How can you be of service

Imagine living in an unsafe home. Imagine going to war for your country and returning home to discover that you are unable to secure a place of residency. These and literally hundreds of thousands of stories like these can be shared by American citizens and Veterans throughout our nation.

They are not stories about the lives of people in underdeveloped countries that you might see on television; these are stories of our friends, neighbors, and family. They are people we know and care about.

They are also people who are helped daily by SC Uplift Community Outreach a nonprofit organization that helps struggling families realize their dream of having a stable home so that they can create a solid future for their families. Our services go beyond simply providing a physical location where a family can live. We also help:

• People who have lost their home and must rent their primary residence
• Extremely low-income people who have no hope of decent housing on their own
• People who are facing circumstances beyond their control that have caused them to enter the crisis of the foreclosure process
• Serving as a fiscal agent for small groups that have the desire and will but no financial engine

Our housing services are supplemented with education and mentoring. These services and the quality homes we provide guarantee that our residents take pride in their property; and in the value that their home will add to the neighborhood. As we enhance the lives of the people we assist, we also strive to enhance the communities in which they live.  The critical goal to ensure that every family in South

Carolina has a quality home environment in which to raise their children cannot be fulfilled without the full support of the entire community. And, while we have demonstrated over eight consecutive years that we can effectively manage both private and public resources that are made available to rehab or build homes for persons with the greatest needs in our society, these resources cannot do all that needs to be done.

The support of the community is essential. Think about what our services would mean if you were in the position of any one of the hundreds of people who we are forced to be put on a waiting list because an urgent home repair cannot be made when it is desperately needed. Think of all the children who are in our Foster Care system only because their hard-working parents cannot afford to pay for permanent housing.

Think about the hundreds of school children who are homeless and go to shelters or other temporary accommodations when they leave school at the end of the day.

We ask you to think on these things, these needs, and help us make life for others a bit more hopeful in the weeks and months to come.