On Christmas Eve we were headed to church for the candlelight service. As we were approaching the campus, something tugged at me, it urged me to look over to my right. When I turned my head, the first thing I saw was a woman standing with four children and a shopping cart overflowing. I knew what that meant. She was homeless. And she was homeless with four kids.

I debated stopping at that moment, but let Devyn drive on to church. As soon as he got out of the car, I grabbed the keys and headed back to the abandoned lot. Upon arrival, I met a kind woman that had been battered and left her partner to save herself and her four kids . Because this is such a sensitive matter, I’m going to change her name. We will call her Jill. She told me that they had stayed the last night in the motel next-door and it was $115 a night. There were no shelters here in West Ashley. Since it was Christmas Eve, I knew it would be very difficult to find her housing at the last minute on a holiday. I told her I would come back after church and bring some stuff for her and the kids including diapers, food, whipes, and everything else you could imagine a mom of a 1,3,6 &7 year old would need.

As I sat in church, the only thing I could think of is how Joseph and Mary had no place to sleep. Thankfully, someone had so generously allowed them to sleep in their stable. This is not much different of a situation. Someone in need who needs someplace warm and safe to sleep. I wanted to do as much as I could for her.

Upon arriving back from Target. She was not there. My heart dropped. I was worried about what I could do with all of these things that I had purchased for them. Thankfully, the man that runs the hotel said that a good Samaritan had stopped and paid for the night for them. I told him about all the things that I had and he allowed me to put them in her room.

She was not there, but I knew upon her arrival she would receive all the things she needed for Christmas morning.

Ironically, we drove across the street to get Chinese food for Christmas Eve. I sat in the car and waited for Devyn to return. It wasn’t but a few short seconds later, that he called me ,Insistent that the lady with the four children was there outside the Food Lion.. I jumped out of the car and ran to speak with her. I met the kids and learned their names. The oldest boy was wearing his sister’s clothes because he had no boy clothes to wear. Currently the weather was not too bad so they were all in comfortable fall clothing. I knew the weather was gonna be turning bad in the coming week.

She told me she would be getting her disability paycheck on the third of the month. She does have a legitimate disability which I choose not to disclose. She said at that time she’d be able to pay for her phone bill and would get in touch with me .

I went home that night grateful that we had the chance to help someone who really needed someone to step in and lend a hand. My mind kept coming back to the verse in the Bible from Mathew 25:45 ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

We all need help at different times in our lives . We also know that sometimes helping others can be a little difficult or challenging. But providing food and shelter to four small kids and a mom is simple. It just takes a heart and a few extra dollars.

Since then, I kept praying for God‘s intervention, and he keeps showing up ! When I think we won’t have money for another night, someone out of the blue messages me and says they wanna help.

Last week, Jill went over to the Social Security office and the housing Authority and they were able to secure housing for her and her children to start on January 15th. This is such great news! However, she has nothing to start a home with. They will need furniture, clean, mattresses, pots, and pans, and everything else you can imagine. And we’ve already started collecting items to help her out once the 15th arrives.

On New Year’s Eve, I ran to the store and had to buy a tent, some warming blankets, and a few other things because at that point we had run out of money. When I left them, I took this picture. You won’t be able to see faces, and that’s a good thing because I’m trying to protect Them from anyone who might want to harm them. But I ask you to take a moment and look at the picture closely and see if you can find four small children in this photograph.

I stressed all day, but continued to pray for God’s intervention. I called the warming shelters, and they were not gonna be open for the night because the temperature was not going to drop below 40°. Plus all the shelters were over 15 miles away. How there’s no shelter in the West Ashley area completely surprises me??

Around 7 o’clock, I messaged her, hoping that she was close enough to the Wi-Fi from the hotel that she could answer me and let me know they were doing OK. To my surprise, she said a stranger pulled up and paid for the night for her and the kids . My heart lept with joy !! God had come through again!!

Since then, I’ve had three other people come forward with financial donations to help pay for stays in the hotel. We only have to pay through the 14th because on the 15th. She will check out and go straight to her new apartment. Tonight I will go over and pay for four additional nights That will get her through to the 6th of January. I’m creating this GoFundMe in order to raise money to help with the hotel stay for another week and a half. Any money left over will go to pay for clean mattresses for the kids to sleep on and any furniture she may need for the new house. All the money will go through me so I can make sure that every dollar goes to help her and the kids.

So if you have a couple extra dollars, it sure would help a good friend of mine and four adorable kids, who should never have to sleep out in the cold again . She could also use prayers as she starts her new life and is raising four children on her own. We all know how difficult even raising one child on your own can be. So please pray for her as she builds her new home and creates a safe place for her kids to grow up that will nurture their bodies and create a strong foundation for their family and the future .

UPDATE ONE MONTH FROM CHRISTMAS EVE 

AN UPDATE ON THE HOMELESS FAMILY . First of all, I wanna thank all of the donors who gave so generously ! What you did was pivotal to getting this family in an apartment in exactly 1 month , and keeping them off the street while they waited. Thank you to everyone that went out of their way to offer up household items, baby items, furniture, money donations, food, and so much more. It went a very long way and was pivotal to us getting her officially moved into her new apartment this week.!!! YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT !! They are NO LONGER HOMELESS !!!! If you haven’t heard back from me in a while it’s because , to be honest, this has really been a very big project and I kind of lost track of emails, texts and PM’s. Every day was a full-time operation of how to get her expedited into section 8 housing as well as how to keep them in the hotel until her apartment was ready. I plan on going back through and looking to see if I responded to everybody, but PLEASE reach back out to me if I didn’t respond to you. I want to take the time to thank you individually . It brings me so much hope to see people give so generously to help a complete stranger . That being said, I STILL NEED YOUR STUFF !!! I’m gonna post a few pictures that I took this weekend as Devyn and I moved in a lot of the furniture that was donated. Thanks to my neighborhood , there are beds for everyone, a big screen TV, a kitchen table with a chair for everyone! They have towels , bathroom essentials, cleaning products, new clothes and shoes for all the kids, Clothes for mom and hygiene essentials. Her kitchen is almost fully stocked with cooking items and even a crockpot! Again, I cannot thank you enough for your role in changing this woman’s life. She has so much gratitude for you and I wish each of you could meet the family because you would fall in love with them just as I have. My church family has also been helping out with donations of food, pull-ups, and household items. I still have some money in the GoFundMe account. I would like to put it towards a washer and dryer. Can you imagine having four children and no washer and dryer? Let me repeat that, 4 kids and NO WASHER OR DRYER !! Going to the laundromat is extremely expensive and to be honest I don’t know if she can afford to do that until she gets everything set up in the home. I’m hesitant to get a used one , because I worry about it breaking down on her . If anybody would like to contribute to the GoFundMe to help me reach my goal to get a washer and dryer that would be WONDERFUL !!!! Also, we are looking for a couch for her living room for them to sit on. If anybody has one, they are looking to donate, please let me know. Here’s a list of a few more things that we are looking for. Crib a pair of scissors Queen size bed frame Lamps End tables or coffee tables Kitchen towels Cabinet locks – safety protectors for small children, preferably the ones that do not have to be installed Couch for living room Again THANK YOU for your generosity!! More to come ❤️ Melissa