At United Way of Anderson County, our mission is not just to fund agencies, but to ‘mobilize the caring power of our community to advance the common good.’ So when our office received a call from Oak Ridge TORCH yesterday morning, we were more than happy to lend a hand.

TORCH informed us that a middle-aged woman, who they believed to be a victim of domestic violence was in their office and was in desperate need of some additional referrals. Because she was facing homelessness, TORCH was prepared to assist her, but they really needed a secondary source to make referrals and provide her with additional resources.

Within the hour, the woman had made her way to our office. Tired and tear-filled our staff offered her coffee and made her feel as comfortable as possible. She shared her story and with tissue in hand re-lived the last several months of psychological and physical abuse that led her to this point. As we met with her we discovered that her needs extended far beyond lack of housing.

The woman, we will call her Mary, had suffered an injury in the past and was previously prescribed anti-seizure and anxiety medications. Since losing her job, she had lost insurance, her primary care physician, and her psychiatrist. Because of the abuse she had suffered recently, she desperately wished to meet with a counselor and was hoping to see a physician for her back and neck issues. Our office was able to refer Mary to Ridgeview Behavioral Health and Free Medical Clinic to assist her with her mental and physical health needs.

Mary also told us that since she had been unable to find a job, she had started her own business cleaning homes and workplaces. Mary had saved all of her paperwork from her new business, but was very unsure of  how to file taxes this year. Our staff gave Mary the information for VITA, a United Way program that provides free tax preparation services for community members.

Just in case Mary forgot to mention something, we gave her a 2-1-1 card and told her about the hotline. We explained that if she had an unmet need and was unsure of where to turn that she could call this number in order to locate additional resources.

As Mary gathered her things to leave, she began to cry and shared that prior to losing her job, she had given to the United Way through employee payroll. Jokingly she said, “I guess I pre-paid. You never know when you are going to lose everything and need something like this.”

Giving Mary the tools and resources to leave her situation and start fresh is how we are transforming this community. Because of our mission and the work of each of our agencies, Mary felt empowered and assured as she left our office today. If you are interested in helping us empower community members and increase collaboration among community agencies, then join us in our mission to LIVE UNITED.