Month: July 2022

On July 23, 2022, Serve & Connect enjoyed an amazing community-wide event with nearly a dozen community partners. Everyone came out to the Summer of Healing block party to enjoy an opportunity to meet local law enforcement officers and first responders and build community camaraderie. All of our partners in Richland County did an incredible job hosting the event. A big thank you to everyone who came out and helped make the 2022 Richland County Summer of Healing event a huge success, especially Petersen Presbyterian Church who welcomed the event at their church. We accomplish so much when we work together. Our partnerships make our community stronger and for that we are grateful.

Some highlights among many from the event included:

• Forest Lake Presbyterian led the yard games including cornhole and giant Jenga. Children also enjoyed an arts and crafts station which included kindness rocks.

• South Carolina Department of Natural Resources were masters on the grill and cooked hot dogs for the community to enjoy.

• Be Beep sponsored glitter tattoos that all the children loved.

• Baskin Robbins gave away free scoops of ice cream for a cool treat on a hot summer day.

• Richland County Recreation Commission sponsored a bounce house and basketball.

• Forest Acres Police Department led officer games and bingo which were a big hit.

• Richland County Sheriffs Department brought their DARE car and the kids thought that was super cool.

• Columbia Fire Department brought out their truck and put the giant ladder out!

• Richland Two School District assisted with games and we were all impressed how many principals and educators came out.

“This was exactly what we all needed. I look forward to more events.”

-Chief Robinson | Forest Acres Police Department

Event partners included:

• Heal America

• Forest Acres Police Department

• Forest Lake Presbyterian Church

• Richland County Sheriff’s Department

• South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

• Columbia Fire Department

• South Carolina Department of Mental Health

• PASOs

• LRADAC

• Baskin-Robbins

• Richland County Recreation Commission

• Richland School District Two

More than 120 community members attended the event.

“We had a blast! The block party gave us an excuse and a safe way to meet neighbors that we do not know and to give freely (without a desired outcome).” – Event attendee

“The block party happened only about a mile from my house, but the experience helped connect me to neighborhoods that are vastly different from my own, and to meet neighbors that I would not normally meet. The block party was only a mile from my house, but many, many, many miles removed from my experience of life.” – Event attendee

“The block party gave me hope. Seeing our police partners engage children in games, crafts, and just plain fun feels good and right. Seeing our congregation’s members leave the security of our church property to meet our neighbors where they live also feels right and good. The Church is called to go into the world to be good news, but most of the time we spend our energy trying to get people to come to us and be like us. This felt like real church.” – Rev. Dr. Ellen Skidmore, Forest Lake Presbyterian Church

Columbia, SC – Serve & Connect, a Columbia-based nonprofit focusing on strengthening relationships between police and community is taking part in the nationwide Heal America movement. Serve & Connect is one of 43 organizations from across the country selected to be a partner of Heal America’s summer-long initiative called “Summer of Healing.” Summer of Healing was created by Heal America to fight racial injustice with love and redemption. South Carolina is one of 12 states hosting events as part of the initiative.

“We are so proud of our police and community partners in South Carolina,” says Kassy Alia-Ray, CEO and founder of Serve & Connect. “They are incredibly committed to bridging divides in communities across our state.”

“Serve & Connect is proud to amplify their important work by uniting with Heal America. It’s an honor to be a part of a movement that brings about racial reconciliation and to help our country heal. Having the support of our friends at Heal America allows us to do more than we could ever do on our own.”

Summer of Healing builds upon the momentum of The Heal America Tour, a series of local events across the country that bring together people of different backgrounds and perspectives to fight racial injustice. Serve & Connect is hosting a series of events over the next several weeks in communities throughout South Carolina, including Charleston, Columbia-metro area, Lexington and Orangeburg.

The events are free and open to the public and will bring tools, resources and citizens together as a racial justice movement that supports bridges built between communities and law enforcement. A list of events throughout the rest of the summer can be found on Serve & Connect’s website.

The next South Carolina community event of the 2022 Summer of Healing will be held in the Woodfield Park community in Columbia at Petersen Presbyterian Church on July 23 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Community partners, along with Serve & Connect’s team, who are helping host the event include Richland County Sheriff’s Department, Forest Lake Presbyterian Church, Petersen Presbyterian Church, Richland Two School District, Richland County Recreation Commission, Be Beep Toy Store, LRADAC, PASOs, Forest Acres Police Department, and more.

Antong Lucky, co-chair of Heal America said the following in a release issued last week.

“We cannot change the injustices of history – they will always echo from the past – but we can move forward with the startling promise of human progress and connection, and that’s what the Summer of Healing is all about. We are eager to work with these terrific organizations to bring healing to their hometowns and the nation.”

The Stand Together Foundation, a national foundation that cultivates collaboration among high-performing nonprofits to bring about community-based solutions that address social issues, introduced Serve & Connect to Heal America and encouraged them to apply to be a part of Heal America and the Summer of Healing initiative. Serve & Connect was originally connected with Stand Together last year when it was selected to participate in Stand Together’s Catalyst program, a cohort-modeled curriculum that supports social entrepreneurs driving transformation within communities.

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ABOUT SERVE & CONNECT

Serve & Connect is a SC-based nonprofit that works directly with law enforcement, community stakeholders, and citizen leaders to create police and community partnerships that bring about positive change and promotes safe, happy and resilient communities. For more information, follow Serve & Connect on social media at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @serveandconnect.

ABOUT HEAL AMERICA

Heal America is a movement to advance racial justice through empowerment. Heal America does this by investing in the tools, resources, and capital needed by local and national changemakers who seek to eliminate injustice. Grown from a series of local events hosted by Urban Specialists, Stand Together Foundation has partnered to expand the Heal America movement to cities across the country. Heal America seeks to interrupt violence in local communities, strengthen relationships among communities and law enforcement, and address injustice through bottom-up change. To learn more visit healamericamovement.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter at @joinhealamerica.