Mission still needs help with 2 homes
Rural Mission Inc. has raised about a third of the $30,000 needed to complete homes for two needy families in Charleston County in time for the holidays.
In the first two weeks of the effort, community donations to the "Homes for Christmas" program totaled just under $10,000, organizers said. They remain hopeful that enough donations will come in to help them finish homes for the Mack family of Wadmalaw Island and the Smiley family of Hollywood.
Some tradespeople also have contacted Burrow Hill of Hill Construction to offer their skills to work on the homes, said Carol Etheridge, human resources director at Charleston Place and the person spearheading the fund drive. More skilled help is needed though, she said.
"I think it's phenomenal," Etheridge said. "I've been praying all the dots would be connected and every day I see more examples of all the pieces coming together. This has just been a wonderful experience."
Chris Brooks, Rural Mission's director of program development, said the group has enough money to finish the two-bedroom home for Henrietta Mack and the project is about 98 percent completed.
Mack currently lives next door in a broken-down mobile home with cracked floors and a leaky ceiling that must be covered with plastic sheets to keep rain and debris from falling down on her.
Etheridge said she has lined up volunteer coordinators to make sure each room in the new house is properly outfitted, decorated and ready for Mack to move in when work crews are done.
A good deal more work is needed on the Smileys' three-bedroom home, which has been framed and sided but needs much interior work. They also live in a crumbling, decades-old mobile home with a leaky roof, rot and mold.
The effort got a nice boost this week when the Rev. Grae Rambo, president of Construction Professionals Inc. in Mount Pleasant, pledged labor and supplies to take care of the new home's plumbing, Rural Mission Director Linda Gadson said.
To donate, go to postandcourier.com/ruralmission
Homes for Christmas
Donations are being sought to help Rural Mission Inc. complete new homes for Henrietta Mack of Wadmalaw Island and the Smiley family of Hollywood. People can donate through the group's Web site at www.ruralmission.org or by sending checks to "Homes for Christmas" c/o Rural Mission Inc., P.O. Box 235, Johns Island, SC 29457. Checks should be made out to Rural Mission Inc. -- Homes for Christmas.
The PODS company has donated a portable storage unit where people can drop off new or gently used household furniture, appliances, curtains, towels and other items for the homes. The unit is located beside Seacoast Church's West Ashley campus, 2049 Savannah Highway. Donors should contact Rural Mission at 768-1720 for a schedule of donation times to assure the POD can be accessed and help will be available.
The project also is seeking electricians, heat and air-conditioning technicians and other skilled tradespeople to volunteer. Those interested should call Anderson Mack Jr. at 768-1720.
