By Olivia Fowler
For The Courier

ofowler@thepccourier.com

COUNTY — When Frederica Davenport drove away from D&D Motors in Greer in a 2004 Ford Explorer, she wasn’t just driving[cointent_lockedcontent]

Courtesy Photo
From left, D&D Motors general manager Skip Davenport, car recipient Frederica Davenport, Family Promise director Armilla Moore and Allstate regional director Curtis Brock were on hand for a recent car donation ceremony.

home. She was driving into a new life.

The 36-year-old single mother of three is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

A year ago, the Davenport family was homeless and without transportation. The family had nowhere to turn. Then, Family Promise of Pickens County came into their lives. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to giving homeless families a hand up, not a hand out.

Family Promise provides a safe place for families, where more than just food and shelter is available. There are 14 host churches, each in turn offering one week of housing and food to the families in the program.

Transportation, job training, counseling and other services are also given to each participating family so at the end of their months in the program they have secured affordable housing, a job and continued mentoring.

“Frederica came to Family Promise in the fall of 2014,” Family Promise director Armilla Moore said. “She and her children were homeless. She had a lot of skepticism and apprehension when she entered the program. Her children were displaced and uncertain.

“As a part of the program, they spent many nights sleeping in churches. Through Frederica’s hard work and with the help of Family Promise, she not only found housing and employment, she also found friends and family. By January 2015 she was able to move into a home with affordable rent and find full-time employment.”

Davenport had completed the program. She and her children were living together in a home she could afford in a safe neighborhood. She had a job.

The only component missing was transportation. She was scrambling for rides to work. She and the children walked miles to the grocery store, and the lack of a car seemed to be an unsolvable problem.

And then, Moore discovered a grant program sponsored by Allstate Insurance Company that donates recycled vehicles to qualified homeless families.

“We knew the chances were small,” Moore said.

But they sent in Davenport’s application and waited to hear.

Curtis Brock of Allstate said the program, 800 Charities Through Recycled Rides, donates totaled salvage vehicles that are repairable to the program. Some are donated to technical schools for automotive repair classes. But some go to families who have no other way of getting transportation. The title is signed over to the new owner.

Eddie Snipes of Allstate spotted the car and test drove it at the salvage yard to see if it would qualify.

Copart Salvage Yard delivers repairable vehicles at no charge to D&D Motors, the third partner in the program.

D&D general manager Skip Davenport said the dealership donates repairs and reconditioning of the vehicles to the program, because they want to help these families get reliable transportation. They also coordinate the donation process.

When Davenport got behind the wheel and started the engine, the expression on her face made it clear what the car represents to her.

She recently started a new job at the VA in Belton as a medical assistant and now has a way to get there. Her family is among the first in Pickens County to complete the Family Promise program.

Moore said the transformation in the entire family since they entered the program has been amazing.

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