Doll Smith started at a very young age in giving back to the community while growing up in Caruthersville, Missouri. Over a decade, Doll Smith has been actively involved in the Chicago-land communities in various ways, including supporting local children’s shelters, nursing homes, and facilitating fundraising activities to support women’s and children’s housing initiatives. In the past few years, Doll has worked to establish veteran recognition and celebration programs during the Christmas and Thanksgiving holiday seasons. In addition to serving the elderly population, as well as volunteering her time to ensure the well-being of others, Doll has been honored and commended for her diligence and efforts in raising funds to support students affected by Hurricane Katrina. Doll Smith was also recognized in Fortune Magazine in 2005 for providing affordable housing in Chicago. In 2014, the American Legion awarded Doll with a service award letter. She received the Saint Joseph Worker Award in November 2015 from Reverend James Alan Wilkowski, M. Div., MPS, Evangelical Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of the Northwest, and she received recognition for her vision and leadership, exceptional achievement, and participation in community service from the Chicago Defender Women of Excellence Award in 2017.
In 2011, Doll Smith started a not-for-profit, 501 (c) (3) organization to help homeless male and female veterans and their children. In 2012, this organization, DOLL INC, was deeded 10.2 acres of land in Ford Heights, Illinois, with 96 townhomes, the former Celina Blake Homes. DOLL INC has taken on the task of the now renamed “The Veterans Village of Ford Heights” through a total renovation project, to create a gated, secure Veterans Village for male and female homeless veterans and their families.
Mrs. Smith envisions that The Veterans Village of Ford Heights will help to facilitate a community that is united, progressive, supportive, and fosters economic development that is of an inclusive nature. Mrs. Smith sees a community ten years from now that has sufficient decent, affordable housing that is supportive of veterans who have so bravely served our country. Within this community, there will also be sufficient services for the family members, spouses, and children of our veterans to support a strong family foundation. Therefore, further envision having the same impact on the Ford Heights community, such that will become a model organization for effective collaboration and impactful services that will further improve the quality of life within the general Ford Heights, Illinois, community, that includes an increase in business, employment opportunities, reduction in at-risk behaviors, and services that meet and exceed the needs of residents. Mrs. Smith is a VSO (Veterans Service Officer) and works at the Country Club Hills AAPTSD of the Illinois office.