When it comes to leveraging resources and mobilizing volunteers to help people in need, United Way of the Coastal Empire in Bryan County has its act together. “The support from the community has been phenomenal; from City government to County government to law enforcement to the church community to the average person on the street, “says Janice Blunt, Area Director of United Way in Bryan County. Janice, along with a team of community volunteers and partner entities, provide a growing list of services to North Bryan County residents. Through these strategic collaboratives, programs like SHEPherd’s Supper, Bonus Bag and The Clothes Line have given folks in this area something to smile about.

Imagine you get diagnosed with cancer.  Then imagine while on leave for treatment of that cancer, you lose your job.  Then imagine someone tells you they are going to take away your home because you are behind on payments because you lost your job because of that cancer; and not just any home, but the home where you have lived for 20 years with your family.  For most, we couldn’t begin to imagine this confluence of tragedy; but for Frances Stoney-Graham and her family, it was a reality as harsh and bitter as a winter day.

What began with a few innocent overdrafts grew into an unexpected journey through credit debt disaster and back again for Patrick Kilpatrick.  

Like most of us, Patrick is fairly conservative when it comes to spending.  He’s a bargain shopper, often choosing the economical option and rarely, if ever, using credit for frivolous extras. “My parents had some debt issues, and so they preached to me about credit cards,” he recalls.  But despite their efforts to warn Patrick about the allure of easy money, he eventually fell prey, beginning with a line of credit on his first banking account. “I didn’t overdraw it often, but I never went back and paid it off, so it stayed there. I’d pay my minimum, but it just grew over time,” he says. 

In many ways, Candice Johnson is a typical 16-year old girl - she’s excited about going to prom, she loves hanging out with her friends, and she is starting to make plans for college.   But spend just a few minutes talking with this effervescent, wise-beyond-her-years young woman, and you’ll find yourself marveling at how someone can be so mature and aware at such a young age.  Maybe it’s because her mother, Candy, taught her to always be productive and give back, or maybe it’s just her inherent interest in the world around her.  Or, is it because she’s been in Girl Scouts since she was five years old?  The answer is ‘all of the above.’

There was a time when struggling families depended heavily upon what they could grow in their own backyard, season by season: leafy winter greens, sweet spring peas, plump summer tomatoes, colorful fall gourds.  And some might agree that they were better off for it, having access to nutrient rich foods.  But today, costly fresh fruits and vegetables are seldom on the menu for most low-income families.  So when a group of Bulloch County farmers grew tired of plowing under perfectly good produce that wasn’t “attractive” enough for the supermarket, they reached out to United Way of the Coastal Empire in Effingham County, and sown were the seeds of The Farmer’s Garden.

Having woken with a headache that morning, Petra Foxworth took aspirin and went about her work as a cashier as best she could, despite the pain.  It would have been her day off but, luckily, Petra had agreed to switch shifts at the grocery store where she worked; otherwise, she would have been home, alone.

John Taylor served 17 years as a platoon sergeant in the United States Army.  He survived tours in the Gulf War, as well as several other combat assignments and was looking forward to retiring from the military and going back to school.  So in the fall of 2000 when, during a routine eye exam, John was told he had a rare inflammatory disease called sarcoidosis that could leave him blind in six months, he was shocked.  “I thought to myself, ‘I have a plan. I have a family. I’m too young, ’” he recalls.

Twenty-two year old DeJarvis has a “Big” heart.  Just ask anyone who knows him, like his “Little” brother, nine year-old Demetric; or better yet, just watch Demetric’s face light up when he talks about the day he met DeJarvis. “We had a good time…the first day we met, I showed him around school, and I was so happy…we had cake and juice,” he beams.

It’s 3:30 in the morning and you awaken to an overwhelming smell of smoke, maybe you even see flames, or hear the cracking of timber.  Your mind races, as your body instinctively prepares to flee.  If you are alone, perhaps you think for a split-second about the location of your wallet.  If you are a parent, caregiver, or pet owner you immediately focus on finding your loved ones and getting them out safely.  And then, if you’re lucky, minutes later you find yourself and any companions standing in the street, dazed, but unhurt, marveling at the sights and sounds before you – flames, smoke, firefighters, sirens…things so surreal that it feels like a bad dream.  But when your mind and your heart resume their normal pace, you look down to see that you are in the clothes you went to sleep in, and the wave of relief that washed over you is quickly replaced with that of panic. What about your things? Where will you go?  Who will help you?  

Roxanne Mosley wanted to be a physical therapist.  But after learning that she had Stage IV breast cancer in September 2007, her plans changed.  “I already knew what it was before they told me on the phone. I did research on the internet and had dealt with my crying and my anger,” she recalls.  Not one to dwell on the negative, the former soldier and mother of three continued working her three jobs and began chemotherapy treatment. “You do what you have to do…I was able to keep it together because I have kids.”