In the short three minutes it took him to reach his house, floodwater swept through the valley bottom below and crashed into the family home owned by his father Roy, 86. Steve had no idea. But the phone was ringing, and it was his sister, who’d gotten a call from
The family waded to safety, and the Pressleys were relatively fortunate compared to some of their neighbors. Still, the water destroyed one room – a garage Carroll had meticulously remodeled as a kitchen and family gathering spot for Mary Ellen, who cooked for her family on its wood stove. Water
“It was a tiny house when we bought it,” said Donella, “nothing special about it, just a collection of nooks and crannies, but even then it felt like home, and it’s really home now. We just hope it feels like home again.”
“As a single mother of two little girls, I doubted time and time again that I could possibly make it through nursing school on my own. There were many trials and errors along the way, with finances being one of the major struggles.”
“If I didn’t have insurance, I would have felt reluctant to go to the hospital when I needed help. I’m grateful for Cynthia and Mountain Projects for ensuring that I could take care of myself.”
“It was like a dream come true,” Dayton says. “They all fell in together and fixed me right up. They’re super. They all came in here and took down my old trailer and worked with Rocky Branch Church to take up donations. And they let me stay in a motel
“I know how much it means to receive help when you need it – it’s priceless – and I’m someone who wants to give back. I’m grateful for all the people who have helped me succeed.”
She still has her farm and she makes the best chèvre cheese from goat’s milk I’ve ever tasted. She still tells me often that she is so thankful she took my advice to look at the insurance. It saved their farm.”
