With the help of some Good Samaritans, a North Carolina couple stranded in Charleston after one of them had a heart attack made it to their destination on Tuesday.
Billy and Teresa Coram got some help once they ended up at Manna Meal, the soup kitchen housed in St. John's Episcopal Church on the East End. A worker there put out an appeal on social media and soon got several people offering to help.
The Corams said they spent Monday night outside CAMC General Hospital, after being discharged with no money left and nowhere to go.
They said they left on a bus from Hickory, North Carolina, on Friday, on their way to see their daughter in Beckley. Billy Coram said he had a mild heart attack, and the bus driver took them to CAMC.
Coram spent three nights there, with his wife by his side, and said the care he received was "amazing." But once he was discharged Monday evening, he said they were told they couldn't stay at the hospital, and were left without money or knowledge of the area.
They couldn't get a place to stay, buy food or find a ride to Beckley. Their daughter is deaf, making it difficult for them to talk by phone. They were able to notify her Friday of what happened but upon release from the hospital, they were unable to contact her.
After her husband was discharged, Teresa Coram said a hospital security officer told them to let him know if they needed anything, but the doors to the hospital were quickly locked.
"It was a little scary at first because we'd never been in this situation," she said.
A hospital spokeswoman said CAMC has a procedure for patients who are discharged but don't have anywhere to go. She said the Corams should have been put in touch with a social worker who could help them find temporary housing, and that hospital officials would have to investigate to find out what went wrong.
While searching for help, the Corams said, they ended up at Charleston's Baptist Temple. Billy Coram said a custodian told them he couldn't help.
"All I wanted was a cup of coffee," he said. "I told him it's a good thing Christ didn't come here, he would have been disappointed because he doesn't have a home here, either."
He acknowledged that, after being in the hospital for three days, he might not have shown himself at his best.
"I forgive the church and I forgive the minister," he said Tuesday. "When I went to see him, I wasn't exactly in a good frame of mind."
A representative for the church said Tuesday that after meeting the Corams, the custodian began looking for ways to help others with similar needs in the future. Some members of the church do volunteer at Manna Meal, and the church collects food for a local pantry.
The Corams said a homeless man pointed them in the direction of Manna Meal, a nonprofit organization that serves two meals a day to "anyone who comes through [their] doors," according to their Facebook page.
Upon arrival at Manna Meal, the couple found Kay Albright, the organization's outreach coordinator.
Albright posted an update on the organization's Facebook page and sent an email to a list of community members. She said they received help within minutes and dozens had reached out. The organization also provided the couple with breakfast and an afternoon meal before their ride would pick them up at 1 p.m.
"I'm so grateful to these people," Teresa said. "Because of them, we get to leave. Because of them, I got to eat this morning."
The couple plans to move to Beckley. When asked if they would return to Charleston, Billy said he would like to come back to Manna Meal to pay forward what had been done for him and his wife.
Reach Jennifer Gardner at jennifer.gardner@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5102 or follow @jennc_gardner on Twitter.