Help Tamika and Her Family

I've always heard "People are put in your life for a reason.” Some give credit to destiny, some fate, and others divine intervention.  Regardless of what you believe, a wonderful woman was introduced to me several months back, and I’d like to share the story with you. (She has asked that I keep her and her family anonymous; so for the purposes of this story I will call her Tamika, and the names of her children will also be fictional.)

Tamika was my Uber driver early one November morning.  She picked me up from my home to take me to my 6 a.m. flight at Charleston International Airport. I don’t know about you, but at 4:30 a.m., I'm not usually in a mood for conversation. Nonetheless, it was hard to avoid Tamika’s infectious energy.  We started off with the normal Uber niceties and quickly moved to more personal discussions--like where we were from and her three beautiful kids. It was evident very early that Tamika was an incredible mother who loved her three children dearly.

She told me of her son, Jaden (12 years old): “That boy keeps me on my toes; he’s like a little Bill Nye The Science guy; so curious and always working a science experiment”.  She also bragged on her two daughters, Brianna (7 years old) and Gabrielle (10 years old), and how well they were doing in school. I learned quickly that when it came to her children, she could talk endlessly about them. As we were nearing the airport, I asked her if she was starting her day or headed home. She told me I was her last trip of the night, then she was headed back home . . . to Orangeburg, SC (1 hr and 10 minutes away). I was so stunned! I thought I misheard her, and asked her to repeat herself. Sure enough, she made this trip daily to take advantage of the Charleston tourism market. 

Tamika went on to tell me that she had been in a major car accident several years back that left her severely disabled and unable to work her normal job. She filed for disability, but the lowly $800/month wasn't enough to support her four-person family. So, in an effort to find a job that suited her disability and earn a higher wage, she picked up Uber. She learned quickly that the Uber traffic in Orangeburg wouldn’t suffice to make a decent wage, and tourism traffic in Charleston was her highest earning potential. So every day from noon to 5:00 am she would drive her Uber routes. 

As the car came to a stop in front of my airport terminal I was at a loss for words. This single mother, with three children, disabled by a horrific car crash, was driving a one hour each way to work 15-hour Uber shifts every day--no time for herself, no time with her family--just to be able to scrape by, keep a house over her family’s head, and food on the table. I stepped out of the car with all of these thoughts running through my mind, and then something pulled me back in the car. I needed to try and stay in touch, so I told her that I took Ubers frequently, and maybe I could be her customer of hers again. If she would just share her contact information with me, I’d be sure to reach out. She obliged and passed along her cell phone number.

During that entire trip, all I could think of was that ride, and what life must be like for her as she marches through that daily grind. I called Ali as soon as I landed, and Ali’s mind started racing in ways that we might be able to help her and her family. With Christmas quickly approaching, our hearts started to break thinking that there may not be anything under the tree for those three beautiful children she told us so much about. 

Upon my return back home, I reached out to Tamika and told her that we wanted to help her. She was very cordial but also seemed skeptical. She let me know that she was working her Uber shift and would get back to me afterwards. After several days of not hearing back, I tried her again, but no answer and no callback. Naturally, I was concerned, so over the next five weeks I would try her a few times per week, all to no avail. After five weeks of persistence, we finally connected. This time the skepticism was evident. She had never had anyone offer to help her, much less a stranger, and she couldn’t understand why we would want to help. I assured her that it was because she made a lasting impact on me, and how much I admired her for her commitment to her children, her joyful spirit, and as a single mother, she deserved a break. So, after some convincing, she allowed us to help her for the first time and provide a Christmas for her children. This was the start of one of the most impactful relationships in our lives. 

It wasn’t until we met her to deliver the Christmas gifts that she really started to open up to us and shared her story, her struggles, and her family with us. And boy were her struggles REAL. What we learned was a string of terribly unfortunate events that would make even the most dramatic Greek tragedy pale in comparison. We learned that the car crash she mentioned originally not only left her disabled but also took the life of her husband. He was her rock and the love of her life, and in an instant, her life was changed forever (as if the original story wasn’t bad enough). Following the crash, the doctors told her there was a chance that she would never walk again--all but eliminating any prospector a normal life. For the first time in her life, she was left alone to support her children and in a position unable to provide for her family. 

She fought her way back and taught herself how to get around, albeit very slowly and gingerly. She now walks with a severe limp and labors to get around. She then turned to Uber as a source of income that would allow her to work around her disability. For three years she’s made that long voyage to Charleston, putting countless miles on her car and countless hours on her body. It was right about the time that I met her when two more catastrophic events happened in her life. The first was an electrical fire in her home that caused it to burn down. Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire, but all of her family’s possessions were lost. The second came a few months later when her car broke down because of transmission failure necessitating a full replacement. Not having the several thousand dollars necessary to fix the car, and unable to fulfill her Uber routes she was left unable to come up with a financial solution. It wasn’t long after that the bank came knocking and repossessed her car, robbing her of her only way to earn a living. 

Tamika has since used what little funds she has left to relocate her family to a new home. As a result of the repossession of her car, her credit has been relegated to nothing short of terrible and the only type of auto financing she can receive is that of the Loan Shark variety. For example, the best rate she was able to secure was 24.38% - by comparison, a 2015 Toyota Camry would cost her upwards of $600/month at this rate. (How is anyone in her position ever able to get out of that hole?) That's not a viable solution for a single-earner household in her income bracket. Ali and I, as well as other friends, have contributed to help her continue to get by; but it has become clear we must do more. Tamika and her family are never going to be able to get ahead until we can help free her of an onerous car payment and get her a reliable solution that allows her to operate her Uber business. 

That is why I am asking you and the rest of the wonderful people that come across this posting to please support Tamika and her family as we set out to reach the ambitious goal of buying her a car. If you have made it this far then you are a trooper for reading this very wordy story. Now, I would ask that you take the next step and give what you can. Every dollar will go a long way for helping this beautiful family get through these incredibly tough times!

Thank you in advance!