North Columbia project to promote peace with community-wide demonstration
The North Columbia Youth Empowerment Initiative (NCYEI) is partnering with the City of Columbia, Columbia Police Department, Richland County and Richland County Sheriff’s Department to host the upcoming 2022 Empowerment for Peace Walk. The walk has a theme centered around “Restore the Village.” The multi-community awareness event will highlight local youth leadership and encourage community support in promoting peace over violence.
In addition to the parties mentioned above, NCYEI is partnering with the following organizations: Mutual Aid Midlands, City of Refuge, Between Us Queens, LLC., My Sister’s Voice, Booker Washington Heights Neighborhood Association, Voice to The Voiceless, North Columbia Community Care Closet, Palmetto Pride, Richland County Neighborhood Improvement Program, Men of Definition, Inc, CFEC - Carolina Family Engagement Center and Center for Community Health Alignment.
This community-wide gathering will be held on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, with starting locations positioned in the Bayberry Mews and Palmetto Terrace neighborhoods. Event participants will gather at the basketball court on Lester Drive and Berry Shell Drive or the James Clyburn Golf Center on Slighs Avenue and Columbia Court, respectively. Serve & Connect is encouraging North Columbia’s local youths to participate in this year’s demonstration.
The Empowerment for Peace Walk will begin at noon with a community sign-making event for attendees, followed by opening prayers at 2 p.m. at the walk’s two starting locations. After which, the groups will depart along their designated routes to meet in the middle for a closing ceremony and community resource fair located at Columbia’s KM Bellfield Center.
“I am incredibly proud of all our community has been able to accomplish by coming together to understand and work with one another,” shares Omari Fox, lead community organizer of Serve & Connect. “By taking that extra step to really focus on our relationships and the lives of those around us, North Columbia is setting an example for the progress we can make when we choose cooperation over conflict. This event is an excellent entry point for those looking to get involved in their community’s transformation, especially our younger neighbors who are growing up here.”
North Columbia spans approximately 63 square miles and has nearly 40,000 residents. In the community, 82 percent of residents identify as Black or African American. The median household income for the community is nearly 30 percent less than the state’s median income, and 33 percent of the residents live below the federal poverty line (compared with the national average of 12.3%).
Launched in 2018, Serve & Connect’s NYCEI, a program dedicated to amplifying and creating safe and thriving North Columbia neighborhoods, was established in a joint effort with the Columbia Police Department and Parks & Recreation. NYCEI is a comprehensive community effort intended to create a model for use across the country.
“Every opportunity we have to strengthen the bond between our communities and law enforcement is an opportunity worth embracing,” says Sheriff Leon Lott of the Richland County Sheriff's Department. “Our communities are stronger and safer when we all act as one.”
As an extension of Serve & Connect, the NYCEI serves to continue the organization’s mission of coordination and strategic alignment among groups already making a difference in the lives of North Columbia’s neighborhood children. Together with community leaders, Serve & Connect has focused on bringing forth positive change through sustainable police-community partnerships in North Columbia. The evidence-informed work conducted in North Columbia has led to an expansion of similar programs in Kershaw, Lexington, Fairfield and Orangeburg counties.
ABOUT NORTH COLUMBIA YOUTH EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVE
The North Columbia Youth Empowerment Initiative was established in collaboration with the Columbia Police Department, Richland County Sheriff’s Office, Serve & Connect and community leaders to foster police and community partnerships that empower the lives of neighborhood children and youth in the 29203 region. The initiative is funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.