I have a friend who has been unable to flush a toilet or take a shower since January 2nd.

Why not call a plumber, you ask?

Well, she did. Six of them.

Two eventually called back. One was just calling to let her know he got her message and couldn’t come (appreciate the honesty), the other could come from Sweetwater. And he did, on Tuesday the 6th. He was there less than ten minutes. He poked around in the vicinity of the septic tank, declared it and the field line full of roots, told her it’d be $13,000 to fix, and left.

That’s terrible news for anybody, right?

Now let me tell you my friend is disabled. I don’t mean that she simply draws disability (which she does, a pittance). I mean she is completely blind in one eye and only has 5% vision in the other. She has a disorder called myasthenia gravis, MG for short, which causes muscles to involuntarily quit. This includes muscles in the throat that make you swallow. You don’t think about that, right? Your neck supports itself and you just swallow spit all day as needed. She doesn’t always have that luxury. On flare up days (sometimes lasting a week and often as once a month) she has to sit up and let saliva come out her mouth or else she can choke. Her diaphragm muscles will sometimes get lazy and she struggles to breathe. She can be fine one minute, pulling something out of the oven, and her arms or legs give out all at once and she’s lying on the floor, covered with baked spaghetti or what have you.

If you just laughed, you owe us $20.00.

That’s just the MG. She also has arthritis and lupus. She can’t drive, obviously, and even if she could, she suffers from agoraphobia. After years of trying to navigate in the world with her white cane and people bumping into HER, after the looks and judgement she received and perceived from people of all ages, she hung up the notion of ever being seen out in the world again. She cannot, and will not, leave her home.

Now that I’ve told you about her, let me add that her 89 year old Mamaw lives with her. She has all the ailments one does at 89.

Well, ok, Amy, but there are programs and resources for people like that. Oh yeah? You find ’em. Because I work for the government and I have connections all over and all I managed to find was a grant from the state I should have applied for in August on the off chance this would have fallen in my lap (and I still wouldn’t have the money right now, even if I had. Maaaybe in another month). I found a one-time grant of $10,000 from the federal government that she doesn’t qualify for because she’s not 62. It doesn’t matter she’s disabled. Rural Development also offered a 1% loan to be paid over 20 years for home repairs. Not sure what the cap is, I didn’t get that far. It didn’t matter.

I have tried to go about this quietly and through personal contacts.

Her plumbing is completely clogged, in part due to the septic tank and field line full of tree roots and dirt. It has backed up into the mobile home and sat in pipes. Then there was so much weight and pressure over such a long period that it caused some fittings underneath the home to come apart, and part of the backup in the pipes has begun trickling out and leaking underneath. (This is now fixed, as of TODAY, January 15th)

Also, due to the long-term backups and flooding in the home, several spots in the floor have become soft. I’m talking like a trampoline.

Douglas Cherokee only helps with utility bills. I should add right here that every bill is paid, on time, including property taxes. And she’s not on food stamps, or whatever they’re called now.

ETHRA (yes, the transportation people, they supposedly help with other things) finally called me back after five days, four calls, three voicemails, and an in-person visit where I left a hand written note in their drop box. The two at the Knoxville office were kind, sympathetic, and helpful as they could be, even though they didn’t have a dime.

Sevier County Baptist Association: Their office hours are supposedly M-Thursday 8-4 but it’s clear their office is somewhere not in the building on Chapman Highway and the email account and phones aren’t monitored. I have been by there at least once a day during business hours. Today I walked up and rattled the door, stood there, called them and it went to voicemail on a different callback number pretty quick. About an hour later, I had a response to the email I sent Monday. It wasn’t promising, they referred me to Live-It Ministries (based out of Seymour and this need is in Sevierville). I responded that I may be mistaken on their mission, as several local people had referred me to them for this specific type of help. He has not replied to that. Update: recieved reply Friday around 6 pm, they plan to join the effort in any way they can.
UPDATE 2/11/2026 Almost a month later, and three emails later, still not one word from them about any help they obtained. I was not copied or forwarded any correspondence between pastors or their Men’s Ministry and SCAB (my own acronym, d’ya like it?). I speculate Justin didn’t “try” and he didn’t “reach out” at all, hoping I would merely disappear into the multitudes of other needs and he won’t have to dirty his hands at all. I got news for Justin. I don’t intend on disappearing from any part of my life at all, and I’m spreading the word loud and clear about exactly how sorry and shady they are, starting with hiding Annual Reports, which were remarkably transparent about how their funds are spent.

The Sevier County Senior Center thanked me for being an advocate and scrawled a name and number on a Post-it for a lady who might know resources.

Environmental Health has helped tremendously with what little they can offer.

One local lawyer offered up a bit of legal advice for free on a separate matter with the same friend.

One local septic tank service said they’d come (at full price, plus additional labor depending on what they ran into once they got there), then backed out on Friday afternoon with a mouthful of excuses. I think it was simply he didn’t want to work in the rain.

One local contractor came to pump the septic tank to the best of their ability (on the same Friday afternoon in the pouring rain within the hour of calling after the other outfit canceled) and cut a bunch of roots out of the way so they could get to the tank. Then he sent a crew of four and fixed plumbing under the house yesterday. He was back this morning with a crew of six or seven and machinery digging up the pipe from the home to the septic tank to replace it. ALL OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF HIS HEART, AND A FEW OTHER INDIVIDUALS WHO WANTED TO HELP WITH COST.

One large construction outfit brought equipment and cleared the septic tank on both ends so it could be determined that the field line was indeed full of dirt and roots. It all needs replaced. They provided this service (crew and machine) at no charge. The tank and field line replacement are what I’m currently trying to fund.

A handyman friend answered my call, came when he said, took a look at the floors and plumbing underneath the home and gave me a free ballpark estimate.

Another friend crawled around on the coldest day of the year (a Sunday, no less), hung upside down into the septic tank to run a snake towards the house, and crawled around underneath the home to see what all we were dealing with.

I called on a friend that lives in another county, who was once a hospice nurse, to see if there were resources she knew of that are tied to home healthcare. There wasn’t that she was aware of, but she’s praying.

I talked to another lady I’ve known all my life about this. She got two plumbers, both a couple of days out, to agree to come. There is still a repair to be done at the kitchen sink inside the home. She gave me advice, ideas, and most importantly, she reminded me of determination. She listened to me. She has been in the trenches in situations like this. Her husband was once in politics, and the man was raised in a home with dirt floors. This woman KNOWS. She’s praying.

Another friend is the one who mobilized the contractor who is out there now, and who pumped the tank to begin with. Who got the ball rolling and the most immediate need addressed. And has talked me through this process of one step at a time. Another one praying and being thankful.

I have just returned from the Department of Human Services (no help except for food stamps and child abuse, but she was a kind individual who heard me out and sympathized.)

I drove to the Salvation Army. There was a car in the drive, but signs all over saying by appointment only. I called and left a voicemail. They called me back within a few hours and gave me a rehearsed response: out of funds, try Smoky Mountain Area Rescue Ministries and First Baptist Church of Sevierville.

I plan to visit the Good Shepherd Clinic this afternoon after I eat dinner. All I have had is coffee to fuel my rage. ( didn’t get over there. Maybe tomorrow)

My point to this list of “resources” is that I’m finding it impossible to actually locate help for this specific, URGENT need. If it hadn’t been for the good hearts of some local Samaritans, that made things HAPPEN, she would still be in a mess. I am proud to report this afternoon she is taking a shower and washing her hair for the first time in two weeks. With ABSOLUTELY NO HELP from the government= tax dollars.

I sat in a meeting Tuesday where I heard the State Conservationist tout obscene FEMA numbers that supposedly went to Hurricane Helene victims. Meanwhile, I’ve got a friend who lives on Whitetop Mountain in Virginia begging for propane heaters, plastic, and insulation for people living in what shacks and campers they have for the SECOND winter in a row.

I know one thing: it’s pretty easy to write a check. I wrote one yesterday morning to the American Cancer Society for a memorial. What would be more appreciated, though? Holding the hand of a patient as they received a chemo treatment? Reading to them in their home because their eyes burned and they can’t focus on the words? Cleaning up their vomit because they’re too weak to?

We need the check writers, absolutely. But we also need people who will drive up a rutted muddy driveway to see their friend and assure them by being there IN PERSON someone sees their plight. To look them in the eye and promise to beg, borrow, and steal to get them some help. And to get their hands and knees dirty, too.

In this land of plenty, known as Sevier County, I have found a handful of people with enormous hearts. But I’ve found a few who won’t even call me back. And it’s evident all our tax dollars aren’t serving the true underprivileged CITIZENS. But we knew that, didn’t we?

I’m no bleeding heart. I’m for the pursuit of happiness and the American Dream. I will not help those who will not help themselves. But I will do everything I know to do to help someone who cannot help themselves. This friend cannot, and that is why I’m trying so dang hard.

I appreciate the prayers, and if you know of a resource I haven’t tapped, please get them in touch with me or give me their contact. The next needs will be flooring and a roof. I know this situation is unsustainable long term, but it’s the only option I’ve got when my friend won’t leave for government housing (if it’s even available to a DISABLED person and a senior citizen, I’ll remind you) and there is not family to help carry the burden.

I keep asking myself what she would do if there wasn’t a me. Not that I’ve done much myself to help actively get her flowing. But I’ve beat every bush I know to beat and called on resources and people in the know if there’s anything to know. I know this isn’t an isolated case, and yet churches seem to be focused on needs in other states, or even other countries. It’s no secret that’s where federal funds go. But what if a disabled person doesn’t have a redheaded friend with a big mouth and the means to walk in places and straight up ask for help? What do those people do? I saw a post yesterday from Cox Family Homestead in Kodak, where she wrote: “I am hopeful that we are equipped for that of which we are called.” Amen. I’m learning. And I’m thankful and angry, all at the same time.