Air Conditioners for folks at ETT– June 25, 2019

This time of the year when the weather starts to get hot many folks living in very modest conditions often suffer in the heat.  Many live in homes with inoperative Air Conditioning units or they may have moved into a place without one.  Several volunteers in the Expanding The Table  mission over the course of the past week were approached by guests with stories of having no AC.  One had moved to a new place without it, another had their unit fail during a power surge during a lightning storm and another had been without one for a couple of years and was asking if we could possibly assist.  Thankfully Change for a Dollar had not had a request for assistance in a couple of weeks and there was just enough funds to cover the three units.  The air conditioners were delivered to folks at the meal serving site and several of the other guests offered to assist with their installations.

Lowes – 3 single room ACs - $642.64

A homeless woman a wanted bible– June 21, 2019

A woman who is homeless was able to be placed in the new women’s homeless shelter in town.  The shelter is a faith based shelter and will always have bibles on hand to share with the guests if they desire one.  There was one guest at the facility who was feeling very blessed to have a place to sort out her issues and had begun taking an interest in church worship and bible studies and had requested a bible. The translation of the bible she was reading was presenting some challenges for her given her reading level.  A volunteer had suggested the NIrV translation, which is an early reader’s version, which is well suited for youth and easy to read.  While it was a youth bible the woman was very excited to be able to easily read the chapters and verses and was thrilled that the Word was coming alive for her.  She also has two middle school children that she thought when she visited with them they could read it together and when she was ready for a different translation she planned to pass it on to her kids.

NIrV bible – $32.88

A homeless woman at ETT serving– June 2, 2019

A woman who visited Doty Park in Summerville had recently become homeless and asked an Expanding the Table volunteer for help. The woman who was a resident of Summerville left town a few weeks earlier to go to another state with a boyfriend in hopes of a new start.  After a few weeks there the boyfriend kicked her out and she got on a bus to come back to the Lowcountry.  She had hoped to stay with her parents in Summerville but upon return that was not an option.   The ETT volunteer offered to put her up in a local hotel for a couple of nights as the women’s homeless shelter was still a week or so away from opening.  The volunteer asked if Change for a Dollar could help as well and we were able to extend her stay for a few extra days to allow her time to try to make arrangements. We paid for her three night stay at the local hotel.

Economy Inn Hotel – 3 nights - $195.00

Autistic man and mother in need of help– May 25, 2019

A single mom who is a regular guest at the Expanding the Table dinner has an autistic adult male son she cares for.  He is a large young man who is prone to having violent outbursts when he gets agitated.  His mother is able in part to keep him calm by allowing him to listen to Gospel music on her cell phone but it is often problematic when she gets a call or needs the phone herself.  Change for a Dollar was asking the folks at the serving site if there was anything we could do to assist the mother to help with the son.  In discussions it came up that the mother could afford to pay for additional minutes on a phone plan but didn’t have enough money to purchase her son his own phone.  Change for a Dollar offered to get the young man his own phone thereby allowing the mother to keep her phone and in turn she could help control her son’s behavior/ outbursts by him having his own phone.

Walmart “pay as you go phone” and data plan cards. - $184.82

A homeless women picked up on I26– May 16, 2019

A woman, who was acting as a Good Samaritan, contacted one of the ARC volunteers she knew regarding a homeless woman she encountered at an Interstate I26 rest stop.   The woman who was a resident of Texas for some unknown reason got on a bus headed to the Lowcountry in hopes of finding a place to stay and a job. The Good Samaritan woman brought her to the local Summerville Community Resource Center in hopes of finding help for her. The ARC volunteer asked if Change for a Dollar could help with a few days hotel stay for the woman to help her have a place to try to come up with a plan.  Change for a Dollar assisted by paying for her three nights stay in a hotel.

Economy Inn - $195.00

A women in need of medication for pneumonia – May 15, 2019

A Summerville woman who is a guest at Expanding the Table recently became ill. The illnesses developed into serious chest congestion where she wanted to go to the hospital.  She contacted one of the volunteers from the ETT ministry for a ride to the hospital. Upon being seen in the ER she was diagnosed with pneumonia and discharged with a couple of prescriptions.  She has very limited income from a piece work job and she wasn’t able to afford the medication.  Change for a Dollar was asked to assist.  We paid for her three prescriptions.

Publix Pharmacy - $31.61