COLUMBIA, S.C. — It's been eight years since Columbia's historic flood, but for many neighborhoods like Belvedere, the journey of recovery continues.
Neighborhood President Diane Wiley had to evacuate her home when the flood hit. She's been living with her mother 55 miles away ever since.
"The water was so bad you couldn't see anything in the yard; it was just like a river,” said Wiley.
At the beginning of October, she finally returned to a completely gutted and repaired home featuring a new wheelchair ramp for her husband and an accessible shower.
"It feels good. It feels good. Eight years, and I didn't get any kind of funding, no assistance for rental. Nothing,” said Wiley.
Wiley's home wasn't the only property in dire need of repair. For years, she and her neighbors had been seeking the city's help, but their pleas went unanswered.
"They neglected this neighborhood… and it wasn't right,” she said.
Representative Leon Howard secured $4 million in the state budget to address the repair and renovation of over 40 homes. Currently, 20 have been completed, with another 20 expected to be finished by March.
"They need even more in other communities, as well as Belvedere, because you're talking about decades of neglect – it is going to take some time to ensure that the people in these communities are made whole,” said Howard.
Anthea Davis, a resident of the neighborhood for 30 years, is witnessing her home undergo significant improvements, including brand-new electrical wiring and HVAC systems.
"I feel real good, happy because this hadn't been done because I couldn't afford to do it,” she said.
According to Howard, the biggest obstacle for this elderly, minority community was simply not knowing how to seek help.
"I find that to be unacceptable,” said Howard. “Because they should have had a navigator or someone to come and help these people with this paperwork to get the paperwork in the proper place to get the assistance that they need."
He added that instead of getting help from the city, many residents were slapped with code enforcement violations.
“That is a way of gentrification. when these people began to get thousand-dollar fines, next they know their homes are condemned and torn down, that's not the way you run a railroad," said Howard.
Davis and Wiley expressed relief that they would be able to stay in their homes for years to come.
"I ain't going nowhere,” Davis said laughing.
"I was almost going to leave the neighborhood, but I wasn't going to let anyone run me away,” said Wiley.
Wiley said her next mission is to fill the ditches near her home that flood every time it rains.
“I never give up,” said Wiley.
Howard tells News 19 he plans to request more money in this year’s state budget.