Mortgage Broker in Moncks Corner, SC

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - The Berkeley County Family YMCA is closing its doors after nearly 30 years.

The YMCA of Greater Charleston sent a notice out to members on Jan. 30. The email cited the building as being “in need of substantial improvement.” The notice says the YMCA cannot provide that work and the efforts to operate in Berkeley County have “seriously challenged the financial capabilities” of the local YMCA.

Therefore, the YMCA of Greater Charleston Board of Directors and staff management have decided to close and sell the 210 Rembert C. Dennis Blvd. location in Moncks Corner.

President and CEO of the Charleston area operations, Paul Stoney, signed the email notification.

Stoney says the building was costing more than $100,000 a year to keep its doors open and still needed costly repairs, like a potentially $300,000 new roof. When the building is officially sold and closed, members are invited to use the Cane Bay location, and participate in continuing leagues and services.

“Physically, that YMCA does not meet the expectations of a YMCA, it is rapidly deteriorating,” Stoney says.

Stoney says the decision was based on being a good steward of community money, and the facility didn’t make sense anymore. But he says there are future options to collaborate with the help of land donations or developer deals.

“And as it relates to developers, if they’re able to, and it makes good business sense, then we would love to maintain a new presence in that community with a new facility. So that is being taken into consideration,” Stoney said.

The notice says all current members will be grandfathered in to the YMCA facility in Cane Bay, which is about a 20-minute drive across the county. The membership will last one year from the closing date of the Moncks Corner location, which has not been announced.

Kenneth Owens, a member since 1998, says he will miss the location.

“I’m sad it’s closing down because I’ve always enjoyed the people I work out with and the people who run the facility here are very nice people. But going to Cane Bay isn’t really going to be an option for me that’s a little bit further to travel,” Owens says.

The Cane Bay facility opened in April of 2019 and boasts 54,000-square-feet of new construction and assets.

Stoney says in the email that YMCA youth sports, fitness and programming will continue at satellite locations across the county and the non-profit will make every effort for current staff members to continue with the organization.

“Our programs, just like programs that we operate downtown, although we don’t have a physical presence, that is part of our service area. And we still operate programs downtown without having a physical presence. We intend to do the same thing in the Moncks Corner Berkeley County community,” Stoney says.

Stoney says he values the Moncks Corner members and is happy to field any question going forward with the process.

“This is part of a longer vision to continue to deliver a high caliber of programs throughout Charleston and Berkeley counties. And we take that very seriously. We also have to recognize when a facility is not up to our standards, and yes, tough decisions need to be made,” Stoney says.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

A woman has shared how her rescue dog saved her life by alerting others to her medical emergency.

Keena Pratt, 51, from Moncks Corner, South Carolina, adopted Auggie the mix breed in November 2020.

While visiting family over the Christmas holiday just four weeks later, Pratt woke up feeling nauseous and went to the bathroom, where things went from bad to worse.

"I went to use the bathroom and began to feel worse," Pratt told Newsweek. "As I sat on the toilet, I put my head on the counter. I kept going in and out of what I thought was sleep. In one of the 'awake' moments, I believe I saw Auggie but he left pretty quickly."

Auggie had followed his owner into the bathroom and immediately made his way to Pratt's husband, who described that the pet started acting "off" and led him to her.

"At first, my husband thought I might be having low sugar, so he tried to get me to drink a regular soda, which I remembered I pushed away. My husband told me later that I said, 'I need help.' At that point, my husband called 911," said Pratt.

Paramedics arrived at the house and took her into the ambulance to be transported to the hospital.

"I do not remember the ride, and the time in the ER is vague. All this happened early morning, but I did not come around until about 1 or 2 p.m.," explained Pratt. "The attending physician said I had dangerously low electrolytes and a UTI [urinary tract infection] that I did not realize. I was in the hospital for three days."

The American Kennel Club (AKC) says that our canines can tell if we're not feeling well. Particularly attuned to scents and sounds, dogs are often known to smell illness in their humans.

With a complex cocktail of chemicals in the human body, we have a particular odor that our dogs are familiar with—and any changes that may occur with illness are also easily detected by canines. For example, diabetic alert dogs can tell when their owner's blood glucose level is off because of the changes in exhaled breath.

Dogs also pay close attention to our behavior. They can tell when their human is acting out of the ordinary, right down to body-language changes. If you're usually active and ready to go and instead spend the day curled up on the couch, then your dog can tell that something isn't right.

"I absolutely believe that Auggie sensed that something was wrong," said Pratt. "I cannot imagine what would have happened if he had not alerted by husband."

Pratt now sees a urologist to stay ahead of any further UTI, and said that the incident has only increased the family's love for Auggie the dog.

"It solidified our love for him. Yes, he still tries to protect me even to a fault. After this incident, he became even more reactive to people that come near me. We are working with a trainer to try to re-establish who the leader is in the family," she explained.

"My favorite thing about Auggie is how affectionate he is with my husband and me. He is a member of our family, and we wouldn't trade him for the world."

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.

When an elderly pizza delivery driver tripped and fell on a family’s front patio, the couple rushed to her aid. Saddened that the 73-year-old was still working to support herself, they went the extra mile and kick-started a fundraiser to help the woman.

Lacey, 33, and her husband Kevin Keighron, 34, are both first responders who live in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, with their five children aged 2 to 12. The whole family was looking forward to Domino’s pizza on Feb. 2 when 73-year-old great-grandmother, Barbara Gillespie, showed up at their door.

Laden with food boxes, Gillespie lost her footing.

“On the video, it looks like she kinda stubbed her foot on the edge of the patio,” Lacey told The Epoch Times. “She didn’t lift her foot up enough, and [being] elderly, it’s really hard to even catch yourself after something like that. She took a pretty hard fall on the patio.”

Kevin was already on his way to collect the pizza when Gillespie fell as he’d received a notification on the app. He rushed to her aid—as a first responder, he knew to stand close but allow Gillespie to take the lead in steadying herself—while Lacey came downstairs to check what happened.

The three eldest children saw Gillespie’s fall on the doorbell camera and were very concerned. “Our kids don’t like seeing anyone get hurt,” Lacey said. “Our four-year-old was extremely concerned she asked about her every day.”

After making sure Gillespie was okay and seeing her off, Lacey and Kevin got to thinking. They found out that Gillespie is technically retired, on social security benefits, but still has to work to make ends meet.

Lacey said: “My husband’s dad and my dad both have recently passed away from cancer … the sad fact is that both of them worked up until shortly before they passed away … so when we saw this happen [to] Barbara, it just really resonated with us.”

The mother of five posted the doorbell camera footage on TikTok and started a GoFundMe page. She said: “I only had a couple of friends on TikTok, so I thought maybe we’d share it around to our friends and get a couple of donations.”

Lacey had hoped to raise enough money so that Gillespie could get “a couple of days off work.” However, within hours, the fund had raised $50,000. At the time of writing, it has raised over $240,000.

The day after Gillespie’s fall, the Keighrons went to the Domino’s eatery where she works, bearing gifts, to share the amazing news with her.

Lacey said: “[Our kids] were so worried about her, and when I told them that we were going to give her flowers and candy as a surprise, they were so excited; they had to hold the flowers, they had to hold the candy!”

Gillespie had suffered from knee pain and some scrapes on her right knee and elbow. According to Newsflare, Domino’s awarded Gillespie with their Employee of the Year award in recognition of her efforts, and, on becoming aware of the Keighrons’ mammoth fundraiser, she was lost for words.

Lacey shared footage and told The Epoch Times: “We posted a video of her reaction for the first $50,000, and she was honestly just speechless … we just let her know it was okay not to have the words, we weren’t looking for some huge reaction, but she’s so beyond thankful.”

The reaction that Kacey has received has been mostly positive.

“Ninety-nine percent of everyone who has watched it and commented has been so kind,” Lacey said. “There is that one percent that’s given us a little bit of grief, a little bit of harassment, accused us of being scammers, or of Barbara being my husband’s aunt or my mom … none of that is true, we have never met Barbara before.”

Lacey even shared her family’s Domino’s order and the receipts online in response to the accusations, however, she’s now decided to focus on the positive, saying, “For that one percent I just delete and even block the people, because we don’t want that interrupting our peace and the kindness that this has brought.”

Lacey and Kevin have since invited Gillespie to their house for a live TikTok Q&A with their followers. The grateful great-grandmother was happy to answer questions on how she was doing and if she was planning to retire soon.

For Lacey, the experience has reminded her that no matter how much suffering we see, there is always good in this world if we look for it. She hopes others play their part in looking out for the elderly.

“A lot of times they do have kids, and they do have family … but they don’t have the same sense of security as other generations did on retirement because of the way that our economy is changing,” Lacey said. “So look out for your elderly, help them carry something to a door, help them pay for a meal if you can. Tell them that you’re thinking about them, whatever it may be, but just look out for people.”

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MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - For the first time in seven years, homeowners and landowners in Moncks Corner will see a 15 percent property tax increase starting on October 1.

At the Moncks Corner Town Council meeting Thursday evening, the vote for a new budget was passed unanimously with only one member of the public providing input.

The economy, fuel prices and labor costs are all contributing factors according to Mayor Michael Lockliear, but the main reason for the increase is to afford and pay public employees.

“Retention has been very tough over the last year keeping employees,” Lockliear said. “Since other people are paying more around us, we had to step up and do the same thing.”

The tax hike means a homeowner with a property valued at $250,000 will have to pay $100 more per year on property taxes. Statistically, it is normal to increase taxes by about two-percent each year.

Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office Special Prosecutor Tyler Jenkins was the only one who asked a question during the public input portion of the meeting.

“My real question as far as the millage rate, 15 percent in one year seems like a pretty high number,” Jenkins said. “Was there any discussion about why that wasn’t incrementally put into place?”

In response, Lockliear said this is the first time in seven years that the city has had to increase property tax, which he is very proud of.

“We did it so we wouldn’t have to come back in two years and do it again,” Lockliear said. “As a resident of Moncks Corner, I’d much rather be taxed one time now and then another time in 10 years or so, but not every two years.”

Every year, the city government meets for a budget workshop where they go through the department by department and cut what is needed for a balanced budget. This year, Lockliear said they were short about $325,000 with the more expensive costs coming from health care and retirement benefits to public employees

“With that being done, it put a big dent in our budget,” Lockliear said. “That’s why the millage increase came and hopefully it will take us through the next six to seven-eight years.”

The new budget takes place from Oct. 1, 2022, until Sept. 30, 2023. Operating revenues will increase from $12,417,159 to $15,622,744 and operating expenditures will increase from $14,151,802 to $15,363,175.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

UPDATE: After our report on Wednesday, DHEC reached out to News 2 letting us know they have approved the water permit, so the store can begin the process of opening. DETAILS HERE.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCBD) – People living in Moncks Corner have been long awaiting the opening of a new Publix shopping center. While the grocery store appears to be ready to open, many are now wondering “what is the holdup?”

“If you live in the area, you are excited about the store coming in. What we’re not excited about is how long it’s taking for it to open,” said Robert Esclavon, who stops by the center occasionally to see its progress.

The 75,000 square-foot Publix at the new Moncks Corner Marketplace was announced about two years ago. Today, things basically look finished – there are grocery carts inside, fixtures in place, and shelves waiting to be stocked. But still, the store sits unopened.

Based on a January 2021 press release, the shopping center was slated for completion in June 2022, with Publix expected to open in fall 2022.

“The few people I run into say it looks like it could be mid-September before it opens. I don’t know if they know what they’re talking about, but for a store that’s complete – except for product on the shelves – it makes you wonder what’s holding it up,” said Esclavon.

Esclavon reached out to News 2 to find out what is going on. Leaders with the Town of Moncks Corner said they are waiting on final approval from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

“Right now, we are just waiting on DHEC to approve the water supply system over there. All the engineering has been done- the water is clear, it’s just a matter of getting everything signed off on the state DHEC office and they’ll be able to start moving in people and supplies,” explained Douglas Polen, Moncks Corner Community Development Director.

One person, who was familiar with the construction project, said they had to wait a few weeks for Berkeley Water and Sanitation to get their water meters installed. That process is now complete, and they have been waiting on DHEC for the past week and a half.

Officials with DHEC tell News 2 they are going to see what they can do to expedite the rest of the approval process so the store can finally open for business.

Esclavon said that is why he called us for help.

“Just having you guys, like you guys research it a little bit and maybe you push them along to have this project move up … they’re ready to go, I think,” he said.

Moncks Corner officials said once DHEC gives its final approval, Publix could open in as little as three to four weeks.