The Meltons Discover Peace of Mind at Goodness Village

Nick Melton was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in January 2020.  He received treatment, but relapsed at the end of the year. His next step was to receive a bone marrow transplant at UAMS. His wife and primary caregiver, Karen, knew that they would need somewhere close to the hospital to stay following Nick’s discharge. Initially, they thought Goodness Village was outside their price range, but perfect timing and circumstances brought the Meltons to one of our apartments. Karen shares her testimony during this challenging time” 

“After Nick’s transplant and approaching a possible discharge date, I booked a 2 bedroom, 2 bath hotel room close to the hospital for a couple of weeks for our daily trips to the clinic. Our UAMS social worker, Cecilia, had told us about several places nearby to stay, including Goodness Village. However, I looked it up online and thought it looked a little out of our price range. I didn’t think we would be able to afford it. 

Nick’s discharge date kept getting postponed because the doctors didn’t feel like he was ready to move to the hotel.  I had to change the hotel reservation a couple of times.  The hotel ended up having to cancel our reservation because they were overbooked and couldn’t keep moving us.  I was completely overwhelmed with where we would stay that would give us enough room to be comfortable during an extended stay, be in a safe area, and also away from crowds due to infection risk.

Our wonderful volunteer friend from the hospital, Ms. Debbie, mentioned Goodness Village to us and I decided to look into it again.  I pulled up the website, got the phone number, and talked to Ms. Kim.  She said she was so glad I called that day because they had a family that was going back home for a short break, but didn’t want to give up their apartment.  The timing would probably work out perfectly.  

Kim checked with the family and notified us that we had the apartment for the exact two weeks that we needed it!  Not only did we have an awesome, large, clean, and comfortable 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment to stay in, we were only blocks from the hospital, never in a crowded elevator while getting to and from our apartment, and our staying there helped the other family financially because we took some of that cost off of them.  And the apartment was cheaper than the hotel we had previously booked and lost!  

There is no doubt in our minds that this was all a “God thing” and part of His perfect plan and timing.  If Nick had been discharged from the hospital any earlier, the apartment wouldn’t have been available.  Another blessing was that our insurance reimbursed us for the full amount of the apartment stay minus the cleaning fee, which we were able to donate back to Goodness Village to help other families in need.  God has been so good to us during this very stressful and challenging time in our lives and He has met so many of our needs, just at the right time.  Goodness Village was just one of the many blessings He has given us.”  

The Meltons found a home where they could stay at just the right time. They also found community at Goodness Village through new friends they met at UAMS. Karen shares about the connection they found that gave them more support during this time:

“The picture included is of Billy & Christa Powell (left) and Nick and Karen Melton (right) and was taken recently when we got together to eat.  We met Billy & Christa at the UAMS clinic just days after Nick and Billy’s discharge from the hospital. They also stayed in a Goodness Village apartment after Billy’s discharge from the hospital. Billy & Nick had transplants just a few days apart and we became friends during our clinic visits and have kept in touch.”