Champions for Children 2005

Augusta Acres Community Association
Initiated with the support of the Belmont Fire Department and the Greenville County Sheriff's Department, the Augusta Acres Community Association, chaired by Ann Jones, was established in 2004. Ms. Jones' home became a virtual substation of the Sheriff's Department where crimes in the community were reported. The residents soon recognized, though, that a neighborhood crime watch was not enough to make the community safe and unified, and they resolved to work together to build an ethic of neighbors helping neighbors, especially neighbors with young children. Besides taking the steps necessary to formalize the association and to assess the community's needs, they launched an impressive list of projects: e.g., erecting neighborhood signs; conducting street-by-street clean-ups; publishing a community newsletter; rehabilitating housing; sponsoring a Halloween carnival and a Thanksgiving dinner to honor firefighters; providing holiday assistance to families in need; working with the fire department to establish a public-service-oriented Explorer post and to purchase Scout uniforms for children in a nearby apartment complex. In August 2004, they sponsored an initial community day that drew 350 residents from the 500 homes in the neighborhood and resulted in recruitment of 140 volunteers for STRONG COMMUNITIES, numerous referrals to early childhood programs, and the wide distribution of back-to-school materials, including thousands of dollars worth of book bags and school supplies (donated by Office Depot).

Augusta Road United Methodist Church
One of Clemson's partners in Building Dreams (a federally funded effort to provide support to families of prisoners), Augusta Road United Methodist Church is dedicated to service to the community as a whole, not just its congregation. In pursuit of that objective, Augusta Road Church has been especially attentive to the needs of children and families. It has established preschool and after-school services, and it has lent "Helping Hands" to families of children attending Sue Cleveland Elementary School in Piedmont. With visionary leadership by Rev. Dr. Michael Wolfe, Augusta Road is also active in providing parent support and family activities. Working in collaboration with the neighboring Valley Brook Outreach Baptist Church, another Champion for Children, Augusta Road Church is a partner in spreading the message about the importance of care for children throughout the community along the Highway 25 corridor.

Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Church
Also a partner in Building Dreams, Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Church is a model for social ministry. Cedar Grove's community development corporation is intended to provide comprehensive support—economic, social, spiritual—for high-need families in the Simpsonville area. Reflecting Pastor Robert Dennis's tireless leadership, Cedar Grove's ministries to assist parents in caring for their children are legion: preschool, after-school, and summer child care; parish nursing and wellness education; Family Night and various recreation programs; Upward Bound, Scouting...and more. The congregation aspires to provide transitional housing for families in crisis that will enable them to remain in their neighborhood. The vision of a community that nurtures and shelters children by helping their parents to provide adequately for them is expressed in sermons on Blue Ribbon Sunday and across the year.

Fairforest Baptist Church
Fairforest Baptist Church is the center of the Laurel Creek neighborhood. Tucked away in a wooded area in the shadow of the ICAR campus, Laurel Creek has been challenged by change. With the recent closure of the small elementary school in the neighborhood, Fairforest has been a source of support for children and families in maintaining a sense of community—in ensuring that they do in fact feel that someone notices them, and someone cares. Fairforest also collaborates with larger churches in the Mauldin STRONG COMMUNITIES Church Advisory Group to ensure that the religious community itself demonstrates a commitment to community-wide application of the Golden Rule in order to keep kids safe.

Foutain Inn Wesleyan Church
Although a very small congregation, Fountain Inn Wesleyan Church has an active social ministry. The STRONG COMMUNIITIES message is shared not only within the congregation itself but also within the neighborhood. Bulletin inserts about safety for children are brought to all of the homes in the Mill Village. Asserting moral leadership and demonstrating a strong sense of caring for children and families, the church has twice sponsored block parties as means of bringing people together, and Pastor Bob Broome has been a consistent leader in STRONG COMMUNITIES' working group for Fountain Inn. Perhaps most important, the members of the congregation not only have gotten to know the children in the surrounding neighborhood, but they also have helped neighbors with practical needs — food; appliances; home repairs — and they have joined in observance of family special events.

H. J. Brand, Inc.
Located in the former Conestee Mill and based in the textile industry, H. J. Brand, Inc., might be expected to be emblematic of the decline of the mill towns that are scattered throughout the STRONG COMMUNITIES service area and indeed throughout Upstate South Carolina in general. Instead, the corporation's president, Mr. Hy Brand, has demonstrated what one person can do to keep a sense of community alive—and indeed to make it thrive. At the center of the Conestee neighborhood right on Conestee Road is not a sign of decay, as in many former mill villages, but instead a beautifully landscaped small garden planted around a sign proclaiming a truly positive message: "Conestee Is a Strong Community for Children." Nearby one can see a striking mural depicting the history of Conestee. All of these neighborhood improvements are products of contributions by H. J. Brand. Working with another Champion for Children (the Belmont Fire Department), Mr. Brand also financed the initial Conestee Community Day to bring families together and communicate the importance of fire safety for children. Mr. Brand also has been an active partner in the Reedy River Project, the plan developed in conjunction with Clemson's Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture to provide attractive and safe access to both the river itself and adjacent Lake Conestee.

Jumping Jukebox
Disc jockey Blake Vaughn has been a strong supporter of STRONG COMMUNITIES since the inception of the initiative. Whether as the owner of Jumping Jukebox, a member of the Sunrise Rotary Club, or a worshiper in the Brookwood Community Church, Mr. Vaughn is outspoken in articulating the community's responsibility to keep kids safe and dedicated in demonstrating how such an obligation can be fulfilled. Introducing new volunteers, he has been an active advocate for STRONG COMMUNITIES. Jumping Jukebox's services have frequently been donated to attract residents to attend community events. Among other activities, Jumping Jukebox has contributed the entertainment at seven neighborhood parties sponsored by STRONG COMMUNITIES in Fountain Inn, and the employees of Jumping Jukebox have joined in signing pledges to keep kids safe.

Mauldin Police Department
With a mission of enhancing the quality of life in Mauldin through cooperative work with the community, the Mauldin Police Department has a strong commitment to community policing. Under the leadership of Chief John Davidson, Mauldin police officers are partners in community development. Working with STRONG COMMUNITIES outreach staff and community volunteers, they have been leading community discussions of the steps toward greater support for families and safety for children. Beginning with delivery of welcome baskets to families of newborns and to new residents with young children, they also will be linking families of young children in selected neighborhoods with volunteers for ongoing family support. The Mauldin Police Department also has been a leader in increasing responsiveness to the needs of the rapidly growing population of Hispanic families. With its decentralized administration and its strong emphases on outreach and prevention, the police department is in many respects the anchor for neighborhood development in Mauldin.

Pelzer Elementary School
Pelzer Elementary School has only 135 students in K4 through fifth grade; three-fourths of their families live in poverty. In this context, Pelzer Elementary offers a prototype of a setting in which, as STRONG COMMUNITIES urges, all children and all parents know that someone notices, and someone cares. One of the major sites for use of Clemson students as volunteer tutors, Pelzer Elementary students have exceptional access to personal attention during and after school—as the school's Web site puts it, "teach[ing] with compassion." Led by principal Charlotte McLeod, who has Clemson bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, the Pelzer Elementary staff value parent participation, including opportunities for parent mutual assistance. They also work with community organizations to assist parents in providing the basics of care through after-school programs, health services (such as dental screenings), holiday assistance, and emergency relief services.

Valley Brook Outreach Baptist Church
Dedicated to "building lives, relationships, and communities," Valley Brook Outreach Baptist Church is one of the fastest growing churches in the area, not only in membership but also in the scope of its ministries. With a remarkably holistic approach, Valley Brook's community-service activities are much broader than those in which most congregations engage. Led by a visionary young minister, Rev. Curtis Johnson, Valley Brook goes against the tide with its success in engaging and serving young families. Valley Brook not only offers child care (including after-school and summer programs) but also employment, entrepreneurship, housing, and health services in combination with a consumer co-op and financial counseling—services that together enable disadvantaged families to acquire the resources and skills needed to meet their children's needs for personal security. A partner in Building Dreams, Valley Brook has a special emphasis on serving families affected by the criminal justice system. Valley Brook is also serving as a resource center for grandparents rearing grandchildren, and it has helped to sponsor "community day" events in low-income neighborhoods.

2003 Award Recipients
2004 Award Recipients
2005 Award Recipients

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