Working Mom in need of assistance – March 24, 2016

A woman who lives in a Habit for Humanity house in Summerville is steadily employed.  She recently lost time from work and was falling behind in her mortgage and electric bills.  She reached out to several organizations and was referred to Change for a Dollar from the pastor of Dorchester Presbyterian Church which partially helped her with her mortgage.  Upon speaking with her it was determined that she had been back to work but needed some additional help getting back up to date on her budget.  Change for a Dollar assisted her in making a payment towards her electric bill thus lightening her current financial burden.

SCE&G payment - $250.00

Homeless man goes to college – March 16, 2016

A gentleman was working for the Coastal Carolina fair last year.  When the fair ended they laid off several workers and a couple of men were stranded in the area with no job or place to live.  One fellow remained homeless on the streets of Summerville for a couple of months until a bed became available at the local men’s homeless shelter.  After a couple of months picking up odd jobs he explored other options.  He looked at going back to school to get a more stable job.  He applied to Piedmont Technical School in upstate SC and was accepted.  He applied for and received some grants and scholarships.  He lacked sufficient funds for transportation to school in Greenwood SC or any funds for accommodations.  Change for a Dollar assisted with transportation, two nights lodging in a hotel prior to his school orientation and several food gift cards.

Transportation, lodging & food cards - $336.00

Prescription assistance for men in homeless shelter - Feb 29, 2016

Several men from Summerville’s Homeless Shelter for Men became ill this past winter.  Some needed to see a doctor and were given prescriptions for their colds and flu.  A couple of them had the funds to pay for the prescriptions but several lacked sufficient funds to pay for their medications.  Change for a Dollar assisted in paying for their medications.

Movie tickets and popcorn - $100

Kids get to go to movies for the first time - Feb 27, 2016

Several families that attend the Expanding the Table food truck dinners have a few children who join in as well.  The volunteers that are part of that mission have become close to many of these families.  It came to light that many of the youngers, one 11 years old, had never been to the movies in their entire life.  Two volunteers offered to take 6 of the kids to the movies for one Saturday afternoon matinee.  Kung Fu Panda 3 was playing in the theaters and the kids were excited at the prospect of going to see the movie.  A date was scheduled and they all attended and enjoyed popcorn as well.  Change for a Dollar covered the cost of the movies outing for the kids.  A fun time was had by all.

Movie tickets and popcorn - $70

Pair of homeless men needed assistance – Feb 16, 2016

Two Summerville homeless men had nothing other than back packs and large black plastic garbage bags for their belongings.  Change for a Dollar got each man a plastic roll around foot locker to store their belongings and keep them dry.  Additionally, one man had a bicycle that was in need of new tire tube for the flat tire.  He also needed a lock to keep it from getting stolen.  Change for a Dollar also paid for a tube and repaired the tire and provided a lock for him too.

Footlockers and bike parts - $61.17

New alternator for homeless man’s truck - Feb 10, 2016

A disabled homeless man living at Summerville’s homeless shelter for men, the Lowcountry Home of Hope, has a late model truck.  He uses the truck to do occasional paint jobs to supplement his small disability check.  Recently the truck broke down on his way to MUSC for some medical treatments.  Thankfully his insurance covered getting it towed back to the shelter.  A friend of one of the shelter staff who is an auto mechanic offered to install the alternator free of charge if he could get one.  Change for a Dollar paid for the alternator for the mechanic to install.  The vehicle is back on the road.

Rebuilt alternator for truck - $80

Band outfit for middle school boy - Feb 5, 2016

A local middle school boy who plays the clarinet in the school band is a frequent guest at dinner at Expanding the Table, a Summerville Mobile Soup Kitchen.  He has on occasion entertained the guests by playing at dinner.  Recently there was discussion about the upcoming school concert where he indicated he may not be able to play in it.  When he was asked why he couldn’t play he said he need black shoes, black pants and a white shirt which he didn’t have and his family could not afford.  Change for a Dollar paid for his outfit so he would be able to participate in the upcoming concert.

Shoes, pants and shirt - $50

Prescription assistance for several Summerville patients – Jan 31, 2016

Several patients from Summerville’s local free medical clinic were in need of assistance to purchase prescribed medications.  Ashley Ridge Church has a relationship with a local pharmacy in Summerville that partners with Change for a Dollar in providing medications to those in need.  Additionally, several men from the Summerville homeless shelter for men, the Lowcountry Home of Hope, were battling head colds during the winter months.  Several of them were able to get some over the counter cold remedies from the same local pharmacy.  Change for a Dollar covered the cost of those medications.

Pharmacy account - $100

Vision therapy for little girl with birth defects – Jan 17, 2016

A Summerville family has a one year old girl who was born with severe birth defects.  The little girl has a very under developed brain that in part affects her vision.  She is an adorable little girl and the families insurance has been helpful but it does not cover the therapy.  The vision therapy is necessary at this age if she is to have any hope to be able to have the ability to see in the years to come. The treatments have gotten very expensive with the frequent visits.  This has put a very big strain on the family finances along with the other uncovered expenses.   The Dorchester Board of Disabilities shared her story with several organizations who have been raising funds to cover her frequent therapy sessions.  Ashley Ridge Church, Change for a Dollar helped as well by putting money on account for the little girl’s therapy.

Vision therapy funds - $200.00

Homeless woman living in van – Jan 14, 2016

A Summerville woman got into some legal problems that resulted in her temporarily losing custody of her children to the grandmother.  She and her mother were guests at Expanding the Table Food Ministry last week and they shared their story.  The woman needs to attend some classes and is not permitted to live with her mother and the children during the period of change of custody.  The grandmother is helping her daughter as best she can but is of limited means.  The woman struggles to find employment and has a suspended license that makes it more difficult.  As a result the women has found herself homeless as she works out her issues and works toward getting custody of her children.  She is currently living in her van which had a tire that was going flat and the others were bald or improperly sized.  Changed for a Dollar offered to help with tires and was able to work out a deal with Gerald’s Tires to get her a full set of four good used tires so she could still have some means of transportation.

Gerald’s tires payment - $208.96

Elderly disabled woman, electric bill help – Jan 10, 2016

A Summerville man who is disabled was living with his mother who was also disabled.  It was strained relationship and issues came to head where the man had to move out of the house.  His disability prevented him from working and he soon found himself homeless.  He is currently residing in the local homeless shelter.  He continues to have contact with and is concerned for his mother.  She had fallen behind in the electric bill and she was in danger of being disconnected.  He approached Ashley Ridge Church Change for a Dollar for assistance in helping his Mom with her bill.  Change for a Dollar made a partial payment on the account preventing the shut off of electric.

SCE&G payment - $150.00

Bike repairs for homeless shelter residents – December 17, 2015

The new men’s homeless shelter, the Lowcountry Home of Hope in Summerville, is where most guests lack a vehicle.  Most of the men have been provided with bicycles for basic transportation around town by the generous donations from residents of Summerville.  Several of the shelter guests had bikes that recently needed some repairs.  A local bicycle shop offered to do discount repairs and Change for a Dollar paid for the repairs on two bicycles.

Bicycle repairs - $55.00

Single Mom no money for Christmas for kids – December 14, 2015

A very young Summerville single mom has had some legal problems that resulted in her children being placed in temporary custody of the grandparents.  The young lady is semi homeless as the environment at her mother’s house for her is very toxic and she is in and out.  As she struggles to address her issues ARC has been assisting and supporting her along the way.  She has never worked out of high school and married very young which resulted in divorce after the birth of her 3^rd child.  As she struggles and works towards putting her life together, find and job and a place to live she was not in a position to get any gifts for her children for Christmas.  Change for a Dollar helped her with purchasing gifts for her to give to her children on Christmas morning.  We helped her with the shopping and delivered the gifts to the grandparents to be put under the tree.

Car payment - $157.73

Summerville man in need of assistance – December 13, 2015

Expanding the Table participated in the 2015 Summerville Christmas Parade.  During the parade set up a gentleman from Summerville noticed someone he knew in our group of parade participants.  He was a coach with a group of young boys from a little league football team that were participants in the parade as well.  They talked and caught up and during the conversation it came to light that his truck was in for repairs and he was short the money to pay for the repairs and was currently walking to his job.  Change for a Dollar offered to help with a partial payment for the repairs.

Car repair payment - $100.00

Single man loses job, car at risk of repossession – December 2, 2015

A 63 single man was living with a friend.  He had a job and was contributing to the rent and expenses.  He recently lost his job due to health reasons and was applying for disability.  The friends were working with him letting him stay without contributing while he waited for his disability to be approved.  However, he had a car payment that was past due and the car was at risk of being repossessed.  His friends did not have the means to help with the car payment and he was seeking assistance through Trident United Way.  Change for a Dollar helped by making the car payment plus the $5.00 late fee.

Car payment - $250.00

Homeless woman seeks closure with family – November 21, 2015

A homeless Summerville woman has been living on the streets for many months.  She has family in Georgia but has been estranged for many years since her divorce.  Her parents are of very limited means, getting very old and frail and this woman was looking to reconcile with them before it was too late and possibly return home to join them.  She was very anxious about the meeting but felt she needed to reach out.  Change for a Dollar offered to assist if she decided to make the trip in hopes of a good outcome.  After a couple of weeks considering the offer she took us up on the assistance.  Change for a Dollar paid for a bus ticket to GA plus a couple nights in a hotel for her to clean up before the visit.  Last word was she was staying at the parents’ house after the hotel stay.  A good sign.

Trip to GA – $63.00 bus ticket, $203.07 hotel – total $266.07

Single mom evicted, relocating up north – November 6, 2015

A single mom in Summerville was living with some relatives for the past serval years.  She recently lost her job and there was some conflict within the household.  The tension came to a head in recent weeks and the relative informed her that she had to leave the house.  After a few days of living in her car with her children see began to reach out to agencies for assistance.  There was no vacancies in any shelters and she ran the risk of having trouble with DSS for living in her car.  She had other family in Massachusetts who she was in communication with and told her she come to stay with them.  They did not have enough resources to make the trip.  Change for a Dollar was approached for help and we provided gas cards for the trip up north.

Gas Cards – $100.00

Homeless man needed help to get medical care – Nov 2, 2015

A Summerville Homeless man was assaulted a couple of weeks ago.  As a result of the assault he required surgery that wired his jaw back together.  He recently lost his job and was due for a follow up visit to the surgeon to have the wires removed from his jaw.  He was conserving gas in his car for job hunting and asked for help with a gas card to get downtown to MUSC for the follow-up medical visit.  Change for a Dollar purchased him a gas card.

Gas card - $25

Bus Ticket for homeless man - October 30, 2015

As Summerville homeless man was looking to get into the new homeless shelter in town.  Unfortunately, the man had an outstanding legal matter out of state that would result in blocking his entrance to the shelter.  He explained the situation to ARC owners who know him and requested help.  After reviewing the circumstances and discussing options Change for a Dollar purchased a round trip bus ticket for this man to resolve his matters out of state.  He returned after a couple of days and was transported to the homeless shelter where he now resides.

Bus Ticket – $206.00

Bible for struggling young man - October 23, 2015

A guest of Expanding the Table was going through some difficult times and didn’t have any supportive family to turn to.  He suffered a bad accident one evening and was hospitalized as a result.  He had been communicating with one of the food truck volunteers and that was the person he called from the hospital.  The volunteer made a visit to him in the hospital and he was a bit upset.  During the visit he asked if the volunteer would get him a Bible.  Change for a Dollar purchased an easy to read bible / study guide.

Bible – $40.00