From the Founder

Bloom Was Never Just About Me

Bless Up & Bloom was created so everyone could be part of something bigger than themselves.

People often ask me why I started this organization. The answer isn’t simple. It wasn’t one moment. It was years of heartbreak, healing, faith, and learning that purpose often grows in the places we never wanted to be.

When Life Changed

When I was young, I was diagnosed with a genetic disorder. I was told I would never have children and that I likely wouldn’t live past the age of 30.

For a while, I believed that. I stopped dreaming. I accepted defeat. I wondered why I was even here.

Then life surprised me. I became pregnant.

Suddenly, I wasn’t just fighting for myself anymore. I was still a kid trying to figure out life, but now someone else was depending on me. I didn’t have all the answers. I made mistakes. I grew up fast. I learned how to survive before I ever learned how to live.

Time became precious because I never believed I had much of it.

“Go to the People”

Years later, during COVID, everything seemed to fall apart. My salon closed. My car was broken. I felt trapped. I kept asking God, “Why am I still here? What is my purpose?”

The answer that kept coming back was simple: “Go to the people.”

I argued. “I can’t.”

Again, I heard it: “Go to the people. Bloom where you’re planted.”

So I did.

One afternoon, sitting alone at a small restaurant in Bluffton before a doctor’s appointment, I opened a notebook and started writing. I still have those first pages today.

Remembering Brooke

At that point, I had spent years working on myself. I had been a caregiver, a single mom and a hairstylist. Somewhere along the way, I realized I had forgotten who Brooke was.

Who was I beyond taking care of everyone else?

That’s when Bless Up & Bloom began. Not because I had everything figured out. Because I didn’t.

I wanted to create something that reminded people they still mattered, even when life convinced them otherwise.

I wanted to leave my children a legacy money could never buy. Not a bank account. Not possessions. A life that showed them their mom fought for dignity, hope and compassion.

From Victim to Victor

Some people have watched my life completely fall apart. Others have no idea what I’ve carried over the last six years. There are stories I’ll probably never tell publicly.

But I’ve made a promise to myself.

My story will never be about becoming a victim. It will always be about becoming a victor. Every hardship has taught me how to sit beside someone else’s pain without judging it. Because I know what it’s like to need someone to simply care.

More Years Than Expected

As my health continues to change, I have to trust God more than ever. He’s given me more years than anyone expected. He’s allowed me to become my daughter’s guardian and advocate. He’s allowed me to watch my son graduate and begin building his own future. He’s allowed me to witness miracles I once thought were impossible.

I also had to learn one of the hardest lessons of my life. Love isn’t always protecting someone from everything. Sometimes love means helping them build a life beyond you.

My daughter deserves a full life. My son deserves to know his mom is living hers too. And I deserve to stop surviving and finally start living.

Every Season Has Value

I spent so many years making sure I never became what I grew up around that I forgot to experience life myself.

Now I stop at creeks. I photograph wildflowers. I notice flowers blooming and flowers fading.

Because every season has value. Even the hard ones. Especially the hard ones.

This Dream Belongs to All of Us

Today, Bless Up & Bloom isn’t my dream anymore. It’s ours.

It belongs to every volunteer who fills a hygiene kit. Every donor who believes dignity matters. Every hairstylist who gives someone confidence again. Every person who chooses compassion over judgment.

This organization was never built so I could stand in front. It was built so everyone could stand together.

One More Moment

I don’t know exactly how many days God has planned for me.

What I do know is this: I won’t spend them going backward. I won’t waste them waiting. I won’t waste them afraid.

Life is too precious.

If I leave this world with nothing else, I hope my children and my community remember this:

One person mattered. One act of kindness mattered. One hygiene kit mattered. One conversation mattered. One life changed is enough.

And if we all decide to be part of something bigger than ourselves, imagine what thousands of “one more” moments can become.

Bless Up & Bloom
Brooke Simsa