A Second Chance in the Kitchen: How Community Support Helped Haylea Rebuild

For many families, financial hardship does not arrive all at once. It can begin with a missed paycheck, an unexpected bill or a difficult choice between two basic needs. From there, one setback can quickly create another. A utility bill falls behind. Rent becomes harder to pay. Child care becomes unaffordable. The possibility of losing a home begins to feel less like a distant concern and more like an immediate reality. For Carolina Community Actions, Inc. , these moments are where its work begins. As a local nonprofit dedicated to helping individuals and families achieve stability and self-sufficiency, Carolina Community Actions works to connect people with resources that can help them navigate financial hardship and move forward. The organization provides assistance with heating and cooling bills, water and rental needs, while also supporting families through Head Start programming for children from birth to age 5. The agency also provides individualized case management services through a program to assist clients with career exploration, vocational training and employment assistance to assist clients with achieving self-sufficient, thereby improving their quality of life.  Carolina Community Actions core purpose is today as it was at inception in 1965, “eliminating poverty in the midst of plenty in our geographical area by presenting everyone the opportunity for education and training, the opportunity to work, and the opportunity to live in decency and dignity.” “We serve as a bridge between community needs and meaningful solutions,” said Erica James-Murphy, program manager. “We try to help people create stronger family situations and help them to become more stable at home.” That bridge has become increasingly important as more families navigate difficult financial decisions. Carolina Community Actions is seeing families weigh basic needs against one another, including food, medication and child care. The organization is also hearing from people who have never needed assistance before but are now reaching out because of financial pressures. For those seeking assistance, the circumstances are often urgent. A family may be facing a threat of eviction or the possibility of having utility services disconnected because of a past due balance. But the people walking through the door are not defined by the circumstances that brought them there. “They are everyday people who want to get their basic needs met,” said Tashina Figueroa, estate program director. “Your average working families, who are providing for children, taking care of their family members, and they just need some community support.” That understanding is central to how Carolina Community Actions approaches its work. Seeking assistance is not viewed as a failure, but as an act of courage. “I wish more people understood that asking for assistance is a sign of strength,” Figueroa said. “I think it takes courage to reach out during difficult times.” The support can make a difference before a temporary hardship becomes a long term crisis. When a family receives help at the right time, they may be able to avoid an eviction, keep the lights on or remain in their home while searching for employment after an unexpected job loss. Those interventions can prevent additional barriers from building on top of an already stressful situation. For Carolina Community Actions, the goal extends beyond helping someone through a single emergency. The organization works to help people maintain stability and move forward so they are not continually pulled back into the same cycle. “We've been able to help them secure employment, become gainfully employed again,” Murphy said. “Our biggest thing is making sure that people are housed and they have the support that helps them move from just this situation and move forward.” That work also requires recognizing that no single organization can meet every need. This is where the relationship between Carolina Community Actions and Pathways Community Center becomes especially important. “Pathways is an extension of what we do,” Figueroa said. “One agency can't do it all.” Families experiencing hardship are often navigating several challenges at once. A utility crisis may exist alongside housing instability, employment concerns, food insecurity or other needs that fall outside the scope of any one organization. Through partnership, organizations can connect people with the additional resources they need. “Many of the families that we face have multiple challenges,” Figueroa said. “No single organization can meet every need.” For Carolina Community Actions, Pathways provides another avenue for families to find support and resources, helping transform moments of crisis into opportunities for greater stability. The need for that collaboration is especially important as economic pressures continue to affect families across the community. Carolina Community Actions is seeing people who are working, caring for their families and doing everything they can to stay afloat still find themselves in need of assistance. The organization believes part of the answer is not only responding to immediate needs, but helping people understand what is possible beyond the crisis. That includes financial literacy, budgeting, employment opportunities, career exploration and helping families become more aware of the resources available within their own communities. “A good bit of our families are desperate to know that there’s hope, that there’s other ways,” Murphy said. “Teaching them how to make their dollars stretch, how to tap into different career fields and making sure that they are ready for whatever the economy throws their way.” At its core, Carolina Community Actions is working toward something larger than a single utility payment, a rental intervention or a moment of emergency assistance. It is working toward strong families, strong communities and a better quality of life for the people it serves. That vision is strengthened through partnerships like the one with Pathways, where organizations can come alongside one another to meet people where they are and help them find a way forward. Because sometimes, the support that arrives at the right moment does more than solve an immediate problem. It gives a family room to breathe. It creates a chance to remain housed, keep working, care for their children and begin building toward what comes next. And sometimes, that moment can become the turning point. Written by Karl Vogl ll

Written by Karl Vogl ll Recovery is rarely a journey that happens alone. Behind every step forward is often someone who understands the struggle, offers support and reminds a person that a different future is possible. That is at the heart of the work at Faces And Voices Of Recovery Tri-County, also known as FAVOR Piedmont, a recovery community organization located on the campus of Pathways Community Center in Rock Hill. FAVOR Piedmont provides free substance use recovery support services, both in person and virtually, to individuals and families across York, Chester, Lancaster, Fairfield, Union and Cherokee counties. The organization connects people with support rooted in lived experience, understanding and community, with a focus on making sure individuals have access to the resources they need throughout their recovery journey. Rather than simply explaining what recovery can look like, FAVOR connects individuals with Peers, people who have walked through their own challenges and understand the importance of having someone alongside them. In a recent interview, FAVOR Piedmont’s Executive Director Jamie Chrisman Low, who is in Recovery herself, detailed how the organization, which is led by individuals in recovery from substance use disorders, works to create meaningful connections while providing space for hope, dignity and lasting change. One of FAVOR Piedmont's primary services is its peer led recovery groups. These groups create intentional spaces where individuals at different stages of recovery can connect with trained and certified peers who use trauma informed, evidence-based practices to provide support. The organization also brings educational opportunities into the community and serves as one of six approved training centers in the area for individuals seeking to become certified peer support specialists. A key measure of FAVOR Piedmont's impact is what is known as recovery capital, which refers to the resources a person has available to help sustain long term recovery. Those resources can include housing, transportation, employment, food, clothing, social connections, professional networks and other forms of support that can make a meaningful difference in a person's ability to maintain recovery. FAVOR intentionally works within a larger network of community organizations and service providers to help ensure individuals have access to those resources. For Chrisman Low, one story in particular illustrates what that network can make possible. A young woman who was well known in her community developed an opioid addiction following surgery after becoming dependent on pain medication prescribed during her recovery. Over the course of three years, her substance use progressed to the point that she began considering heroin as an alternative to prescription opioids, or fentanyl from the street. Before taking that step, she reached out to FAVOR Piedmont. She was pregnant, frightened and unsure of where to turn. FAVOR immediately connected her with resources within its network, including medication assisted treatment with Suboxone, a prescription medication approved to treat opioid use disorder. She was also connected with mental health and substance use counselors who supported her throughout her pregnancy. The goal was not simply to address her substance use, but to walk alongside her through the challenges that came with pregnancy, recovery and reclaiming her motherhood. Today, more than five years later, Chrisman Low said the woman continues to engage in counseling and weekly peer support through FAVOR Piedmont. Her child is now beginning kindergarten. "She's living a life beyond her dreams," Chrisman Low said. "It's been over five years now, and it's just a beautiful story." For FAVOR, the story also demonstrates the importance of having a network of people and organizations prepared to respond when someone asks for help. Chrisman Low said the organization's work extends beyond the individual experiencing substance use disorder. FAVOR is also working to raise awareness that substance use disorder affects entire families, not just the person struggling with addiction. Sometimes, cooccurring disorders are present, too. "Addiction is a family disease, and it affects every member of the family," she said. Part of FAVOR’s work involves helping families understand that they can begin their own healing journey even while a loved one continues to struggle with substance use. That philosophy also extends to the organization's work at Pathways Community Center, where FAVOR is part of a larger network of service providers. Chrisman Low said the relationships between organizations on the Pathways campus help create a recovery-oriented continuum of care, allowing individuals to be connected with the next resource or service they need. "We help support each other's work so that there is a continuum of care and no one falls through the cracks," she said. "Someone on campus is going to be able to provide the next resource or the next service for that person." As FAVOR Piedmont works to expand its reach, funding remains one of its greatest challenges. The organization has received support through grants and contributions from community members, but continued financial investment is necessary to maintain its free services and expand its physical presence. FAVOR is currently exploring plans to establish physical recovery spaces in each of the counties it serves. The expansion would create additional opportunities for peer workers, increase access to recovery services and allow FAVOR to expand its community outreach. But financial support is not the only way community members can contribute. Chrisman Low emphasized the importance of volunteers and people who are willing to become involved in the organization's mission. "We welcome volunteers and people who will engage with us to do the work of our mission," she said. "I cannot tell you how much I appreciate people in the community that reach out and say, 'Hey, I want to give back.' It's just a beautiful thing." She also encouraged community members to consider how they interact with people experiencing substance use disorder. For someone who is struggling, a simple act of dignity and respect can become the first step toward connection. Community members can help by sharing information about FAVOR Piedmont, connecting someone with its services or even providing transportation so that person can begin building relationships with a network of people who understand recovery firsthand. At its core, FAVOR Piedmont's work is rooted in the belief that recovery does not have to happen in isolation. Through peer support, community partnerships, education and access to resources, the organization is working to make sure that when someone reaches out for help, there is someone there to answer. And sometimes, that connection can be the beginning of an entirely different future.