The journey that brought the Stevens to this home here in Vinton is a very long one, and frankly a very difficult one. It started more than a decade ago in Liberia on the African continent. There was a civil war going on there. Families were completely torn apart. Women were being raped. Lives were being threatened, including Joseph's.

“We were targeted and I was nearly killed,” Joseph said.

So the Stevens fled, escaping Liberia and ending up in a refugee camp for ten years. It was there that Caroline found out she had colon cancer. That news moved them to the front of the line to come to America and the Star City.

“I love it, I love Roanoke,” Joseph said.

They were taken in by the Vinton Baptist Church and people like Pastor Bill Booth and Josh Perrington.    

“We look at them as brothers and sisters, not as a separate family that has a need,” Perrington said.

But there is a need. Caroline's cancer has progressed her doctor saying telling her she has three to six months to live.

Facing death, Caroline is worried about her family including her three sons still living in Liberia.

Fighting tears, Caroline said, “I really want to see my children, but I don't know that I will be able to see them.”

Joseph works at Lowes but with mounting bills and three little girls to take care of the family is in trouble. That's where the community has come together, starting a fund for the family called Coins for Caroline. It’s being put together by their church, 202 Market, Hometown Bank, and WSLS-TV. Donations can be made in water jugs at those locations or through a fund set up at the bank. The group hopes to raise $200,000.

The Stevens are so thankful.

“They have been so kind and generous to us,” Joseph said.

Caroline, clearly in pain added, “I feel so good. I feel so good. I feel so good. They are loving. They are too loving. So loving.”