James and Deborah Williams

Meet James and Deborah Williams. James and Deb have been friends of mine for about seven years. They have served with my wife and me at church and in our community. They’ve donated food to a program I’ve worked with to serve an underprivileged area of Nashville. When the pandemic hit, the gym that James owned was forced to shut down temporarily. Through that time, James delivered pizzas to help support his employees who suddenly found themselves with no income. If you’ve ever met either of them, none of this would surprise you. If you are lucky enough to know them well, you won’t cease to be surprised at how upbeat and generous they are regardless of what personal trials they may be going through.

After all these years of friendship, it is now my turn to lead a charge that will allow James and Deborah to experience, hopefully, as much generosity as they have given out!

On March 24th, an uninsured motorist totaled Deborah’s truck. They got a rental vehicle but were having difficulty securing a loan for a new vehicle. On the evening of April 8th, an uninsured party bus – of all things – was cruising down their quiet street and lost control, taking out the rental car, their second vehicle, their travel trailer parked next to their house, and destroying the walls of their bedroom. The damage was incredible, and everyone is so thankful that James and Deborah were in their living room watching television and not in their bedroom at the time!

Due to all of this, the expenses are mounting quickly. Two more rental cars have now become one rental and one purchased vehicle which they had to get quickly on a high interest loan. Since the incident, they have had to find temporary housing due to the massive damage to both their trailer and their home. While the insurance will cover the housing up to a point, this continues to add to their daily expenses. Unfortunately, temporary living may have to continue for the next few months due to the shortage of available contractors in Nashville. Add to this all of the deductibles that they must pay out of pocket, and James and Deborah have suddenly found themselves in some financial difficulty that they could not possibly have anticipated.

My wife, Shannon, and I have started this fundraiser simply to help cover James and Deborah’s immediate expenses. I hope that together we can give some pay back to this wonderful couple who never cease to pay it forward!

Joel Weberg