Switchpoint success story culminates with fundraiser, automobile donation to St. George family

Written by E. George Goold
March 20, 2024

ST. GEORGE — Eddie Perry and Justine Yazie know all about hardship.

Eddie Perry and his family at the fundraiser for Swithpoint at the Tagg-N-Go Car Wash, St. George, Utah, March 19, 2024 | Photo E. George Goold, St. George News

Since the pandemic year of 2020, the St. George couple have experienced homelessness, unemployment and an uncertain future for their family and their two boys Isaiah and Ezekial.

“We had some health problems, in and out of the ER,” Perry told St. George News. “Lost my job. Took out some loans, kind of got behind and eventually lost our place.”

Both Perry and Yazie were working in the service industry when Yazie got sick, had surgery and couldn’t go to work. Perry said the bills piled up and things got worse and worse.

The one hardship that stood out more than any other? They couldn’t afford a car. So they walked, everywhere. Walked the kids to school. Walked to work. Walked to the store. For years.

That was when the folks at Switchpoint Community Resource Center teamed with Dixie Auto Salvage and several other local business partners to donate a vehicle to Perry and his family.

“It’s a blessing. Definitely a blessing,” both Perry and Yazie said, tears in their eyes, when the car was donated to them Tuesday evening at a Switchpoint fundraiser at Tagg-N-Go Car Wash on West Sunset Boulevard in St. George.

Switchpoint caseworkers were familiar with Perry and Yazie after helping them transition out of their dire straits. The family lived in the Switchpoint homeless shelter off and on, got meals and helped with paying down their loan debt.

“They feed us and they take care of anything that we need to take care of the boys,” Yazie said. “They take good care of us.  They know what we need. During this time it’s just been super hard on us.”

Added Perry: “All the caseworkers are amazing. Thanks so much to all of them.”

Dixie Auto Salvage acquired and repaired the donated vehicle.

Switchpoint executives and case workers join Eddie Perry and family at the donation of an automobile, St. George, Utah, March 19, 2024 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

“We partnered up with Tagg-N-Go to give a family a vehicle,” Dixie Auto Salvage President Gordon Wade said. “I’ve worked with Switchpoint for a while, feeding the homeless over there, and I know the dire needs they have.

“People that want to work that can’t work because they can’t get back and forth to their job,” he added. “So we just decided, we have the availability of cars and we can fix them, and we wanted to give back to the community.”

Wade said the donated vehicle was originally driven by a family from Oregon. The engine blew out while they were visiting St. George and Dixie Auto Salvage acquired it.

Wade and his employees found an engine, repaired the vehicle and jumped at the opportunity to donate it to Perry and Yazie.

“I know people fall on hard times,” Wade said. “A lot of time it’s not something they did, it’s just hard times. And with the ability we have to provide vehicles, I think it’s something that can be big in the future.”

The vehicle donation came at the end of a full day of fundraising for Switchpoint at Tagg-N-Go. Patrons could choose to have a portion of their car wash fee donated to Switchpoint throughout the day.

Several vendors were on hand including Sandtown Pizza, which covered the cost of registering the donated vehicle. Switchpoint Coffee Co. and DonutNV St. George donated portions of their proceeds at the fundraiser to Switchpoint.

In a gift basket provided along with the donated vehicle, InfoWest donated $500 in gas cards for the family. Dastrup Insurance agreed to help the family in setting up their car insurance.

“We feel really lucky to have a great relationship with Dixie Auto Salvage, InfoWest and Switchpoint, of course,” Tagg-N-Go spokesperson Cait Wade said. “We’re so grateful for all of the work they do for the community and we wanted to give back to them. We invite the community to get engaged with them as well.”

Note: Minor edits were made to this report on March 21 and a new Featured Image was selected.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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