Community Watch: Total Ministries

By: Charmayne Brown/News Channel 7 | News Channel 7
Published: November 16, 2007

For help, Tina McSwinn, knows where to turn.

"I don't have a lot of heat at home," says Tina McSwinn.

Temperatures drop like a rock, below 20 degrees on some days, inside the home.

"My son puts on extra clothes and my niece puts on extra clothes. She just got a jacket from First Baptist Church," she says, "that's why I come to Total Ministries."

But today, Total Ministries had to turn her away. Director Paul Clay says, "We interview about 5,000 people every year and turn down about 15% for different reasons."

The reason this time is because Clay doesn't have it to give. "With our corporate sponsorships we've been relying on being reduced, it's really put us in a world of hurt,” he says.

The funds to help with winter heating have been cut severely.

In 2006, Duke Energy donated $36,000. This year, 2007 only $4,100.

Last year, Piedmont Natural Gas donated $7,100. This year, nothing. Piedmont Natural Gas sent it's donations to the Governor's Office to a different charity.

Total Ministries went from dishing out more than $43,000 to rationing just a bit more than $4,000, so Clay is delaying the heating season to a time when it's really cold.

"We have one big ice storm and we're really going to have to pump out kerosene to help people stay warm," says Clay.

McSwinn has to go else where for a few weeks.

"I do worry a lot how I'm going to take care of him. Sometimes I can't take care of him." She says, this perhaps is one of those times --leaving her and the children in the cold.

We've made some phone calls for you to see where you can go to get help.

The Salvation Army also helps with food, clothes and heat. Heating assistance is by appointment only. Helping hands in Woodruff helps people in Woodruff and Enoree with kerosene on Wednesdays. District 5 Family Ministries, Greater Spartanburg Ministries and Greer Relief also help.

Here’s how to contact those organizations:

Greater Spartanburg Ministries-585-9371

Salvation Army-573-5493 ext. 7

Helping Hands/Woodruff-476-2401

District 5 Family Ministries-439-7760

Greer Relief-848-5355

Total Ministries-585 8311