The Impact of Your Donations
Neighbors feel the benefit of your donations in many ways.
2024
Stories of
hope
Rachel joined Deep Well’s Circles program as an adult working an entry level job while living with her mother. Most of her income was allocated to paying for an unreliable vehicle with an extremely high-interest auto loan. At the time this was her only option – Rachel did not have adequate credit to secure an affordable auto loan or an apartment of her own. She did not have enough work experience, or skills, to obtain a better paying job. She felt stuck. At Circles, Rachel learned how to build her credit quickly and was able to finance a reliable car and escape predatory lending rates. Additionally, she was able to begin taking classes at Technical College of the Lowcountry to enhance her skills. This higher education helped her land a better job and afford her own home. Today she works at a local medical clinic and enjoys having a reliable vehicle. Since joining the program her income has more than doubled and she no longer relies on others. Today Rachel is financially independent with a meaningful career.
Deep Well’s Livable Housing home repair program responded to the call of a single mother with a severely handicapped 20-year-old son. This full-time working mother had a serious ingress/egress issue at her home – she had to pull up and lower her son in a wheelchair up and down a seven-step staircase for him to go in and out of their single wide mobile home. After assessing the family’s resources and situation, Deep Well agreed to build not only an emergency ramp for the home, they also made the son’s shower more accessible for him with the placement of several grab bars. To help this family as quickly as possible, Deep Well combined two volunteer construction groups into a single joint work group to speed up the construction of an ADA compliant, 63-foot ramp and the bathroom safety improvements. This family still faces challenges, but improving their mobility in their home has helped mother and son tremendously.
The Livable Housing home repair team at Deep Well responded to a 51-year-old mother with a 36-year-old daughter who had suffered a stroke and was on a feeding tube. Due to the daughter’s condition, the mother had to resign her position at work to stay home and care for her, so their income and resources were extremely limited. Their home had a host of safety and health issues that Deep Well tackled—an old, leaking hot water heater needed to be replaced, the floor underneath the unit was rotted from the leak, their HVAC system had not worked for several years, and the front and rear steps were rotted and needed to be replaced. The daughter’s condition made it impossible for the mother to bathe her daughter, so Deep Well removed her old tub and replaced it with a walk-in-shower. Due to safety concerns, Deep Well also replaced ten electrical outlets and switches and arranged for two large 60-foot rotted trees looming over the trailer to be cut down. The plethora of repairs this family’s home needed was more extensive than any case Deep Well has taken on in recent years, but the hardship being faced by these women was also extreme. Deep Well met the need and restored hope to the family.