THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9509030054
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
For Brenda McCormick and Mothers Inc., the clouds have lifted, the sun has come out and there's a rainbow in the sky.
``When you are part of a miracle like this, rainbows glow in the dark,'' said an ecstatic McCormick last week after learning that more than $56,000 had been raised to help her non-profit group purchase its home-based headquarters in the resort area.
In July, McCormick, an advocate for the city's poor and homeless, was threatened with eviction from the house where she has lived and worked for six years. Landlord Douglas Johnson wanted to sell, and neither McCormick nor Mothers Inc. had the money to buy. But after McCormick made a public plea for help, donations began pouring in.
For more than a month, checks have flowed into the law office of Glen Huff, who volunteered his services to help McCormick and Mothers Inc.
Sometimes the money trickled in in increments of $1, $5, $10. At other times, it was an occasional deluge of $5,000 and $10,000. In just over a month, 375 contributors gave enough so that Mothers Inc. could purchase the property.
Barring unforeseen developments, closing will take place by the middle of this month, Huff said.
``At the start, I had my doubts, but it is truly amazing and wonderful to see this kind of grassroots support for such a worthy cause,'' said Huff.
The asking price of $96,500 has been negotiated down by $2,000, said Huff, leaving about $38,000 for Mothers Inc. to pay monthly installments of about $650 for the next 10 years.
Money is still coming in, and whatever accumulates before the closing will go to reduce the principal, Huff said.
McCormick lives on a $573 Air Force widow's check and has worked on behalf of the poor and homeless in Virginia Beach for 10 years. She says it is essential for Mothers Inc. to maintain its location since it is in the center of the portion of the city where the poor live and homeless congregate. McCormick can be reached at 491-2887. MEMO: Donations to help Mothers Inc. may be sent to Huff, Poole and Mahoney,
4705 Columbus St., Virginia Beach, Va. 23462. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Brenda McCormick
by CNB