UMRC
Newsletter
Charleston District
Volume 4, No. 3 - November 1999
A Word From The Executive Director
Dear Friends,
I must be getting old, the days seem to fly by... can you believe it is Thanksgiving?
As I take time to think of the things I have to be thankful for… health, family,
home, friends, and most of all a Savior, my heart is filled with joy and thanksgiving.
As each of you takes time to count your blessings and to prepare your heart for the
Advent season, pray for the strength to best serve our Lord, to be a positive influence
for His kingdom and for a deeper understanding of The Joy of Christmas. This Joy
is available no matter what circumstances befall us in prosperity or poverty; in
sickness or in health, or whether the world considers you a hero or a zero. This Joy comes
from the sure knowledge that God is with us, this is the message of Christmas.
Emmanuel, God is with us!
Each of you has been a blessing to the United Methodist Relief Center; your service and
gifts have empowered the work and ministry of this mission. Many of our neighbors have had
there dire living conditions vastly improved because of your compassion, care and
sacrifices. Your efforts bless not only those we serve, but are a witness to how God works
in and through His people. Your witness blesses the staff and revitalizes our zeal to be
about our Master's work.
I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your part in enabling the
United Methodist Relief Center to be a ministry that provides cozy homes and offers hope
for a better future to those we serve. Truly, the Joy is experienced as urgent
needs are met.
May God's richest blessings be yours in this Advent season and may the comfort of true
Christmas Joy flood your heart each day of the new millennium.
In His Name,
Philanthropy… the Fountain of Youth
In his book, Give To Live, Dr. Douglas M. Lawson writes, "...a ten
year study of the physical health and social activities of 2,700 men in Tecumseh, Ml,
found that those who did regular volunteer work had death rates two and on-half times
lower than those who didn't. Those who serve others may be on a new path to
longevity." He goes on to say "Many noted philanthropists outlived most of their
contemporaries - Ford, Rockefeller, Mellon, Carnegie, McGaw, and Annenberg, to name just a
few." And finally he writes, "Dr. Norman Vincent Peale tells of a study by a
life insurance company of policyholders who lived to the age of one hundred years or
older. One of the survey questions was: 'what is the most important thing you have learned
in your long life? The most frequent answer was; "To love thy neighbor as
thyself." Dr Peale concludes: "They live longer.. because they have freed
themselves from deadly negative influences such as anger, hatred, suspicion, guilt and
anxiety."
So, if you’re looking to lengthen your life the
United Methodist Relief Center has plenty of opportunities to give of your time,
talents and treasures.
there is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we
crave most in life - happiness, freedom, and peace of mind - are always attained by giving
them to someone else. Peyton Conway March
"Please help me. I am (sic)
sitting in my
chair for nine years"
These words were written across the top of the application from
Kevin Brown of Pineville, SC. Although Kevin is paralyzed from the shoulders down as a
result of an automobile accident, he is an inspiration for all. When asked what it was
like to be in his predicament, Kevin replied, "This injury has taught me the value of
family. Family members can see you at your worst and still care about you."
Kevin lives with his elderly parents, James and Annie Brown in a home in need of major
renovations. He is almost completely confined to his room, since most of the doors in the
house are not wide enough for his wheelchair and the floors are bad. We asked Kevin what
he would most like to have done. He replied that he would like a window in his room. Among
the other repairs, we will provide a big window and a bookcase for his many books. We will
also enlarge Kevin's room and build an outside deck accessible from his room.
The United Methodist Relief Center has the funding necessary to perform the renovation.
However, it is difficult for our volunteer teams to perform the work because of the
distance between Pineville and our location in Mt Pleasant. We called pastors of United
Methodist churches in the Pineville area to see if their congregations would be interested
in helping. On Friday, November 5, 1999, five pastors visited the Browns with us and were
eager to get to know the Browns and to be of service. One volunteered to return right away
with a crew to remove a tree from the roof of the Browns' shed. One pastor knows
construction because his father was a contractor. Other pastors mentioned people in their
churches who have the building skills needed on this project. Pastors from Pineville area
United Methodist Churches who have expressed an interest in this project are: Rev. David
Brisbon of Greater St. Paul, Rev. Steve Gaither of Friendship, Rev. Junior Graham of Mt
Nebo, Rev. Mike Lack of Hoods Chapel, Rev. Albert Middleton of Bethel, Rev. Bill Tanner of
New Hope, and Rev. Stan Weber of St. Stephens and Rehobeth.
We came away from the meeting with the feeling that the Body of Christ can accomplish
whatever it sets out to do when united as one family under God to do will work. We look
forward to the good will that will be shared as the churches work together on this
project and the change that it will make in the quality of Kevin's life.
PARTNERSHIP +
SERVICE = HOMES
A home for a single mom and her eight-year-old daughter was recently
completed in the community of Awendaw. They am busily planning their first Thanksgiving
meal there. This home was made possible through partnerships coordinated by the United
Methodist Relief Center, six funding sources, eight volunteer teams and many hours of
extended family members' labor.
Networking and partnering has enabled the United Methodist Relief Center to expand the
number of families that receive assistance and meet the critical housing needs of more
families. One of our partners, USDA RuraI Development (formerly Farmers Home
Administration), has participated in numerous rehabilitation and replacement homes for
very low income families. So far this year thirteen homes for forty-two individuals were
completed in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester Counties, three homes in Newberry County
and eight homes in Marlboro and Chesterfield Counties. The willingness of Rural
Development to collaborate with other agencies, seek innovative solutions to housing
problems and provide match funding has assured the maximum return on dollars invested in
each project while ensuring quality construction, durability and comfort of homes. On
several occasions members of their staff have even pounded nails and painted walls to help
finish a home. USDA Rural Development employees really care for those they serve. Yes,
this is a part of the Federal Government, the part with a heart!
ET Home Changes a Life
The Relief Center received the following letter from the director of
the East Cooper Mea?s on Wheels, Ms. Anne Spees. You may remember Ms. Spees and her
faithful volunteers identified the recipient of the first Elderly Transportable Home (ET
Home) after visiting her day after day to deliver food and witnessing the abysmal
conditions in which she lived .
Dear Pat,
On behalf of our board and our volunteers, I want to be
sure you realize our gratitude to United Methodist Relief for taking an idea and
making it a reality - a beautiful, God-inspired solution to a horrible problem. We are
also grateful to the Community Foundation for so quickly helping to fund the first
solution.
Many of us were moved to tears simply seeing the woman in
her new surroundings after she became the first recipient of an ET Home. Usually the
introvert, we were even allowed to enter her home and take a tour for a few days. She
seemed, in the best way, in a state of culture shock. We all ready knew and could see why.
Here was a woman who had known little about being helped. She in fact had been and in my
opinion still is a victim of the greed of others. They had literally left her in a home
that was not fit for even an animal.
How grateful I was to UMRC for the hope the ET Home held
for this woman. Before, she was a woman who made us weep when we would see her standing in
the rain and cold wailing for her food. I still believe she stood out there not only
because of of her need, her hunger, her humility and her gratitude, but even more I
believe somehow she had a vision of decency that could not be taken away from her. This
decency caused her to be so ashamed of her situation that she would wait by the road
rather than risk our volunteers witnessing her plight. Now that we are witnessing
her new life and the quality of the ET Home compared to commercially manufactured housing,
we know she has a place that can withstand the elements and she is living in a home that
can accommodate her needs as she ages.
We all know of others equally in need all over our county.
My dream is that someday this idea will catch on and agencies will have ready access to ET
Homes as solutions rather than re-victimizing people caught in neglect and poverty by
taking them away from their own land and communities. Someday soon there will not be
elderly people waiting on housing-some even dying as they wait. Someday there will be ET
Homes waiting and ready for those in need and the need will be met and not just
documented.
Sincerely,
Anne Spees
GOD'S
Whispers
The solution of the ongoing problem of elderly persons who live alone in homes that
have deteriorated beyond the point of repair came in a whisper from God. What if…a
home could be designed and built that could be reused? What if… it could be moved to
where they currently lived keeping the person in familiar surroundings? What if
funds… and volunteers could be found to build a fleet of these homes?
 When God's whispers are heard and acted upon miracles
will happen. Through the combined efforts of engineers, architects, private donations and
a group of volunteer builders from a local church, the first Elderly Transportable Home
(ET Home) was completed 14 months after that first whisper.
The program has caught the attention of state and local agencies and
has spread like wildfire. Two additional homes are now under construction, one at Grace
UMC and one at Lieber Correctional Institute. Christ Our King Catholic Church and Bethel
United Methodist Church each have plans to fund and build an ET Home, Enston Homes has
provided funding for one, and the Relief Center has received funding in the amount of
$100,000.00 from the South Carolina Housing Trust to build six additional homes.
The success of the ET Home Program is evidence of how God works through
some of His children. when we are open to His plan and listen for those
"whispers", God's work is accomplished in this world.
Fundraising Flashes...
MusicFest 1999 - Nets $815.00
UMRC Charity Golf Tournament - Nets $6,500.00
Consider Making the UMRC a Part of
Your Monthly Budget in 2000!
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