said Terri Iguina, the center’s deputy director of operations. “That, to me, is the impact of Rodney.”

Hopkins said he’s driven by his care for children, a characteristic he recognized as young as eight years old, when he helped take care of his younger siblings and neighbors. Nearly all of the women in his family, especially his mother, are teachers, and he was inspired to also work with kids. He went back to school in his fifties to receive an associates degree in Human Services, hoping to work in schools, but instead found himself working in shelters. 

“We have more kids than we have grown people,” he said, referring to the shelters he’s worked in. “So that’s why I stayed, and I love it.”

Before Hopkins began working in his current role, he was in an on-call position, meaning that he was asked to work when needed. Iguina said that Hopkins was the person who would show up at midnight to work a shift if someone else couldn’t make it. His authenticity and transparency on the job and towards clients qualified him for the position, Iguina said, which was a new role at the time.

“Often in our industry, we talk about meeting people where they are, but the second part is, and then relate to them. And Rodney has the gift of both,” she said. 

Housing Families First has brought in a variety of families and individuals from all walks of life, Hopkins said. He recounted stories of different clients who walked into the shelter and moved out after a few months. He keeps in touch with a lot of them who regularly provide updates about their lives and send photos of their kids or new house. 

“There’s a lot of people that come in and you might think they might not make it because at first they’re not doing what they need to do to try and get themselves together,” he said. “But then you see the change in them after a while.”

One of the clients he worked with include 40-year-old Dominique Wesley, who drove 15 hours from Florida to Virginia with her 5-year-old son, Kyson, in January. After Hurricane Milton flooded her home, she came up to Richmond without a job and looked for shelters for women and children. Housing Families First came up, and the first person she met was Hopkins. 

He notified her that the center was filled at the time, so she temporarily stayed in another shelter and a motel while waiting for an opening. But during that time, “he made sure we had food, he made sure that I called every day to try and get us a spot in the shelter.”

She finally made it in two weeks later, using the facility’s programs to get her son in school, land herself a job and find a permanent home. Wesley moved out of Housing Families First in June, and is now living in Southside and working as a home health aide. Her son is ready to begin kindergarten. 

“It was one person that put that positive energy in [me],” she said, referring to Hopkins. “And that’s what he did.”

Outside of the center, Hopkins is known as “Coach Peanut,” especially during basketball camp, which is hosted by his longtime friend Ray Neblett. Neblett, 60, founded the Inner City Basketball Camp back in 2009, and Hopkins has volunteered since it began. The program has grown to have over 300 kids in the camp. But their relationship goes back farther than the camp, as Neblett said that Hopkins has “been there by my side, pretty much the whole time.”

The two grew up playing basketball together, and Neblett described himself as being under Hopkins’ wing, encouraging him through difficult times. That compassion resonates with the kids who participate in the program, as Neblett said that they often ask for “Coach Peanut” well after moving on to high school or college. 

“You’ll never hear him ask for anything but he gives so much of himself,” Neblett said. “He’s the first one here and the last one to leave.”

Beth Vann-Turnbull, the center’s executive director, said that Hopkins is "genuinely energized" when interacting with people looking to temporarily reside at the shelter.

When asked if he plans on retiring anytime soon, he laughed. 

“I don’t think so. I’m trying to stay as long as I can, because I love it.”

Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org