Annie is a single mother of three young children, ages 6, 3 and 2. She came to Greer Relief in
May of last year for assistance with her CPW bill. She was struggling because she left her
husband in March after he threatened her life. She was afraid for her and her children’s safety
so she asked him to leave the home. Since then she changed jobs a couple of times due to her
children’s school schedules and her medical issues so now the only income is her small VA
check that she gets monthly. Her husband was refusing to pay any child support at the time.
She has been able to get Sec 8 to help her with housing so she doesn’t have to worry about
rent and she receives SNAP benefits to help with the cost of food but she doesn’t have any help
with her other expenses. We were able to cover the full amount of her power bill at that time.
She also needed help with gas to travel to Columbia, SC. She had an appointment there with
the VA to hopefully get her check increased and to get other help and/or resources from them.
We were able to help her with 2 gas cards totaling $30.00 to help her travel to her
appointment. She said that the VA is able to help her with travel expenses on her way back.
Annie was also invited to our Adopt-A-Family Program where a sponsor provided Christmas
gifts for her and her three children. We have helped her a couple more times with gas gift
cards so she can continue her efforts with the VA office in Columbia, SC. We have also referred
her out to a few other agencies to further help her. She came back this year for assistance on
another electric bill. She is going through a divorce and does have her husband court ordered
to pay child support but he doesn’t make regular payments like he is suppose to. She is looking
for work and is hoping to find something that she can start when the kids start back to work.
Her story and Thank You card written to her sponsor for the Adopt-A-Family Program have
been used as an example in both our Newsletter and our Thank Yous sent out to donors. We,
at Greer Relief, have been moved by how polite and appreciative she is of any and all help she
has received.