With every petal peeled and stem snipped, Phoebe Rupp, Maddie Cofer and Ava Sudbeck are assembling their masterpieces.
But these three high school students aren’t arranging bouquets in a floral shop.
This is Trevor’s Place, the new wraparound service center for the Dallas 24 Hour Club, a rehab facility in Dallas for people experiencing substance use disorders. Phoebe, Maddie and Ava are putting together flowers for residents.
Small gestures, big lift
“When you’re having a rough day, flowers always brighten your whole experience,” Rupp said.
“It’s nice to get a bouquet of flowers from somebody you don’t even know. They’re just so appreciative of something so small,” Sudbeck said.
Rupp picked up the practice of bringing flower arrangements to residents from family friends.
“One of my mom’s really good friends had triplet daughters and they started the whole flower girls. When they were seniors in high school, they saw me and I was an eighth grader and they thought they would pass it down to me,” Rupp said. “Once I was a freshman, my mom started taking me and my closest friends and we started volunteering for the 24.”
Now, a few times a month, the girls bring new arrangements to residents.
CBS News Texas
Treating the whole person
Fresh flowers might seem low on the list of priorities for someone going through treatment for substance use disorders, but it’s part of how the 24 Hour Club focuses on the whole person.
“If someone feels like someone cares about them, they’re going to grow. They’re going to develop into who they possibly can be, because they have the support backing them. And that’s what we do for our residents and that’s what the flower girls do as well,” said Adrienne Santaularia, development director with the Dallas 24 Hour Club.
And these young women get to bring smiles to people’s faces, one bouquet at a time.
Giving back through flowers
“I love giving back to the community, especially people who are struggling,” Cofer said.
“I want to keep doing this. It’s a lot of fun, and it brings a lot of joy, not only to me but to the community,” Sudbeck said.
“They are so strong, and they’re trying to get better and find help and use their resources. And the little things we can do to help make that a little bit easier or a little happier, we want to do anything we can,” Rupp said.
The girls bring flowers as often as they can, but they’re always looking for flower donations. They say most of the flowers come from Trader Joe’s.