I first met my applicant when she came to Share It Forward in September of 2021. Earlier in the year, she had moved to Tennessee from where her foster family lives in the Northeast. She wanted to come back to her birth state. My heart broke, because I realized she had aged out of the foster care system and was seeking to connect with any sense of her past heritage. When she first moved here, she did not have a place to live so she slept in her car. After securing a job at Dollywood, she was able to save enough money to move into an apartment.
This applicant continued to do all she could on her own and asked very little from Share It Forward. Her first request was only for her electric bill, as she said her Dollywood earnings covered her other monthly expenses. SIF was pleased to help pay that. I learned of the desperate state of her car though and connected her with Joey Buck, our Dollywood chaplain. Joey was able to find someone in maintenance to volunteer to look at her car, and also gave her Dave Ramsey’s book, Financial Peace.
The second time we connected was after she suffered the loss of her biological mother. She was working 30 hours a week at Dollywood, going to night school two evenings a week, and was looking for a second job. She once again was only asking for her electric bill to be paid. She had suffered a setback after a minor car accident, so I did my best to encourage her and point her to other resources to help, and recommended she consider applying again soon. She did apply again, and this time she shared her very comprehensive budgeting worksheets. She secured that second job, and was able to pay to have her car repaired. Again, she informed me she only needed her electric and water bills paid. I asked about her rent. She responded, “Well, you told me to do all I could”. She had blown me away! The effort she was making to help her own situation was exceptional. She was putting into practice so much of what she was learning through Financial Peace, while holding down two jobs and attending school. The SMC committee that reviewed her need unanimously agreed they wanted to bless her with not only her utility bill, but also her next month’s rent. Calling to tell her of the committee’s decision was my favorite phone call I’ve ever made in this job. She was overwhelmed, in tears and incredibly thankful to Share It Forward for loving her so extravagantly. She kept growing since that time, graduated and secured an incredible job in her field at a doctor’s office.