2024 Influential Person Becky Davidson has reshaped broken dreams into purpose, for herself and a global community.

“My precious Jon Alex was born in September of 1997. When my late husband (Jeff Davidson) and I found out we were expecting, we were so excited about having a son and what our life was going to look like,” she stated. “When Jon Alex was about a year old, we noticed he wasn’t reaching milestones. We got a diagnosis and realized our son would live with special needs for the rest of his life. It sent us into the pit; all our hopes were dashed. We started looking around the community and saw no other families like us; there weren’t the resources like we have now. We came to a place of acceptance that this was God’s plan for our family and that our son was a gift. We wanted to help other families come to that same place.”

With a fire for change ignited, Becky, Jeff, and a small crew set to work building an outreach geared specifically toward those with special needs and their caregivers.

“In October of 2005 we, along with some friends, started Rising Above Ministries. We thought it would be only for worship nights and other local events, but it’s blown up into something we couldn’t have dreamed of almost 20 years ago.” She continued, “We are international. We work with groups in Beirut, Kenya, Belize, and more through our podcast (Rising Above With Becky Davidson), and looking at the downloads we receive, the listeners are global. The reach has truly gone international which is just unbelievable. All because of the life of our sweet Jon Alex.”

Through adaptability and a willingness to broaden their footprint, Becky and her team leveraged the pandemic to drastically alter Rising Above’s network and influence.

“COVID was THE game changer for us. We had all this amazing content that we wanted to share and we would pray, “How do we reach these families?” COVID hit and everything shut down. Kim Thorpe (former leader at Rising Above) and our team shifted focus and went virtual.” Becky continued, “We worked with Cookeville Creative and did live streams out to families. People found us that didn’t know we were around before. We started online groups for families that are still growing where moms and dads can get together once a week with people who really understand. That came out of COVID and lockdown.”

Beyond the podcast and online resources, Rising Above Ministries serves the area through special events and retreats. Becky elaborated on the impact these outreach efforts have saying, “I think for me, when I look at special needs families they are some of the most resilient families you’ll ever meet. Yet, many live in isolation and in constant care of their child. We come alongside them to offer hope, community, and encouragement through the

podcast, online resources, and events. Our Heroes’ Ball (free Upper Cumberland gathering that celebrates those with special needs and their immediate families) and Spring Prom (free area prom for those with special needs), and retreats. To be able to connect those families with truth and hope and show them that they’re not alone; there are no words for how that makes us feel.”

When asked how the community can get involved with Rising Above Ministries, Becky stated, “We want people to be our mouthpiece and let others know that we’re here. Download our app so that you can point special needs families to our app and resources. Volunteer! When we do Spring Prom or Heroes Ball, the amount of volunteers we need is astronomical. Obviously, financial help is important too. It takes money to do these events and we rely on the community to help us do what we do.”

As our interview neared a close, I asked Becky what it meant to be recognized by the citizens of Cookeville as an Influential Person.

“I love Cookeville and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. To be nominated by the community is such a high honor. Honestly, this could be for my son and for all the families out there living this life and caring for their own loved ones with special needs. It’s an honor to represent them in this community,” she stated. “Cookeville is very unique in that we have so many amazing opportunities for families of kids with special needs. There are not many communities that have this many ministries and outreaches. I’m just proud of how this community serves families like mine. I love this community.” Becky concluded, saying, “To come alongside a new parent of a child with special needs and walk with them through this, there’s nothing like it. I wish I had had someone when I was starting out and we want to be that for those families. There are so many families out there that don’t even know we’re here. If we can get in touch during the first few months of diagnosis we can change the whole trajectory from a story of despair and isolation to one of hope and community.”

We’re honored to celebrate Becky Davidson as a 2024 Cookeville Lifestyle Magazine Influential Person.

– by Andrew Buckner, photos by Abby Weeden