When you think of someone that struggles to find housing, who do you think of? 

Maybe it’s young professionals or new grads, maybe even teachers and firefighters perhaps…but do you ever think about a woman with an established career, considers herself a proud grandma and dedicates her time each day to volunteer at Belle Hall Elementary? 

Probably not. But it’s true. 

Cathy Swink, long-time Store Manager with Tervis downtown, dedicates a large amount of her time to being a volunteer leader for the Charleston Metro Chamber and Belle Hall Elementary. 

“I’m a grandmother so I’m at the opposite spectrum of who people think are impacted by the region’s housing crisis.” 

Cathy Swink

After moving from North Augusta, SC to Greensboro, NC in 1985, her family landed in Mount Pleasant, SC in 1994 and was living in Belle Hall Plantation.

Due to life changes in 2006, Cathy found herself looking for a place to rent. 

“Having a single income makes it almost impossible to buy a house.”

Cathy Swink

During that time, renting houses was a lot more affordable than they are now, so she continued to live in Mount Pleasant in a rented home. 

Like many residents in our region, as housing prices increased, she had to adjust where she lived. Most recently, she was living in a townhouse in Mount Pleasant. 

Then, things escalated (more like, skyrocketed). Her rent went up over 700 dollars in 2 years, forcing her to find a new place to live.

“The last couple of years, our region’s housing crisis has completely gotten out of control and unaffordable.”

Cathy Swink

Due to the cost of housing, she had to move from Mount Pleasant, a place she has called home for decades, to the other side of town, West Ashley, and forced to downsize to an apartment. With this new zip code came new adjustments to her work commute to downtown Charleston. 

Housing woes have also affected the ability to keep her business up and running. With many businesses downtown looking for skilled talent, there continues to be consistent competition to find candidates to fill empty positions. 

She also discussed how unreasonable it is to expect someone living in Goose Creek, Summerville and Hanahan to work on the peninsula and have to make the drive every day, especially due to the increased amount of traffic, and to be reliable enough to make it to work on time. 

Although she lives in West Ashley now, she still takes time every morning (even though her travel time went from 10 to 30 minutes) to volunteer at Belle Hall Elementary in Mount Pleasant. For her selfless service to the school, she earned the Jefferson award in 2018. 

“I think it’s important to be involved in the community so that I can make a difference and can be aware of things going on. If I can help make a difference to someone else, I think it’s important.”

Cathy Swink

When asked what her hope is for the future, her selfless nature continued to shine.  

“I hope at some point that there is attainable housing for anyone that wants to have a house, no matter if you’re young or a grandmother,” said Cathy Swink. “I would love for my children to be able to afford a house.” 

So, what’s next? How can we combat our region’s housing crisis? 

Join Cathy and the Regional Housing Coalition, a grass-roots organization that advocates for attainable housing in our region! You can also learn more about the Chamber’s Housing Attainability efforts here.