Home sweet home

HOLLYWOOD -- Shirley Smiley didn't fight her tears of joy.

In just three months, she and husband Harry Smiley have moved from a run-down trailer built in 1974 that leaked and sagged into an 800-square-foot, two-bedroom house on a plot of land on Dixie Plantation Road in Hollywood that has been in the family for a century.

On Saturday, she was surrounded by an array of people -- representatives from the nonprofit Rural Mission Inc., volunteers from the building professions and churches, and family -- to celebrate with a ceremony and lunch.

"I thank God for all that he had done for me and my family," said Shirley Smiley, 60. "I love each and every one of you. The groups, all the groups. I love each and every one of you. ... I thank God for this building and I thank you all. I love you from the bottom of my heart."

For Rural Mission, which has been helping improve substandard housing on Charleston's rural sea islands for 41 years, the house is symbolic of the immense need for more work, as well as the donations and volunteers to complete it, especially in the light of tough economic times.

Chris Brooks, director of program development for the nonprofit, said she has seen a surge in the number of applications for help, and currently has 754 on file. Each year, the nonprofit repairs 60 to 70 houses and builds one or two new ones.

"Whether you're a civic group or church group or a business, we could really use your help," said Brooks, noting the next house is for Sadie Gethers, a 77-year-old who shares a severely dilapidated house with her grandchildren.

Linda Gadson, executive director of Rural Mission, led Saturday's ceremony, intermittently praising God in prayer and song and thanking all those who helped, including church groups from the Charleston area and 22 states.

"God moves," Gadson said, looking across a crowd of about 75 people at the celebration. "You can see the colorful arrangement here. Some of us are a little darker, some a little lighter, some older, some richer, some poorer. Hallelujah! The power of we and connecting the dots."

That theme, "Connecting the Dots," is how Carol Etheridge described her journey as a "co-visionary" for rallying the effort to build houses for the Smileys and Henrietta Mack, a 73-year-old Wadmalaw Island woman whose mobile home was collapsing around her.

Etheridge, human resources director at Charleston Place and a Hollywood native, said she was called by God to help in November and, frankly, knew nothing about building houses.

"I know human resources, but I know nothing about corralling people and building houses," Etheridge said. "I started out asking the Lord to help me connect the dots. ... There's a lot to be said about the Lord answering prayers, particularly when you are willing to say, 'Lord, I don't know what I'm doing.' "