LAKE COUNTRY
It’s hard to imagine.
When Eric Thompkins’ backyard well pump failed, he had to carry three, five-gallon barrels of water from his nearby mother’s home just so he could bathe, flush his toilets, and have water to drink.
Thompkins has multiple sclerosis and lives alone in his Putnam County home. He did this every day for about a month, he says, until the Health Department contacted Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) to help.
NHN is a 501(c)3 non-profit serving Greene and Putnam counties. It provides several services for people in need, including beds for children and one-time critical home repairs.
After meeting with Thompkins to evaluate his situation, NHN contacted Joel Carroll, who has had a local well and pump repair business for 21 years.
“He had a bored, shallow well,” Carroll explained. “(Thompkins) had hired somebody to put a Home Depot jet pump or whatever on it (and) they couldn’t get it going. I actually had a used submersible pump that we gave and installed, just to get his water going.”
Thompkins was very grateful.
“The organization was wonderful. It was the best help I had in my life,” he said.
Donations to NHN go directly to paying for the cost of the repairs but NHN Project Manager Rich Grossman said in Thompkins’ case, Carroll would not accept payment.
“He said, ‘I’ve always wanted to help out. I’ll do this job for nothing,’” Grossman said.
Carroll also helped NHN to help Doris Jordan, who has been living in her Putnam County mobile home for about 30 years. Recently, however, her well started running out of water.
“It got to the point where it stopped,” Jordan said. “I remember thinking ‘What can you do when your well runs out?’ I started buying water. I went over to the church. I talked to my pastor, my brother-in-law, and my sister.”
Jordan eventually had to live with a family member until Neighbors Helping Neighbors was contacted with a request to help “an older member” of the church.
“She had a PVC pipe well,” Carroll said. “We had to use our equipment to pull the pipe out.”
About 90 minutes later, water service was restored to her home and Jordan quickly received a call from NHN Project Manager Rob Mitchell. In this case, Carroll charged NHN a discounted price for the work.
“You don’t miss your well until your water runs out,” Jordan said. “The next thing I know, somebody was saying ‘You’ve got your well. You’ve got some water.’” Carroll Pump and Well Service is locally owned and operated, serving Putnam and surrounding counties. It is just one of many local contractors who have worked on the 60 home repairs that Neighbors Helping Neighbors has completed and paid for this year alone. Many times, the contractors discount their work for the organization.
Over three years of existence, NHN has repaired more than 120 Greene and Putnam county homes, repaired or replaced more than 30 cars, and delivered 360 beds to kids who previously did not have one of their own to sleep in.
NHN focuses on one-time critical needs, mostly home repairs, repairing or replacing a primary vehicle for families, and through its Beds for Kidz program. NHN primarily serves low-income families, older adults, children, single working mothers and their children, military veterans, and developmentally and/or physically challenged individuals in Greene and Putnam counties.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors is a 501(C)3 non-profit, member-based organization and one-hundred percent of all donations go directly to projects for those in need. For more information, to become a member, or to donate, visit Neighbors Helping Neighbors online at nhnga.org.