Change for a Dollar – 5/9/14

Mark, a Summerville homeless man who suffers from a bone disorder has been in and out of a cast for the past 59 weeks.  His fracture has finally healed to the point where the doctors have permanently removed the cast.  He was relieved to get out of the cast but has a long road ahead to gain back some strength in his leg.  He asked if ARC Change for a Dollar could put him up for one night in a hotel so he could spend some time soaking in a nice hot bath and get a good night rest in a bed.  To help him start to feel more normal again on his road to recovery, Change for a Dollar reserved a room for him at the local EconoLodge where he spent the night cleaning up and relaxing.

Amount $ 79.47

Change for a Dollar – 5/4/14

Carol, a single woman who is a patient at the Medical Outreach Clinic of Summerville is battling cancer and is awaiting a disability determination.  During her eligibility update interview it became known that she was struggling financially.  Her ex-husband does not pay any support to her for her teenage son who has been looking for work to help his mom pay the bills.  The son has a job offer at BiLo but needs a replacement birth certificate to get his photo ID but the family does not have the funds to apply for a replacement birth certificate.  The woman also stated her electric bill was in arrears as her brother is no longer able to help her pay her bills.  Change for a dollar provided a money order to the State of Kentucky Vital Statistics office for the birth certificate and made a payment to SCE&G on the electric bill.  She hopes her disability will soon be approved and her son is also looking forward to helping out.

Amount $ 16.00 plus $296.00 total $312.00

Change for a Dollar – 4/28/14

A Summerville man who is a patient at the Medical Outreach Clinic of Summerville came to the clinic a few weeks ago.  During his eligibility review it became known that he was struggling financially.  He is on Social Security Disability and was holding his own until the ice storm and frigid winter.  The HVAC unit in his rented trailer is very old and in need of repair but the landlord has failed to address the problem.  His electric bill was $600 for February and March as opposed to $150 per month due to the faulty heating unit.   He initially stated he was managing and getting help.  He returned to the clinic for a follow up visit last week and shared that he was struggling in making the SCE&G payment after all and asked if Ashly Ridge Church was still offering to help.  ARC Change for a Dollar inquired as to what the arrangements were with SCE&G and he needed $364 by May 5^th for his current bill and payment plan.  A payment to his account was made on April 28^th and his account is current till next month which he feels he can handle.  

Amount $ 364.00

Change for a Dollar – 4/11/14

A Summerville man, who is a patient at the Medical Outreach Clinic of Summerville, came to the clinic very upset.  He has been unemployed due to a disability, his wife had left him a while back and his house was in foreclosure.  He was at the clinic for medication refills and shared that his electric was disconnected that afternoon in spite of having paid a couple of hundred dollars the week before.  His only source of income at the moment, while waiting on approval for disability, was to sell items at the flea market on weekends.  ARC Change for a Dollar inquired as to what the arrangements were with SCE&G to get his electric turned back on.  A payment to his account was made the following day and his electric was restored that afternoon.  

Amount $ 285.00

Change for a Dollar – 3/31/14

A Summerville Mom with several kids had to relocate their residence.  Following the move while setting up their electric account a past due bill resulted in a significant deposit being required.  Initially SCEG worked with the woman and established a payment plan for the deposit which she thought was workable.  As weeks progressed it became apparent that the payment plan was beyond her ability to pay at the moment given the expenses from the move.  ARC Change for a Dollar helped out this family by making an installment payment towards the required deposit.  

Amount $ 250.00

Change for a Dollar – 3/27/14

A Summerville single Mom with two kids is a recent cancer survivor.  The illness had put a terrible strain on the family budget.  An ARC Owner became aware of her situation and ask Change for a Dollar to reach out to her.  The woman was very upbeat and happy to have successfully dealt with her illness but was anxious about mounting bills as she lost a lot time from work.  Change for a Dollar inquired as to her most pressing need at this time and she shared her electric bill was in arrears and she was in danger of her power being turned off.  Change for a Dollar paid her past due amount on her SCE&G account thus preventing the disconnect.

Amount $ 317.00

Change for a Dollar – 3/24/14

A Summerville Mom has relocated as a result of some marital issues.  Her and her children have moved into a new place of their own at this time.  There were expenses associated with the change of residence for her and the kids that put a strain on the budget.  While she is employed she needed some temporary assistance.  ARC Change for a Dollar provided a gift card to Walmart to help her get the new place set up for her and the kids.

Amount $ 150.00

Change for a Dollar – 3/10/14

There is a young special needs homeless man, who has been spotlighted in the Summerville Journal Scene and has been helped by local police and fire department personnel since he finished high school.  He has been assisted in various ways by other local churches and other organizations but remains in a difficult / fragile situation since he needs minor supervision and his family is incapable of caring for him, they are a family in need as well.  ARC reached out to representatives from the police department to see if he had any needs not currently being met.  They indicated he could use gift cards to a local fast food restaurant that he frequents which they would share them with him as he needed. Change for a Dollar purchased six, $10 gift cards to one of his favorite places and presented them to the police officer to give to the young man to use.

Amount $ 60.00

Change for a Dollar – 3/10/14

Guerin’s pharmacy in Summerville partners with the Medical Outreach Clinic of Summerville (a free medical clinic for those with no insurance and limited means) in providing medications to patients from the clinic.  Ashley Ridge Church, Change for a Dollar, on occasion will help those patients in paying for their prescriptions if they do not have the means to do so.  There was an outstanding balance at Guerin’s pharmacy along with some pending prescriptions that Change for a Dollar covered this month for those patients.

Amount $ 125.00

Change for a Dollar – 2/10/14

A homeless couple who had been previously living in the woods in Summerville have been making progress on getting back on their feet.  The husband had been working part time with his brother but recently has not had the hours he needs to stay current with their rent.  The wife works for a local fast food restaurant and between the two have been able to afford a room at a boarding house.  Due to the lack of work for the husband they were coming up short for their full rent.  Change for a Dollar help out this couple with a partial payment on their rent.  They were confident that in the weeks to come they would get back on track.

Amount $ 100.00

Change for a Dollar – 2/3/14

A 53 year old woman, who lives in an apartment with her daughter and 15 yr. old grandson sought medical attention at the Medical Outreach Clinic of Summerville.  The woman was just release this week from the hospital following admission for acute kidney failure and is scheduled for dialysis.  The woman has been unable to work since last October due to her serious health conditions and has applied for disability.  She has been able to make payments on the rent and utilities with the help from her daughter but has been falling behind in her electric bill.  She has continued to communicate with the electric company and has made token payments to keep from getting threatened with disconnect but is worried she may get too far behind.  Change for a Dollar made a partial payment to her SCE&G account to help lighten her financial burden.

Amount $ 75.00

Change for a Dollar – 1/27/14

A young lady, a former ARC Community Youth participant now a college student, did some community service over the Christmas break at a North Charleston elementary School.  She and her friends noticed some children scavenging for food scraps and decided to look into their situation.  They found these children were living as a families in a small motel room.  She and her friends decided to search them out and found one family in a local hotel by the school.  A mother and her six children were facing being put out of the hotel because the mother lost her job and could no longer pay for the room.  These young adults took it upon themselves to try to do what they could to help this family, find the mother work, find a less expensive hotel, raise money for food for the family and whatever else they could do the keep the family off the streets. The former ARC student approached Change for a Dollar for assistance and we provided her with funds toward the hotel room.

Amount $168.00

Change for a Dollar – 1/27/14

A women, a single Mom with a middle school aged son, is struggling with several issues, one being she has a part time job and her hours have been limited at this time of year.  She gets no support from her ex-husband and struggles to pay her bills.  Change for a Dollar helped with a Bi Lo food gift card as she is not eligible for food stamps.

Amount $50

Change for a Dollar – 1/23/14

During the week of Jan 20 the weather was forecast to be in the teen’s towards the end of the week.  The Change for a Dollar team was aware of a homeless man living in the woods in Summerville.  When we contacted him to see if he had a place to stay for those two nights out of the cold, he indicated he did not.  He also told us of another man living in the woods in Summerville nearby his location.  We asked that he check with him to see if he had a place and he did not.  Change for Dollar and ARC Outreach put these two men up in the hotel during the two frigid nights.

Amount $63

Change for a Dollar – 1/20/14

A women, a single Mom with two middle school aged children, contacted ARC for assistance with her rent.  The Change for a Dollar team set up an interview with the woman to explore her needs.  She has just switched jobs to pick up additional hours and had fallen behind a bit in her rent while waiting for her checks to start coming regular.  She is also attending school to be a Medical Assistant and was nearing graduation.  Because of school she can only work part time and struggles to make the bills as her ex-husband is not making any regular child support payments.  She brought her children with her and by all accounts the children were well behaved and the woman appears to be a good mom trying to make a better life for her family.  Unfortunately, Change for a Dollar did not have enough funds to pay the entire rent but we did pay 50 % of her past due amount for which she was very appreciative.

Amount $300

Change for a Dollar – 1/17/14

A women, a single Mom with two young girls, arrived at the Medical Outreach Clinic of Summerville seeking assistance with getting prescriptions refilled.  She suffers from PTSD as a result of a rape and needs several medications.  Her husband recently left her because he was unable to deal with the wife’s mental health condition (and the youngest child is also the result of the rape) so she is no longer able to afford the doctor as that was her only source of income.  The woman has two children ages two and three and lives in a small house she inherited from an uncle so thankfully she has no rent or mortgage.  She has applied for disability as she is unable to work as a result of her condition and is scheduled to receive assistance and services but that is still weeks away.  Change for a Dollar inquired as to her overall financial situation and her electric bill was past due and she did not have the means to pay it.  Change for a Dollar made a payment to Berkeley County Electric Coop on her account.

Amount $178

Change for a Dollar – 1/14/14

When checking with a past recipient of C4$, a single Mom who is battling breast cancer, we became aware that she needed to make a trip to Virginia for her other sons surgery.  Her 20 year old son who lives with his Dad in Virginia suffers from a brain tumor and is facing a risky surgery with less than an optimistic prognosis.  The mother wanted to be there when he had the surgery but her finances are already stretched very thin that she was fearing eviction from her apartment amongst other things as a result of a being away from work.  Change for a Dollar helped with some of her travel expenses for gas and food so she could make the trip.

Amount $131

Change for a Dollar – 1/14/14

When checking with a past recipient of C4$, a homeless man, he informed us of a need to pay his cell phone bill.  In the past a family member had paid his "pay as you go" cell phone plan but there has been a recent change in some of the family dynamics and he has lost that assistance.  Since he has some serious health concerns and needs to go to the hospital often he needs a way of staying in touch given his limited mobility.  Change for a Dollar helped him by paying for two months of his cell phone plan so he has a way of staying connected.

Amount $100

Change for a Dollar – 1/8/14

When checking with a past recipient of C4$, a homeless man, he informed us of the fact there was another homeless couple living in a tent in Summerville.  We were checking to see if he was going to be OK with the upcoming cold snap when we became aware of this other couple who were going to be exposed to weather also.  He only had a description of the woman and that she worked at a local fast food restaurant in town.  C4$ went to the restaurant to see if we could locate this couple.  She was not working that day but the manager on duty said she had a way of getting in touch with them.  We gave her our phone number to share with the couple and asked they give us a call.  About an hour later the woman called and we discussed their situation and they indeed were still living in the tent and the woman was battling a cold as well. C4$ offered to put them up in a hotel for the two nights where the weather was forecast to be below freezing.  C4$ has a relationship with a local hotel and we put them up in a room so they were out of the cold for those two days.

Amount $125

Change for a Dollar – 1/6/14

Change for a Dollar checked with a homeless person that we had recently helped.  With the coming cold snap there was a concern that he had a way to get out of the cold based upon the forecasted weather.  He was found at his usual spot at the library and we discussed his current situation.  He was still recovering from the surgery on his leg and was still living in the tent.  C4$ bought him breakfast that morning and talked to him about the weather situation and his current living conditions.  He was in need of some items for his “home” / tent and we purchased those items and set him up with a tab at Waffle House for a week’s worth of meals.  Additionally C4$ offered to put him up in a hotel for the two nights that the weather was forecast to be below freezing.  He said he had an offer for a stay at a friend’s house for one of the nights and I was to check with him the following day to see if he needed the second night out of the cold.  The friend extended the offer for the second night so he did not need the hotel room.  He was thankful for the meals and the supplies for his tent

Amount $115