COLUMBIA, S.C. — For two years, Stacey Turner was homeless in Columbia. Now, she's using her experience to help others.
"It was a struggle," Turner remembers. "I lost everything and ended up in the street and so I had to start from the bottom up and struggle my way back up. But I did it."
Now, she has a full time job. She also spends her free time volunteering with LK Paying It Forward, a nonprofit that provides donated goods to people in need.
"We need a lot of blankets 'cuz I know three people that froze to death last year. Last year alone," Turner told me.
She is leading the organization’s newest initiative, Unhoused Project. Turner is volunteering alongside Douglas Miller, who also understands why these donations are needed.
"When it get cold out there, it get cold," he said about his time living on the streets during the winter.
The project is also building hygiene kits to give out with the blankets. The kits will contain different necessities like soap, deodorant and toothpaste.
Currently, the project has collected 53 donated blankets. Its goal is 200. The nonprofit’s founder Krysti Valle says while they have a long way to go, she’s hopeful.
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"When I think we’re not gonna be able to meet what we need, it always is overflow," Valle said. "I feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants sometimes, but it always works out and we’ve got great people in the group that support us."
While the group is collecting blankets and hygiene products, Miller says that’s not the only way you can help. Sometimes, all it takes is a kind word.
"If nothing else, get they name. Talk to them, you know? Just say ‘Hi, how you doing?" he suggested. "They‘re people. Everybody has hardships, I mean, whether you want someone to know it or not. Everybody has ups and downs."
To Miller, showing kindness to others when they most need it is important. He says volunteering with the Unhoused Project is a "full circle" moment.
"You help them out a little bit, they help somebody else out a little bit and then it keeps going forward and before you know it, everybody helping everybody and ain't nobody have no problems," he laughed. "It’s like full circle 'cuz you came from here where they at and you made yourself all the way good to come back around to try and help them now."
LK Paying It Forward is currently accepting blanket and hygiene product donations. You can email lkpayingitforward@gmail.com to arrange a pick up. There will also be a drop off at Ample Storage, 5322 Two Notch Rd. in Columbia, on Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.