NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Nashville man who turned his fear of walking alone in his neighborhood into a nationwide movement that brought strangers together has died.
Shawn Dromgoole passed away this week, leaving behind a legacy that transformed how communities connect across the country.
In 2020, during the height of isolation and uncertainty, Dromgoole posted on social media that he was afraid to walk in his 12 South neighborhood because of the color of his skin. He asked a simple question "Who will walk with me?"
Nashville answered in overwhelming numbers.
"It was blocks and blocks… hundreds of people… it was just kind of cool to see the whole community just come together for a person," said Beth Urbanzik, who attended the first Walk With Shawn event.
What started as one walk at Sevier Park grew into something much bigger – a nonprofit organization, a movement, and a mission to build community connections.
"His big goal was to build community. He didn't want anybody to be afraid. He wanted neighbors to actually know each other," Urbanzik said.
The movement brought together strangers like Urbanzik and Courtney Kruckeberg, who had never met before but both showed up for that first walk in 2020.
"We don't want you to feel scared. We don't want you to feel like you can't just go out in your community and go on a nice walk," Kruckeberg said.
Both women described Dromgoole as someone who made people feel seen and valued.
"He brought peace, he brought love, he brought curiosity… he wanted all of us to be better," Kruckeberg said.
This week, both women learned of Dromgoole's death separately while visiting the same park where the movement began.
"My heart stopped. It's hard to say was because he still feels like he is still here," Urbanzik said.
Urbanzik later served on the board of the Walk With Shawn organization. She said she had seen Dromgoole just a week before his death.
Years later, the paths of strangers like Urbanzik and Kruckeberg continue to cross not because they knew each other, but because one man once invited them to walk beside him.
The Walk With Shawn movement expanded beyond Nashville, inspiring similar community-building initiatives across the nation.
Have you experienced the power of community connection in your own neighborhood? Watch the full story about Shawn Dromgoole's inspiring legacy and share your own community-building ideas with us at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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