Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina Announces Fall 2016 Caritas Grantees

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1 Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina Announces Fall 2016 Caritas Grantees The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina recently awarded Caritas grants for the fall 2016 grant cycle. These grants bear the name of one of the guiding principles of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, in omnibus caritas, meaning in all things charity. Caritas grants are awarded to organizations meeting fundamental needs of underserved individuals and families living in poverty in South Carolina. These organizations often act as a lifeline in their communities and provide valuable services to those most in need. In total, 43 organizations were awarded Caritas fall 2016 funding for a total of $102, so that they may continue providing services to individuals and families in South Carolina. The Foundation is proud to announce their partnerships with the following recipients: Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired Funding will support ABVI's Focus on Adults program: providing free, comprehensive, professional eye exams, referrals, education and eyewear to the homeless, working poor, uninsured or underinsured individuals in the Charleston Tri-County area with income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guideline. The primary goal of Focus on Adults is to prevent the incidence of unnecessary and irreversible vision loss and to restore vision to as many individuals as possible. Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester Birthright of Georgetown Funds will be used to purchase diapers for disadvantaged new moms and their babies who participate in the Birthright of Georgetown program. By reducing the cost burden of diapers, new moms are able to redirect their resources to other expenses and improve health outcomes of their babies. By offering these items without charge, staff are able to see the mother and child periodically and can continue mentoring and assisting these families as needed. Georgetown, Williamsburg Bluffton Jasper County Volunteers in Medicine Bluffton Jasper County Volunteers in Medicine is a volunteer-driven free medical clinic whose goal is to provide comprehensive care focusing on the immediate acute need and the long term health goals of their patients. The clinic serves patients without health insurance, many of whom seek treatment for acute conditions requiring MRIs and X-rays in order to properly diagnosis the condition and develop an appropriate treatment plan. Funding will cover the cost of imaging services. Beaufort, Jasper Bluffton Self Help Funding will support Bluffton Self Help s emergency financial assistance program. The purpose of offering emergency financial assistance to neighbors in need is to help cover an unexpected expense that, if left unpaid, could send a family unit into a financial freefall from which they may not recover. Requests can include assistance with mortgage payments, utilities, emergency car repairs, dental or medical expenses, or child care. All applications for assistance are verified, and applicants are counseled on issues such as personal budgeting, paying bills on time, and general money management.

2 BSH staff and volunteers also work with community agencies to connect clients with other services they may need. Beaufort, Jasper Caring and Sharing Inc. Caring and Sharing is a volunteer driven group located in Hemingway, SC. The group's main focus is to help elderly people in their area who are trying to exist on $200-$700 a month. The organization offers emergency financial assistance as well as operates a food bank. This grant will go toward the purchase of a walk-in cooler for the pantry. This will reduce their overall utility costs as well as allow Caring and Sharing to offer more cold items, produce, and other healthy options for their clients. Georgetown, Florence, Williamsburg Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Charleston Pee Dee Regional Office Catholic Charities Pee Dee's comprehensive client choice wellness pantry strives to provide healthy foods along with nutrition education workshops, fresh produce distribution, SNAP enrollment assistance, homeless day bags, and monthly boxes to senior citizens that are enrolled in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. Funding will expand their outreach to residents in Horry, Georgetown, and Williamsburg, assisting those that are living in the deepest depths of poverty in rural underserved areas of South Carolina. Horry, Georgetown, Williamsburg Charleston Legal Access Charleston Legal Access (CLA) is closing the justice gap by offering low- cost legal services to those just above poverty that do not qualify for free legal services but who cannot afford a private attorney. CLA's target population consists of individuals and families who make more than 125% of the federal poverty level, which serves in general as the upper limit for existing services (including Charleston Pro Bono, the South Carolina Bar Pro Bono program, and South Carolina Legal Services), but less than 400% of the poverty level. Thousands of South Carolinians go unrepresented in times of need because they fall into this "justice gap." Funding will support legal services at this non profit, sliding scale law firm. Charleston, Dorchester, Berkeley Children's Recovery Center, Inc. The Children's Recovery Center (CRC) provides a safe, child friendly environment where children feel less anxiety when sharing the details of their abuse and are able to begin the healing process. Law enforcement, DSS, pediatricians and other community partners refer children to the CRC for a forensic interview to minimize the number of times the child is interviewed, thereby keeping the child from being re-traumatized. CRC's daily goal is to provide effective advocacy and to administer forensic medical exams and forensic interviews to children who are victims of sexual assault, physical assault and other types of maltreatment. Collaborative efforts are made to form a working team around each child seen to determine how to best help them cope with their trauma. Funding will support programming designed to reverse negative outcomes for children and families who are already living in poverty, aiding them in developing skills to process these events so as to become productive adults. Georgetown, Horry Community Kitchen Inc. of Myrtle Beach

3 The Community Kitchen serves two hot nutritious meals daily, breakfast and lunch, five days a week, to those who are hungry. On the average CCMB is feeding 450 guests each day. Along with supporting the kitchen, funding will also support an emergency clothing closet to further assist clients in need. CCMB provides encouragement, direction, nutritional assistance, and emergency clothing to promote growth and wholesome independence with respect and dignity. Horry Daily Bread Ministries Funding will support Greer Family Shelter. Programs will provide early intervention to enable families and veterans to move from being homeless to employed-with-home. The facility will provide four separate apartments for participants and meeting space for a 90-day program conducted by trained counselors working under a licensed mental health professional. To enter the program, families must be homeless, have a strong desire to not be homeless, and be recommended by an appointed commission. Successful participants will be equipped to retain a home. Greenville, Spartanburg Doors to Freedom Currently Doors to Freedom is working with survivors of sex trafficking by assisting them in preparing for their GED, High School Diploma or Vocational Certificate. Many young girls victimized through trafficking have little to no education. Funding will support Doors to Freedom s education program. Certified staff assesses each client s capabilities and then structures/develops an achievable individualized growth plan tailored to their unique needs, thus increasing their capabilities and enhancing future outcomes. Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester Eau Claire Shalom Ministries Funding will support Tutor Eau Claire, a program committed to serving people in the community who struggle with reading, no matter the race, gender, religion or ability to pay. Tutor Eau Claire's core program is their Reading and Dyslexia Resource Center. TEC runs both a morning Reading Clinic for homeschool struggling readers as well as an after school Reading Clinic. During the summer, TEC hosts a 5-week Summer Surge Tutorial program. Funding will support coordination of their programming and continued outreach and support to those living in poverty who struggle with literacy. Richland, Lexington, Sumter, Kershaw, Fairfield, Laurens Fair Haven Home for Men Fair Haven Home for Men (FHHM) operates an intensive residential 90-day Program in St. Stephen, SC for men who are homeless, alcoholic, addicted to drugs, or any combination of these conditions. The program includes prayer and Bible study, counselling, development of work skills, and time for fellowship and relaxation. FHHM provides each man with clothes, toiletries and all meals, plus medical and dental care as needed. Funding will provide participants with food, clothing, and medication. Berkeley, Dorchester, Charleston, Colleton, Williamsburg Family Promise of Anderson Family Promise of Anderson County helps homeless families with children stabilize their lives by accessing the resources needed to acquire safe and affordable housing. They offer families their basic needs, shelter in a network of

4 congregations, case management services, financial education and transitional housing. Funding will support case management services with the ultimate goals of helping guests gain sustainable employment, obtain the services needed to support their family (e.g., child care, transportation), and secure safe and affordable permanent housing. Anderson, Pickens Family Support Services of Horry County Inc. Funding will help expand the organization s Mother to Mother program to include mothers over the age of 25 as clients. The Mother to Mother (MTM) program was originally established to provide much-needed parenting education, mentoring and emotional support to pregnant or parenting mothers aged Through MTM, participants are offered monthly support group meetings and in-home visits for the purpose of improving their parenting and life skills as well as giving them the aid and education they need for their families to thrive. The program has been very successful at achieving one of its main goals in preventing harm to children, with 100% of all participants receiving no Department of Social Services (DSS) referrals for child abuse or neglect. Horry Free Medical Clinic of Aiken, Inc. The Community Medical Clinic of Aiken County is able to provide free medications to patients in poverty through Patient Assistance Programs and through the Dispensary of Hope. Funding will support the Dispensary, through which patients are able to receive their blood pressure and diabetic medications faster than through Patient Assistance Programs, which often take four to six weeks to process requests. With the Dispensary of Hope, the Clinic is able to keep life sustaining medications in stock, greatly reducing patient emergency room visits and increasing compliance likelihood by immediately getting patients started on much needed medication. Aiken Freedom Readers Inc Freedom Readers is a literacy program that focuses on students who need specialized tutoring and mentoring in literacy skills. Meetings include structured lessons, one-on-one work, and group activities. Freedom Readers is unique in that they partner with local community organizations, churches, and schools to establish sites in low-income areas. Curriculum is developed to be culturally responsive in order to draw on the experiences and interests of readers. Their goal is to develop reading in the context of the culture and environment familiar to students and to introduce them to new ways of thinking about the world and their place in society. Each scholar works with an individual tutor and many establish long-term relationships with their mentors. Students who complete certain levels are provided with books that they can take home to build their own home library. Funding from this grant will be used to establish and expand new sites in Horry, Georgetown, and Richland. Horry, Georgetown, and Richland Good Samaritan Clinic The mission of the Good Samaritan Clinic to is to provide help as healing to those in need by providing quality medical, dental, and pharmaceutical care to individuals and families in Columbia who cannot afford health insurance and medical care. Funding will be used to support the Good Samaritan Dental Clinic. Services provided include: cleanings, restorations, x-rays, and extractions. Additionally, the program provides oral health education in both English and Spanish. Additionally, volunteers will conduct special dental health classes for patients while they wait for their

5 appointments. Funds will be used to purchase a digital x-ray machine and also be used for other Clinic supplies. Lexington, Richland Good Samaritan Medical Clinic Funding will support Good Samaritan Medical Clinic s free clinic services for the low income and uninsured in Chester, Lancaster and Union Counties. The GSMC is the only free medical clinic serving these three counties. The service area continues to suffer high rates of unemployment, uninsured individuals, and poverty. In addition, the service area shows a higher-than-average rate of chronic health problems, particularly diabetes and hypertension, obesity and overall poor health status that limits family and community life and employability. Clinic services will both address patient health, improve outcomes, and allow families to redirect resources. The awarded grant funds will assist in the provision of primary health care, GYN care and physical therapy care for residents of the affected communities. Chester, Lancaster and Union Great Falls Referral Assistance Service Project (GRASP) Poverty continues to be problematic in the area served by the Great Falls school system which defines the service area of GRASP. Along with emergency financial assistance, GRASP now operates a food pantry with refrigerated and frozen food capability. Primary services offered through the Center include assistance with utilities, some medicines, food, referrals, and counseling provided by trained volunteers through SC Thrive to assist clients with Medicaid and SNAP applications. To widen its program reach through education, GRASP intends to provide workshops in two key areas: financial literacy and nutrition. Funding will support financial literacy workshops and nutrition workshops. The "Stretching the Food Dollar" workshops are designed to teach GRASP clients how to prepare healthy food choices while living on a limited budget. The workshop facilitator will provide recipes and preparation instructions using many of the food items that are distributed through the GRASP pantry. Chester, Fairfield Greenville Free Medical Clinic The Greenville Free Medical Clinic proposes to expand a successful comprehensive cardiovascular and chronic disease program that is in place at the main clinic site in downtown Greenville to the 3 primary care satellite sites located in outlying communities in the county. The program is coordinated by an RN Patient Navigator, for patients diagnosed with or at-risk for cardiovascular disease (hypertension, atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure) and related chronic diseases (diabetes, COPD). Program components include individualized medical case management, small group classes that also function as disease-management support groups, medication compliance counseling, lifestyle interventions that promote a healthy diet/physical activity/smoking cessation, and coordination with ancillary health services. Services offered at the same site, and ideally on the same day as their medical visit, will greatly enhance the patient's understanding of their condition, recommended therapies, and behavior changes for improvement. Greenville Healthy Smiles of Spartanburg Healthy Smiles of Spartanburg (HSS) is collaborating with Spartanburg County School Districts, churches, and community organizations to expand the free mobile dental clinic pilot program, bringing oral healthcare to low-income children in medically under-served and high need areas. Access to dental healthcare by low-income families is one of the

6 most critical public health issues in Spartanburg County. One in five children screened in Spartanburg County schools needs immediate dental care or has conditions that will result in future dental problems. Without preventative and restorative care, these children suffer persistent dental pain, infections, problems eating, low self- esteem and low academic achievement. Funds will support the pilot mobile dental clinic, school-based screening programs, HSS free dental clinic, providing critical access to care for low-income, uninsured children who are in need of preventative and restorative care. Spartanburg HELP of Summerville HELP of Summerville gives immediate emergency assistance to those whose need is urgent and who have no other resource of assistance. Clients served are usually the working poor who are in need of one-time assistance. HELP partners with other service agencies, nonprofits, and churches to make sure each families crisis is met with assistance. Funding will be used for HELP s emergency assistance program, providing families with funds to pay rent, utilities, medical bills, and other short term crisis expenses. Dorchester Hope in Lancaster, Inc. Funds will support Hope in Lancaster s "Fresh and Healthy Food Initiative" program. This initiative began as a way to provide healthier food options to their clients who are experiencing short term crisis situations. Along with healthy choices, HOPE also provides Farmer's Market coupons for clients to obtain fresh fruits and vegetables. HOPE's main program is providing financial assistance with rent or utilities to individuals and families who are experiencing verifiable short-term crisis situations. The Food Pantry offers food to those same clients in order to free up funds and to supplement their food budget while they are recovering from their short-term emergency. Lancaster, Chester Hopewell Senior Day Care Center Grant Funds will be used to Support Hopewell Senior Day Care Center s Healthy Start Program. The program provides daily meals to senior citizens suffering from diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and other chronic health issues that are exacerbated by poverty. Along with meals, the program would also like to instill other healthy habits in their clients including teaching them how to monitor their blood sugar and blood pressure daily. Williamsburg, Georgetown Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation of South Carolina Funds will support HPCF s Financial Assistance Program that seeks to improve the quality of life for families affected by terminal illness. When a family is impacted by an incurable illness, they become faced with managing a household and finances as well as obtaining physical, emotional and spiritual care -- all while coping with anticipated death. These additional responsibilities can create increased stress as critical needs not covered by hospice care or insurance often go unmet. The Hospice and Palliative Care Foundation (HPCF) is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for South Carolina hospice and palliative care patients and their families by providing financial, educational, bereavement, and other support as needed. Programming is designed to provide improved means to stabilize families' incomes through emergency funding that meets the family's most urgent needs, including payments for utilities, mortgage/rent, special medical needs, and transportation. Hospice and palliative care patients in need of assistance are identified by nurses, social workers, child life specialists, and other professionals providing care throughout the state of SC, and payments are provided directly to

7 the service provider. Funding will assist low-income families facing life-limiting or life-threatening illness. Statewide Loving America Street Loving America Street focuses on asset based community development: they identify strengths of the Eastside neighborhood and use these strengths to empower local residents toward community transformation. By investing in and repairing a community asset (a laundromat) the space now functions as a community space with area residents using it for much more than simply doing laundry. Currently LAS provides free laundry services for homeless, free computer coding classes, and a weekly Bible study in the laundromat, called Laundry Matters. Funds will be used to purchase updated industrial washers and dryers, continue renovations, and begin employing more Eastside residents. A number of residents do not own washers and dryers, thus the convenient location of this facility is critical in empowering residents to fulfill their need for personal hygiene and clean clothes. Restoring this asset and providing jobs is necessary to the empowerment of Eastside residents and is key to promoting the productive development of the community. Charleston Lowcountry Furniture Bank Lowcountry Furniture Banks serves approximately 100 families per year living in poverty to provide quality, gently used furniture to displaced or homeless individuals and families who secure housing. The Furniture Bank has received over 80 twin captains beds from a remodeling project at a local military facility. The beds are solid wood beds with four drawers and additional storage below the sleeping surface along with matching desks, nightstands and cabinets suitable for a wardrobe. Funds will go toward the purchase of wholesale mattresses to complete the bedroom sets for young children living in poverty, many of whom have never had their own bed before. Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester Maia Moms Maia Moms exists to support mothers, restore families, and strengthen communities in order to see single mother families achieve personal and economic self-sustainability. Low-income mothers who are participants in Maia Moms are able to attend classes taught by staff and trained clinicians in the areas of parenting, budgeting, goal-setting, job readiness, asset building and more. Addressing areas such as boundaries and healing, moms in the program are taking the time to focus on themselves something that many haven't been able to do for quite some time. Every Tuesday Maia Moms offers participants as well as other single moms in the community come together to fellowship, build relationships and learn ways to improve themselves. Funding will be used for programming that includes dinner, childcare, and all curriculum materials at no cost to the low-income mothers. Charleston MARYS House: Ministry Alliance for Regaining Your Safety MARYS House provides a safe haven for victims of domestic violence. Staff addresses the issues that arise as a result of physical, emotional, and economic abuse and are committed to helping women and children start a new life free from violence. When women arrive at the shelter, they generally have no financial means to support themselves and very few basic needs. These women are broken and living in poverty. Funds will go towards costs associated with basic program needs: shelter, transitional housing, food, clothing, hygiene items. The shelter s goal is to offer women and their children a safe space and the education they need to build a new life outside of poverty and violence. Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson,

8 Cherokee, Chester, Edgefield, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, Saluda, Union, York Operation Home Operation Home provides critical home repairs to low income homeowners living in vulnerable housing situations. Low income homeowners in our community are living in vulnerable housing situations. Many are one weather event away from a roof failure. In some circumstances they are trapped in their homes because of lack of mobility, relying on neighbors or family to carry them down their stairs because they are without an accessibility ramp. Funds will support the purchase of lumber and other building materials and labor to complete the repairs for low-income homeowner. Each home Operation Home encounters comes with its own particular needs: grant funds will be used to address these needs and change vulnerable living situations to safe, healthy, and accessible living situations. Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester PEACHCenter Ministries Inc. PEACHCenter Ministries provides emergency food assistance to clients on a regular basis. This food allows many clients, especially homeless clients to have food that they would not otherwise have access to. While some of the food given is donated by local individuals and businesses, a major portion of the food given to clients is purchased by PEACHCenter on a regular basis, once every one to two months. The funds requested will be added to the budget for food purchases. Cherokee Pee Dee Community Project The mission & purpose of the Pee Dee community project is to improve the quality of life for residents in the Pee Dee Community, located approximately 25 miles outside the city of Georgetown. They seek to encourage positive youth development and address the root causes of poverty through personalized after-school programming for students in the community. Funds will support Pee Dee Community Project s reading comprehension and tutoring program that will blend interactive technology (Reading Eggs software) with reading tutors (Coastal Carolina students & Carvers Bay High School students) to connect with and inspire students as they improve their reading skills. Georgetown Roscoe Reading Program The Roscoe Reading Program is unique in its use of therapy dogs within a school system. RRP does not use the traditional practice of students reading one-on-one with a therapy dog; the RRP dogs are invited to visit and have parties with the students in eleven Berkeley County schools. Not only are the dogs welcomed into the schools, but they also bring prizes. RRP encourages reading and provides books to students who normally would not have books in their homes. The Roscoe Reading Program operates in all but one of the rural elementary schools in Berkeley County. Nine of these eleven schools are Title I. Their Executive Director Points out, according to Eric Jensen's Teaching with Poverty in Mind, children living in poverty tend to spend less time finding out about the world around them and more time struggling to survive within it. Roscoe Reading Program serves the students of these schools by providing a safe, rewarding, and fun learning experience. Berkeley Sandalwood Community Food Pantry

9 Located on Hilton Head Island, Sandalwood Community Food Pantry seeks to nourish the minds, bodies, and spirits of those they serve. Funds will support the purchase of Sleeping Packs for the growing number of homeless clients who frequent the pantry. Bags include a sturdy sleeping bag, pillow, towel, slippers, toiletries, backpack, change of clothes and every basic need they may have or request, so that clients who couch surf only need a roof over their heads and are not burdening those who welcome them into safety any more than they need too. The pantry also sees many of their clients in poor health so staff makes certain to accommodate and provide for a variety of dietary needs. Beaufort St. John Community Food Ministry St. John Community Food Ministry partners with the Lowcountry Food Bank locally and Feeding America nationally to provide emergency food assistance to residents of Williamsburg County. The ministry serves 250 families monthly, is volunteer driven, and provides hunger and financial relief in the community with a focus on childhood hunger. Funding will support food purchases for their pantry. Williamsburg Step By Step Ministry Hope Project Step by Step Ministry Hope Project is an ongoing program that ministers to homeless women, many of whom have been incarcerated, have a substance abuse history, and/or mental illness. The shelter has many resources in house for its participants including substance abuse counseling, mental health counseling, anger management group sessions, job referral, and transportation to job interviews/ jobs. The project partners with community organizations, churches, government agencies and other nonprofits to provide comprehensive care to the women they serve. Several employment agencies also provide assistance in job training and job referrals that specialize in placing people that have been incarcerated. Funding will provide the shelter with additional food storage space and support participant work transportation costs. Greenville, Anderson, Laurens, Pickens Taylors Free Medical Clinic TFMC is a free, full-service medical facility that provides primary, preventative, and specialty care and an in-clinic pharmacy to the medically unserved in Greenville County, South Carolina. The specialty services provided by TFMC include X-rays, surgery, cardiology, orthopedics, neurology, gynecology, dermatology, counseling, and physical therapy. Clinic patients do not have access to private insurance, including Medicare or Medicaid. TFMC is unique compared to other free clinics in that patients' income levels must be less than 165% of the federal poverty level. Spanish translators are always available during clinic hours, and patients can schedule appointments at times convenient for them. In addition to medical care and referrals, TFMC builds a robust relationship with our patients and their families in an effort to address the needs of the whole person. Funding will support operations of the clinic so that they are able to serve clients, improve community health, and increase patient knowledge and capability to lead healthier, more productive lives. Greenville Teachers' Supply Closet Teachers Supply Closet provides a free store where teachers in the Tri-County area are able to shop twice a year. TSC oversees the solicitation, collection, storage, and on-site delivery of free school supplies to over 1,000 teachers (K-12) in 46 Title I public schools, who additionally serve 25,725 children from low-income families in the Charleston tri-county

10 area. As the only program of its kind in South Carolina, TSC better equips teachers to teach and students to learn. Without these basic tools, poor outcomes result: teachers provide the supplies at their own expense and/or students fall behind academically and leave school without the sufficient skills to enter the workforce, which then perpetuates the cycle of poverty. TSC s approach assists not only teachers and students, but entire families by reducing the burden of cost of quality school supplies. Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester The Lighthouse Ministries Lighthouse Ministries' Ministry Service Aid Program serves families and individuals who find themselves in a financial crisis by preventing evictions, disconnection of utilities, and supporting other basic needs such as life-sustaining prescription medications. Trained volunteer advocates meet with qualified participants to determine need and to connect participants with other resources and services within Lighthouse Ministries and the Florence area. TLM s Ministry Service Aid Program targets evictions, disconnections of utilities and prescription assistance: this funding will be used specifically to prevent evictions and to provide rent deposits for individuals and families, particularly women and children, who are fleeing unsafe conditions. This funding will ensure that families and individuals at risk of becoming homeless will remain housed and safe through their period of crisis. Florence The Women's Shelter Funding will be used to support The Women s Shelter s Emphasis on Exit Strategies program. Along with providing a safe haven and stable environment, TWS offers programs that meet clients needs, increase capabilities, and improve outcomes. This program assists participants with overcoming obstacles that keep them from accessing higher education, skilled jobs, and affordable housing. TWS has seen their program successfully reintegrate participants into the workforce and society: the women who have entered the program with no work history or a sporadic work history generally exit the program working in stable entry level jobs. The program participants who recognize the benefits of this highly structured and supportive program stay for an average of nine months and some for up to two years. Richland, Lexington United Center for Community Care The United Center for Community Care is a space housing eleven nonprofit agencies providing unified services and meeting critical community needs. The 47,000 square foot facility consists of 3 buildings which include a main building (office space), a gym, and a large warehouse/storage area. There are presently eleven non-profit agencies providing services to meet the basic needs of individuals with dignity and respect. The agencies are Community Initiatives (free clinic), The Greenwood Soup Kitchen, United Way of Greenwood and Abbeville Counties, the Greenwood County Community Foundation, MEG's House (satellite office for domestic abuse counseling), The Food Bank of Greenwood County, The Continuum of Care (assists emotionally disturbed children), The Children's Place Inc. (provides therapeutic child care to children with special needs), BabyNet ( provides services to children ages 0-3 with developmental delays), The Greenwood County Community Indicators Office, and the American Red Cross. Funding will support general operating expenses for this facility to insure these agencies are able to continue operating their programs efficiently and effectively. Greenwood York Co Christian Women s Job Corps

11 Funding will support YCCWJC Seven Steps toward Self-Sufficiency Program. The ministry's program seeks to provide women restoration, focusing on providing a life time change, not just a temporary relief of their needs. This restoration process is provided through education, focused on life and employment skills, financial management skills, and computer training. Topics cover Journey to Employment, Career and Skills Assessment, Vocational Plan, Job Search, Roadblocks, Taking Responsibility, My Journey for Life, and more. Financial management & basic computer are also part of required training. Participants also work with staff to develop personal goal plans to reach self-sufficiency which addresses all areas of life spiritual, family, personal, financial, educational, and employment. York