Month: September 2021

The Duke Endowment recently awarded a three-year grant of $980,000 to increase access to mental health care in Lexington County and establish a comprehensive and coordinated system of care delivery. The project will be known as UPLIFT Lexington County – Healing Mind, Body, and Spirit. The movement will engage law enforcement, first responders, and service providers and is focused on improving behavioral health through partnerships and empowerment that lead to healing and hope.

“How meaningful it is that The Duke Endowment is rallying behind this partnership to ensure that we can change lives of individuals and their families!” shared Lexington Medical Center Foundation Executive Director Amy Lanier.

The grant includes several Midlands partnering organizations: grantee Lexington Medical Center Foundation, Serve & Connect, Lexington County Community Mental Health Center, Lexington County EMS, Lexington County Sheriff’s Office and Lexington Medical Center.

The executive committee of the project is pleased to announce the hire of Macey Silano who joins the Serve & Connect team as the Program Manager. Macey will coordinate the project effort focused on improving services and support for people experiencing behavioral health challenges. The work will center on building partnerships between police, EMS, healthcare workers, mental health service providers and people with lived experience of mental illness with the goal of diverting people away from reliance on emergency services and the criminal justice system and into resources that promote healing and thriving.

Macey first joined the Serve & Connect team as a volunteer in 2016. She was then hired as the Community Outreach Coordinator where she oversaw community events and volunteer engagement. Macey then served as the project manager for mental health outreach efforts in 2020; this work served as the foundation for UPLIFT Lexington County. “We are thrilled to have Macey officially back on the Serve & Connect team,” shared Serve & Connect CEO Kassy Alia Ray. “Macey has been an integral part of our movement since the very beginning. I am confident that under her leadership, we will pave a new path for the way police, service providers and people with lived experience with mental illness work together to create healing and hope.”

“I am thrilled to be at the head of this program with amazing partners working by my side. There is strength in numbers, and the partnerships that are being bolstered with this work will allow us to make major movements toward positive change,” Macey offered.  “With UPLIFT Lexington County, we can improve services and empower individuals with lived experience of mental illness.”

Macey recently graduated with her Master’s in Social Work and is working towards her PhD. She is the mom of three children.

The project addresses one of three highest needs identified in the Community Health Needs Assessment completed by Lexington Medical Center in 2019.  The partners of UPLIFT Lexington County are grateful for this investment from The Duke Endowment.  Since 1924, The Duke Endowment has worked to help people and strengthen communities in North and South Carolina by nurturing children, promoting health, educating minds and enriching spirits. To date, the endowment has awarded more than four billion dollars in grants.

Lake City, SC – On Friday September 17, 2021, Lt. John Stewart of Lake City Police Department was killed during a car chase.

Serve & Connect, in partnership with the Lake City Police Department, South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association, South Carolina Police Chiefs Association, South Carolina Fraternal Order of Police and South Carolina Sheriff’s Association, have organized a fundraiser for Lt. Stewart’s family.

“Lt. Stewart dedicated his life to service, first as a marine and then followed by two decades in law enforcement,” said Kassy Alia Ray, CEO of Serve & Connect. “We are honored to do what we can to support his family following this terrible loss of a great man.”

Stewart, who served in law enforcement for two decades, is survived by his family, including two sons.

A memorial fund has been established to support Lt. Stewart’s family, assisting with any unexpected costs and honoring Stewart’s service. The fundraiser is facilitated by Serve & Connect, a nonprofit (501c3) organization focused on fostering positive change through sustainable police-community partnerships. Since 2015, Serve & Connect has raised more than $730,000 for families of fallen officers in South Carolina. Serve & Connect was founded by Kassy Alia Ray in memory of her late husband, Officer Gregory Alia, who was killed in the line of duty on September 30, 2015.

Anyone can donate by visiting:  Lt. John Stewart Memorial Fund 

Direct URL: https://serveandconnect.networkforgood.com/projects/139690-lt-john-stewart-memorial-fund

To learn more about Serve & Connect’s Tragedy Response Program, please visit: https://serveandconnect.net/tragedy-response/

This is an unprecedented and crucial time in our state, country and across the world. In the middle of what may seem like such division, there is opportunity; there is change happening; and there is space for collaboration and the amplification of voices and communities to be heard. In short, there is hope.

We see it every day in our work.

We see the heart, the compassion, and commitment of the people and partners we collaborate with in communities across the state and beyond.

Our belief that drives our work is that ultimately what communities, service providers, residents, and law enforcement want is more the same than different. We all seek to thrive; be safe where we live; and celebrate good health and a secure quality of life.

In the 18 months I have served as the Lead Community Organizer, I have learned more about neighborhood transformation than during any other time in my 20 years spent organizing on spot projects, initiatives and communities. However, the essentials are always the same: deep listening, power mapping, and sincere relationship building. The organizer and educator in me has learned to see the communities through the lens of the gifts, talents, and shared wisdom.

Although Serve & Connect works in communities using certain proven fundamental ways to move and mobilize, a key aspect of our role is to facilitate and hold a safe space that encourages and provides a structure to allow organic open dialogue among community members and leaders. From this space, we begin the proactive process of assisting communities. We collaborate with the natural community leaders to chisel out action and goal-based plans that identify a vision for the community and address challenges from lived experience and intimate knowledge of their neighborhoods. Our comprehensive work facilitates positive, measurable change through listening, planning, and action.

While many community challenges are urgent and require rapid response and mobilization, complex issues going back decades may exist.  However, through deep listening, making authentic connections and relationships, we offer a space to assist and provide assistance and solutions from a different perspective.

In my work with Serve & Connect, I have found that people are generally living their lives in a very specific location and don’t often have a chance to break bread with neighbors in a meaningful way. It’s important for me and others to recognize the perspective that not everyone has the time or luxury to join or lead a collective effort.

When we work in specific communities and form leadership teams with residents and leaders from those communities, we make sure that we are always thinking about flexible ways to reach out to community members. It may be a quick chat to show compassion and deep listening, or a pop up walk through in neighborhoods for conversations to meet new people and make friends.

A prominent challenge in this work can be amplifying the awareness and accessibility of the existing resources. It’s not just a matter of mapping the power in areas and identifying the assets. There’s a relational element to walking with the community through the process and connecting people at every level we can — to show people that we are here, that there are helpers, that there are resources, and we will share them.

 This is work of the heart, the soul. This is the work of Serve & Connect. We’re here for the opportunities and the challenges. We are here to stay, to collaborate, to find solutions, and continue to work to show that we are all more alike than different.

Together, we are better. Together, hope remains.

“In the beginning of my justice work, I only showed up as the creative person offering solutions and strategy within the framework of my expression. At some prodigious moment, the people insisted that I apply the poetic strategy into concrete action steps. As an educator, it was easy to see the ability in others and create a classroom environment to foster that development. Now the landscape is the neighborhood and it’s about lifting up people and places that feel unseen and unheard then going to their table to get them connected instead of always inviting them to ours.” – Omari Fox

Serve & Connect is proud to announce it has been selected to participate in Stand Together Foundation’s Catalyst Program, a management training and peer-learning program to help nonprofits grow, scale, and replicate their success. Serve & Connect is one of 13 nonprofits chosen to join the growing community of 212 organizations across nearly all 50 states, transforming the lives of more than 1 million Americans through bottom-up empowerment.

Serve & Connect was selected from among hundreds of nonprofit organizations through an extensive vetting process and accepted into the program after a rigorous evaluation. Nonprofits selected into Stand Together Foundation’s Catalyst Program are recognized for delivering exceptional results, demonstrating “outside-the-box” thinking, and embracing community-driven and people-centered approaches. Program criteria also include proven outcomes and the potential for scale and cultural impact.

“We can’t wait for this remarkable group of 13 nonprofit leaders to join our community of changemakers,” said Evan Feinberg, executive director of Stand Together Foundation. “They were selected because of their innovative strategies that empower people to escape poverty. It’s an honor to help them maximize and expand their impact across the country.”

“We are thrilled to join Stand Together Foundation’s prestigious Catalyst Program,” shared Kassy Alia Ray, Serve & Connect Founder & CEO. “We are energized to be a part of a community that so wholly embraces the values which serve as the bedrock of our mission. We look forward to growing and learning together as we create, implement and scale innovative solutions that create lasting change for communities across our country.”

Stand Together Foundation is dedicated to supporting bottom-up solutions that empower those in poverty. The Catalyst Program will help equip Serve & Connect’s leaders with new tools and approaches to deepen its impact and expand its reach. The program serves as an on-ramp to long-term partnership with Stand Together Foundation, including principles-based management coaching, leadership development, operational support, and access to a community of entrepreneurial peers, influential philanthropists, and business leaders.

Serve & Connect will join 12 other social entrepreneur-led organizations in its cohort experience, which officially kicks off on September 22, 2021. The following is a full list of the latest nonprofits to join Stand Together Foundation’s Catalyst Community:

• Black Men Heal (Ardmore, Pa.)

Black Men Heal provides complimentary therapy sessions to Black and Brown men seeking mental health care. Minority men are especially susceptible to mental health conditions yet face a variety of barriers that disallow them from receiving needed care. Black Men Heal helps these individuals overcome these barriers, matches them with Black and Brown mental health clinicians, and encourages the men to openly share their mental health experiences with their peers. This serves to destigmatize the topic of mental health, paving the way for more men in the community to seek care and find their own healing.

• Brink Literacy Project (Elbert, Colo.)

Brink uses the power of storytelling to help incarcerated individuals reclaim their personal narratives, remove barriers to their personal development, and change public perceptions in the process. The prevailing narrative around incarcerated and marginalized communities focuses on deficiencies and failings, but Brink offers its participants a chance to reclaim their narrative through the creation of short graphic memoirs to improve their social-emotional well-being.

• HadaNõu Collective (HNC) (Denver)

HNC’s purpose is to transform the social sector so that communities across the country are empowered to lead their own change from within, rather than relying on “big box” solutions that don’t fit. By building a comprehensive pathway of technical infrastructure and organizational support, HNC helps community leaders build the highly effective organizations they need to create deep and lasting impact in their communities.

• HANDY (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

HANDY provides individualized life coaching and employment opportunities to neglected youth to help them discover their unique gifts and realize their own version of success. HANDY’s family-like support system empowers youth as they transition into a post-secondary environment and adulthood, providing customized programs focused on education, youth development, and economic self-sufficiency. HANDY transforms the traditional casework approach from adult-led to youth-led, enabling participants to take their future into their own hands.

• JUMPSTART (Spartanburg, S.C.)

JUMPSTART helps people leaving prison to forever stay out of prison by developing a sense of purpose through Christian discipleship and service. JUMPSTART understands that individuals require holistic support (mind, body, and spirit) before and after their release, as well as access to stable housing and employment, if they are to successfully transition back into society. The program’s unique peer-to-peer accountability and assessment model enables participants to support each other’s personal development.

• National Angels (Austin, Texas)

National Angels builds a community of support around fostering families to alleviate burnout and reduce instability for kids. In response to the existing foster care system, in which 33% of youth who age out of care have been in 3+ placements, National Angels demonstrates that children and youth with fewer placements and more stability have better long-term outcomes. They have a vision to scale their innovative trauma-informed, holistic wrap-around service model across the nation and help all children experiencing foster care reach their full potential, and they use the local community to do it.

• One America Movement (Alexandria, Va.)

The One America Movement believes that healthy faith institutions lead to more resilient and prosperous communities. At a time when many congregations are fractured and divided, One America Movement equips faith communities to confront division and work together across political, racial, and religious divides to solve problems that matter. If we work with faith communities to shape positive norms and behaviors within their groups and build cross-cutting identities across religious, racial, and political divides, we will create an America that is more resilient to toxic forms of division and ready to address problems in their neighborhood.

• Reach University (Oakland, Calif.)

Reach is a nonprofit university that addresses America’s teacher shortage by creating affordable pathways for high-potential individuals to obtain degrees, credentials, and jobs as teachers in their own communities. By focusing on low-income and rural regions, offering online tutorials and classes, and rendering academic credit for on-the-job experience, Reach University is eliminating barriers to entry in the teaching profession and building pipelines of local talent.

• Serve & Connect (Columbia, S.C.)

Serve & Connect facilitates sustainable police-community partnerships to improve community safety, resilience, and wellbeing. Serve & Connect convenes intentional engagements to identify problems and develop collaborative action plans. By involving community and law enforcement in the process, Serve & Connect is offering an alternative to divisive discourse and one-size-fits-all solutions that negatively impact citizens and police officers alike.

• Telos Group (Washington, D.C.)

Telos Group works to educate individuals on the deeply rooted issues plaguing our communities. Telos calls those to action that may feel far removed from these issues to wield their influence to enact needed change. Telos organizes immersive trips to areas experiencing conflict, developing teams of peacemakers who can repair relationships and strengthen communities. Telos is working to replace violence, division, and distrust with empathy; training their peacemakers to see others’ struggles as their own; and cultivating the skills that will spark action.

• The Promise Fund of Florida (Palm Beach, Fla.)

The Promise Fund drives health equity for uninsured and underinsured women who are at risk of or battling breast and cervical cancer. The Promise Fund creates a culture of health by helping women obtain preventative cancer screenings and become more informed agents of their healthcare journey for diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. The Promise Fund is redefining the care model by advocating for patient-centered care that is high quality, timely, and affordable.

• Ventures (Seattle, Wash.)

Ventures is a community development financial institution (CDFI) that empowers aspiring entrepreneurs who lack access to traditional employment, particularly women, people of color, immigrants, and people living on lower incomes. Ventures combines training, credit, and asset building, capital products, and coaching to help clients develop microenterprises and achieve financial stability. Its approach meets a critical need for people who are overlooked by traditional nonprofit and financial institutions and removes barriers that keep them from transforming their lives.

• WeThrive (Los Angeles, Calif.)

WeThrive unlocks opportunities for underestimated young people of color to explore their entrepreneurial potential. Through an interactive app, WeThrive provides innovative curriculum delivered in group study programs as well as self- paced lesson modules. In contrast to existing entrepreneurship programs that emphasize exclusivity, every WeThrive participant gets access to seed funding and support to bring their ideas to life, including connections to business professionals serving as entrepreneurship mentors. WeThrive’s approach also ensures that every student is set up for success in any endeavor, whether running their own venture, pursuing higher education, or joining the workforce.

On Monday, August 30, 2021, tents and tables went up, and food pallets started stacking up in the Hazelwood Community of West Ashley in Charleston, SC. A diverse group of Charleston Police Department officers, new recruits, volunteers
from the community, and representatives from AT&T, First Net, and the Columbia-based nonprofit Serve & Connect set up a mobile food box packing station in the middle of the Hazelwood neighborhood.

Serve & Connect collaborated with the City of Charleston Police Department to amplify the department’s community relations efforts by helping to plan and coordinate the mobile event.  Serve & Connect also supported department by packing and delivering
of Greg’s Groceries boxes in areas of need.

Thank you to our friends at ABCNews4 and WCBDNews2 for covering our event and sharing our work with the Lowcountry! Watch their coverage by clicking on the links below.

ABCNews4 – Charleston Police Pack Food Boxes for Good Cause

WCBDNews2 – Charleston Police Dept, Serve & Connect Pack, Distribute Food to West Ashley Neighborhood

The mobile packing station packed more than 170 boxes that included non-perishable food items and information about the police department. The boxes, called “Greg’s Groceries,” are provided by Serve & Connect to police departments across the state
to help individuals and families facing food insecurities.

The Charleston Police Department delivered Greg’s Groceries boxes to three communities throughout Charleston as a part of their ongoing strategic community relations outreach.

Master Police Officer Robert York, who works on the community relations team at the Charleston Police Department, explains that one of the main goals of the department partnering with Serve & Connect and Greg’s Groceries “is to bring food in the neighborhood
for people in need and also to help bridge that gap and create some dialogue between the community and us.”

As boxes were packed in the community, officers went door to door and interacted with the residents in each neighborhood – having positive, friendly conversations. As officers left the Hazelwood community in their cars with boxes of Greg’s Groceries,
officers stopped at every home on their way out of the neighborhood if someone was outside. An officer got out of the truck, spoke with the residents, and offered a box of Greg’s Groceries.

The overall goal of Greg’s Groceries is to provide a resource to police that may not otherwise be available. Greg’s Groceries boxes are intended to create opportunities for positive, non-enforcement interactions between police officers and community members
while fostering an environment to enhance trust.

More than 1,500 boxes of Greg’s Groceries have been packed for distribution in the last 12 months. Since the program began in 2017, Serve & Connect is proud to have partnered with 33 law enforcement agencies across the state of South Carolina to help pack more than 85,000 meals.