The owner of a metaphysical shop with locations in Will and Grundy counties is now running a nonprofit with inclusive programs.

But to Amy Lee, owner of Rock Soul Love and founder of Rock Soul Love Luminary Foundation, both ventures are really two sides of the same goal.

“In retail, I help provide tools for people on their journey,” Lee said. “This is just another facet of that.”

Rock Soul Love Luminary Foundation has a donation-based resale store in Morris, which helps fund the foundation’s community enrichment room, mainly geared toward seniors, Lee said.

“Seniors can come to do arts and crafts and hang out, play cards. We always have free coffee,” Lee said. “We also do a caring closet where if our seniors need anything – toiletries, bedding, shoes, clothes – all they have to do is ask us, and we will get that for them."

The foundation is working with an organization that helps people experiencing homelessness return to the workforce, she said. Using vouchers, those clients can pick up business and work-related clothing at the foundation’s resale shop.

Rock Soul Love Luminary Foundation also has two micro pantries – one inside the store and one outside – that anyone in the community can use, Lee said.

“I really – in my heart of hearts and soul of souls – want to make an impact in this world and make it better for the people I come in contact with," Lee said.

Making seniors feel wanted

Lee’s inspiration for the nonprofit came from traveling back and forth to an assisted living facility in Florida, where Lee’s grandmother was staying.

“Every time I signed the registry, my name and my aunt’s name were pretty much the only ones there,” Lee said. “No one was visiting these 50 residents, and it broke my heart.”

So she started talking and smiling to the other residents in the common area and asking questions such as, “How are you today?” “Does anybody want a hug?” and “Does anyone need anything?”

“I found myself painting their nails or getting them chocolate for treats,” Lee said. “When my grandma passed, I not only lost her, I lost these 50 residents that grew to look forward to my visits. When my grandma passed, I knew in my heart I wanted to make a difference. I didn’t want to see a senior feeling unloved or forgotten like I had seen in the facility where my grandma was at.”

Lee said it took her a year to define the parameters of her nonprofit and “figure out where to get funding.” The resale shop was born from Lee’s own retail experience and the wisdom of ideas from other “trailblazers,” she said.

In 2000, Lee and her mother opened an antique store in Morris and ran it together for several years. When her mother retired a few years later, Lee continued running the store, gradually adding collectibles and then crystals and other metaphysical items.

“My love for crystals started as a kid,” Lee said. “As a kid, I’d see a sparky rock in my driveway and put it in my pocket.”

By her early 20s, she was reading books about different religions, cultures and “modalities of life.”

“And I just felt really connected to things that God put on this earth to help us on our journey,” Lee said.

Expanding the reach

Rock Soul Love now has locations in Morris, Lockport and Bloomington as well as a warehouse for global distribution, Lee said. She also started doing live sales during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inflation and tariffs – because many of their products “come from another country” – are Lee’s current small business owner challenges, she said.

But she’s learned through the years to be open to changes and “adaptive to the ebb and flow” – and that includes consumers’ priorities and spending habits, she said.

“If you’re having to set aside an extra $200 in groceries, you won’t have $200 to spend on non-necessities,” Lee said. “And I totally understand that.”

Finally, Lee hopes her story “starts a spark” in someone to make a difference, too, and not allow past circumstances to determine future outcomes.

At 19, Lee was homeless with a baby and spent time in the former Lamb’s Fold in Joliet, she said, which merged with Trinity Services in 2019.

“I know what it’s like to have absolutely nothing,” Lee said. “I started off with literally nothing, and, having what I have now, I am grateful every day.”

For more information, visit rslluminaryfdn.square.site and rocksoullove.com.