Steve Winters: I Am Dixie Highway leader helps community give back

This story has been updated to correct the role of Ryan Cecil at Homepage Realty. She is a top-producing realtor at the agency.

When Steve Winters started the I Am Dixie Highway community networking group on Facebook in 2009, he had no idea he would be dedicating years to strengthening the city's South End with the help of community members and small local businesses.

Growing up in a neighborhood currently part of the city of Shively and graduating from DeSales High School, Winters said his father owned an automotive business off Dixie Highway, which allowed him to familiarize himself with local businesses. Later in life, he began doing social media work for local businesses along the corridor, which grew into I Am Dixie Highway.

Soon after, Winters said, the group became more than just a collection of businesses when people began asking him to facilitate local festivals and fairs.

"Everybody wanted to be a part of it," he said. "My wife and I were like, 'well, we have the means to help so let's go out and do it ourselves and we don't have to worry about getting people involved with donations and things like that.'"

The group now frequently hosts and sponsors community events for locals, and helps those who may need it in the area during the back-to-school season and holiday seasons, amongst other times.

"We get the word out in the South End of Louisville for various things," Winters said. "People doing great things in the community from Shirley's Way to Isaacs & Isaacs to Life Church to a bunch of other organizations that do great things."

Eventually, Winters said he learned about families that didn't have Thanksgiving meals, so he turned to his network. Using canned goods and turkeys supplied by Value Market at discounted costs, the couple handed out six or seven baskets that first year, increasing the number of people they can support annually.

“As time has gone on, we’ve added another 10 or 15 baskets every single year so now it has turned into 60-72 just depending on how many they have in stock," Winters said.

The effort has only grown since, from providing Christmas meals and toys around the holidays to Easter baskets in the spring. Winters also began giving away back-to-school backpacks in 2021, but only opened the effort to donations this year, raising about $1,000. Isaacs & Isaacs, a local attorney's office, matched donations from 13 business owners and community members, making the backpack drive the largest event yet with more than 90 backpacks distributed.

Winters said due to the match, the initial $1,000 donated went untouched. When donors were asked if they'd like contributions returned or put toward Thanksgiving meals, all of them told him to put funds toward the holiday.

Thanksgiving efforts inspired a series of community initiatives including an annual Trunk or Treat and Light Up Valley Station. The Trunk or Treat, slated for 6 p.m. on Oct. 27 at Stomping Grounds Coffee, is sponsored by local businesses like Homepage Realty, a returning sponsor, Jams Drywall and Sweeney's Exterior Solutions, a first-timer. Area establishments also support Light Up Valley Station, scheduled for 2-6 p.m. on Dec. 8.

Ryan Cecil, a Louisville native and top producing realtor at Homepage Realty, said Winters brought their group together and that many small businesses contribute to the two events and other efforts out-of-pocket to support the community.

"I feel like a lot of people think that we don't have good things out here in the South End, and that's something I have been determined to change and bring as much positive light as possible," Cecil said.

Winters said the experience has been rewarding and the response from the community has been overwhelming, with many locals wanting to offer help.

"Every single year, we have some of these people whom we have helped in the past come back to us and say 'My husband found a job. I now have a job. We're back on our feet and we want to give back. You helped us last year or the year before and now we want to help,' Winters said. "We can do anything in the South End."