Local

Family living in deplorable conditions getting help it needs

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A Cherokee County mother with a child with special needs is finally getting some help.
 
The woman was living in deplorable conditions and the state threatened to take two of her children. But Channel 2's Diana Davis learned that thanks to some volunteers, she may be turning her life around.
 
The trash heap and mess Channel 2 showed viewers Thursday at Kim Williams' Ballground trailer was gone Friday. The Williams family and volunteers cleaned it up and loaded it into a dumpster.
 
The Division of Family and Children Services has given Williams one week to make the outside and inside of the trailer livable or lose custody of her two  youngest children. One child has Down syndrome and is also deaf and unable to speak. Williams told Davis she is determined to make the changes so she can keep her kids.
 
"I will never be back to this position ever again," Williams said.
 
Williams said she and her husband always lived on the edge of poverty. When he died eight years ago, she said the cycle of poverty, despair and caring for a child with special needs overwhelmed her.
 
"It shouldn't never have got this bad. I know that now," Williams said.
 
She also asked for understanding from those who wonder and ask out loud how she could have let conditions get so bad.
 
"I say walk in my shoes for a day. It's been really rough road," Williams said.
 
After hearing the Williams' story, Atlanta's Complete Heating and Air, will do some work for free. Davis talked to a technician who gave his name only as Joe, who said his boss wants to help.
 
"These people need some help, people make poor decisions and come back from it all the time. Some people don't have education to know what's right," Joe said.
 
After Channel 2's report Thursday, the Williams' got some negative feedback on our Facebook page.
 
Some viewers said the family hasn't done enough to help themselves and that Williams' children would be better off with the state. Davis asked Williams about that.
 
"No I haven't made all the right decisions in my life but I am willing to change anything I have to do or anything I have to do to get my life back the way it should be," Williams said.
 
Williams never finished high school. She works cleaning buildings.
 
Volunteers said they will help her make a budget. The hope is to do more than fix a rotting trailer but repair broken lives, said volunteer Amanda Beckman.
 
"And we want to make sure that the family has the tools and the skills that it doesn't, because I know the mom doesn't want this to happen again," Beckman said.
 
The repairs being made are temporary.
 
Volunteers are working on getting another trailer but they have no way to transport it. Meanwhile, the Williams family said they are committed to doing things differently in the future.
 
Volunteers will be working on the trailer Saturday. A shuttle will be making constant rounds to pick them up and bring then to the job site from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. For further questions, you can email Amanda Beckman at Thepeachprojectgeorgia@gmail.com.