The Charity Foundation
As gentrification sinks its teeth into the North Charleston area, The Charity Foundation is leading an initiative to transform Liberty Hill, a predominantly Black neighborhood in the area, into a community with a strong foundation of multi-generational, economically stable individuals and families.
Lowcountry Produce Market & Café
When Campbell Thorpe and Noel and Dwight Garrett decided to open a market and café serving their homemade food products in an underserved part of Beaufort, no bank would give them a loan. With help from $110,000 in financing from the South Carolina Community Loan Fund, they now employ 37 people at their Lowcountry Produce Market and Café and provide healthy food to the urban core of Beaufort.
Lowcountry Veterans Home
On any given night, a homeless veteran can find themselves seeking out safe shelter in unconventional risky places.
Burbage Meats
For three generations, the Burbage family has delivered fresh cuts of meat to dozens of locally owned grocery stores and meat markets in the Charleston Tri-county Area. After a three-year hiatus to refocus, the family-owned business is reopening its doors in a new location.
Shrimp and Grits Café
Chef Carlos Brown’s enthusiasm for crafting Gullah-inspired dishes from the heart is the result of spending his childhood inside of the Charleston kitchens of his mother and grandmother. Watching the women in his family express love through food inspired the Chef to pursue a culinary career that highlights the importance of hospitality and community. “The food they made was the passion that brought my family together,” he said. “I’ve seen my mom and grandma put a lot of love into their food and that love was the thing that always brought us back together.”
Fairy Fresh Foods
Through her plant-based meal preparation business, Fairy Fresh Foods, Shaquille Fontenot prepares fresh and nutritious meals that she defines as healing. She believes that food is one of the key elements to uplifting and supporting communities that are systemically disadvantaged and started Fairy Fresh Foods to combat the effect food insecurity has on communities of color.
Bluewater Horizons
Nearly one third of South Carolinians are cost burdened by their homes, meaning they spend over 30% of their income on housing costs. Low to moderate-income residents in the coastal region of the state are particularly vulnerable to the shortage of affordable housing. Often the only options for low-income renters are homes in desperate need of upgrading, much like the Rebecca Street properties Bluewater Horizons sought to purchase.
Community First Land Trust
Community First Land Trust is a women-led nonprofit committed to bringing much-needed affordable housing to communities in Charleston.
Pete’s Mobile Auto & Truck Repairs
An older repair shop in Columbia’s Percival Road community has remained an eyesore to residents after falling into disrepair and shuttering its doors over a year ago. The closing of this facility left the community without a full service automotive repair shop.
Dillon Adult Daycare
A bright red for sale signs sits in front of the building that served as home for Mary Johns’ business, Dillon Adult Daycare, for the past 19 years.