CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Delmi Ponce, originally from Honduras, moved to Charlotte in hopes of being better able to provide for her family.
The single mother of five kids, with one now battling cancer, told WCNC Charlotte anchor Jane Monreal that she reached out to several community services when she arrived in Charlotte. Camino Health Center was the only one to answer her call and gave her a gift card to buy food.
“In my home country, I sold everything and I wasn’t going to be able to make as many strides as I could here," she said, speaking through a translator.
The center provides multiple services, including health and education, and job training for much of the area’s Spanish-speaking community.
However, it lost a big part of its campus when a fire ripped through the pantry on Independence Day.
“When I first heard the news, that was really sad because [of] their resources,” Ponce said. “They help you. If you’re not in contact with the resources you normally have, it’s sad.”
Ponce said she’s relying more and more on Camino since she doesn’t have a job while she’s trying to stay close to her sick child.
“For them to actually call me back and other places haven’t, I’m just so thankful they’re always on call. They’re so attentive,” she said. “They always answer and I know that the moment I need them the most, that’s when they answer as well.”
The pantry is operating as it did before the pandemic. People who drive up to the garage bay receive their food. Camino is accepting donations to help supplement the food that was lost with gift cards.
“God bless Camino for all the help you’ve given me," Ponce said.
Donations for the center can be made online.
Contact Jane Monreal at jmonreal@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.