Ride #1 of Miles For Good. Laura Dunnigan, the Riding Realtor, sits down with Michelle Russell and Lori from Interfaith Dental, the first of 21 community-nominated nonprofits she is riding for around Murfreesboro with a QR code on her back.

Interfaith Dental is a nonprofit dental clinic for people who do not have dental insurance. Michelle explains who walks through the door: low-income individuals and families who are trying to make ends meet while dental care slides to the bottom of the list. The clinic has served Rutherford County for a little over 13 years and, between Murfreesboro and Nashville, saw a little over 4,000 patients last year. Michelle came to Interfaith from United Way more than ten years ago, after watching patients who had been hiding their smiles walk out with their confidence back. Laura brings up a past Spread The Positive guest whose husband was an Interfaith patient, and Michelle finishes the story: he came in with his whole world collapsed, and today he is married, has a son and a great job, and advocates for the clinic.

Then the practical part. Every patient pays on a sliding fee scale, some as little as $20 a visit, and the clinic has to raise about $1,200 per patient to close the gap. It is not a free clinic; patients have skin in the game. Interfaith runs on volunteers, so dentists, hygienists, MTSU students and anyone who wants to help with admin or fundraising can jump in. Lori, who nominated Interfaith for Miles For Good, has volunteered there since the days of a single clinic in downtown Nashville, giving up her Fridays to work the floor. And Michelle brings news: as of this recording, Laura's ride has already raised over $500 for Interfaith patients. Every dollar from the QR code goes straight to the nonprofit.

1. What is Interfaith Dental?
A nonprofit clinic providing dental care to people without dental insurance, with locations in Murfreesboro and Nashville.

2. Who does it serve?
Low-income individuals and families. Patients pay on a sliding fee scale starting around $20 a visit.

3. How can you help?
Donate through Laura's QR code or directly to Interfaith, volunteer as a dentist, hygienist or clinician, or help with admin and fundraising.

4. What is Miles For Good?
Laura Dunnigan's series riding for 21 community-nominated nonprofits around Murfreesboro. 100% of every donation goes to the nonprofit.

Interfaith Dental
Website: https://interfaithdentalclinic.com/
Murfreesboro clinic: 210 Robert Rose Drive, Murfreesboro, TN

Where to find Laura Dunnigan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyitslauradunnigan/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurandunnigan
Website: https://www.compass.com/agents/laura-dunnigan/

Where to find Spread The Positive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spreadthepositive.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spreadthepositive/
Website: https://www.spreadthepositive.net/

Abby Walters is back. 12 years of Forever Friends Nashville, dog rescue with RARE, and Sunday nights with the Walters Band at Union Hill. Abby sits down with Trent six years after her first episode and goes back to the start. She grew up in Indiana, graduated high school at 17, and was teaching kindergarten at 21, walking out of her classroom on day one bawling to the teacher next door.

She moved to Nashville in 2010 right after the flood to sing, landed her first job at Farrago where she met Trent, and 12 years ago started Forever Friends Nashville, teaching herself to sew dog toys, leashes, and bandanas. By year ten it was a grind that didn't really make money, and she told herself something had to switch. The next day, waiting on the Biscuit Love family at table C10, a woman told her she'd emailed that week about carrying her products. A month later, wearing her Forever Friends shirt on the way to meet her newborn nephew, the woman at the airport shop counter said they'd been looking for a dog product business.

Then it gets into the dogs. The Dino's and Dogs calendar is heading into year eight, and the first year was pure chaos, the same vibe as her first day teaching. Now they dress the dogs, pick a rescue every year, donate 100% of the proceeds, and have raised almost 20 grand. That's how she found RARE Rescue, a foster-based rescue with no building, and why she's fostering Carolina, a sweet hyper pup she pulled from a concrete building on a 105 degree day. And when she's not sewing or rescuing, she's at Union Hill Trading Post, home of chicken bingo and a Sunday open mic that turned into the six-piece Walters Band. Her stepdad came for her birthday and said it best: you're right, you can't explain this.

1.Who is Abby Walters?

A Nashville singer-songwriter, bartender, and dog advocate who founded Forever Friends Nashville 12 years ago.

2. What is Forever Friends Nashville?

Abby's handmade dog product company making toys, leashes, and bandanas, now carried at Biscuit Love, the Nashville airport, Bates Nursery, and Carter Vintage Guitars.

3.What is the Dino's and Dogs calendar?

A yearly dog calendar shot at Dino's Bar and Grill in East Nashville that donates 100% of proceeds to a rescue and has raised almost $20K.

4.How can you help RARE Rescue?

Follow them on Instagram, volunteer at events, foster, or join the Good Humans Club for $5 to $1,000 a month, and help raise $2,000 to unlock another $1,000 for their spay and neuter grant.

5.Where can you hear Abby sing?

Sunday nights at Union Hill Trading Post with the Walters Band, which she calls the every single week tour.

Where to find Abby Walters

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abbywalters1/?hl=en

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5yTqhT4uBRadtQlJFZkJGr

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/abby-walters/1440331613

Where to find Furever Friends:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fureverfriendsnashville/

Website: https://www.fureverfriendsnashville.com/

Where to find Spread The Positive:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spreadthepositive.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spreadthepositive/

Website: https://www.spreadthepositive.net/

Laura Dunnigan, the Riding Realtor, is biking Murfreesboro with a QR code on her back for 21 local nonprofits. Laura sits down with Trent to go back to Monongahela, Pennsylvania, a town of about 4,000 where her family did not have a car, so she walked and biked everywhere.

She wanted to be an artist, but her dad warned her about the starving artist thing, so she ended up in insurance for about 15 years, a lot of it working with Andy Weymouth. After selling her house in Tullahoma in 2020, she was sitting in Andy's office when it came over her: if not now, when? She jumped into real estate in July 2022, right as rates spiked, and started her design business at the same time.

She calls what she does staging on steroids, because people's first impression of a house is online now. Then it gets to the ride. Last year her friend Antoine challenged her to the Great Cycle Challenge for childhood cancer, and someone told her she was basically a rolling billboard. This year, riding around the square, she decided to bring it home. She asked the community to nominate their favorite nonprofits, and 18 people nominated 21 of them, starting with Interfaith Dental, which began in a broom closet in Nashville and now has a location in Murfreesboro.

She will ride with a big QR code on her back that goes straight to each organization, no money comes to her, and she did the math on what it would look like if the whole city pitched in.

1. Who is Laura Dunnigan?

A Murfreesboro realtor with Compass Real Estate, known as the Riding Realtor, who also runs Dunnigan Design.

2. What is Miles for Good? Laura's initiative where she bikes around Murfreesboro with a QR code on her back that links directly to 21 community-nominated nonprofits.

3. Does the money go to Laura? No, every QR code donation goes straight to the nonprofit organization.

4. Which nonprofits are included? Among the 21 are Interfaith Dental, Greenhouse Ministries, Middle Tennessee Boxer Rescue, the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center, and the Center for the Arts.

5. How can you help? Scan the QR code safely (have your passenger do it if you are driving), share the posts on social media, or ride along with her.

Where to find Laura Dunnigan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyitslauradunnigan/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurandunnigan

Website: https://www.compass.com/agents/laura-dunnigan/

Where to find Spread The Positive?

Socials

https://www.facebook.com/spreadthepositive.net

https://www.instagram.com/spreadthepositive/

Website: https://www.spreadthepositive.net/