“Pastor Alfrieda Deas-Potts was returning to Charleston to care for her parents when she drove past the cemetery where her son was buried.
Formerly homeless and addicted to drugs, Deas-Potts lost her infant child during those times. Passing the cemetery, she had an epiphany that God wanted to send her back to help other men.
‘I’ve got your son,’ she said she heard the Lord telling her. ‘Now I’m sending you back to help other sons.’
More than a decade after founding the North Charleston-based nonprofit Bounce Back Incorporated Basic Church Ministries, aimed at helping men transition out of homelessness, Deas-Potts and her husband have helped hundreds of sons who’ve fallen on hard times.
They want to help more sons. Daughters, too. But Bounce Back and other grassroots organizations that have been working to curb the homelessness crisis by providing shelter, lunches, clothing and other necessary items, can only do so much with limited money and space.
They feel ignored by city officials, having struggled to get local leaders to commit to providing resources, such as a shelter or transitional housing, to address the epidemic in the state’s third-largest municipality.”
View the whole story here: https://www.postandcourier.com/news/frustrated-with-north-charlestons-homelessness-issue-community-works-to-address-epidemic/article_e31be7a6-d010-11ea-877a-2f0babfa80d4.html