On a recent warm spring night, Donna McLaughlin relaxed on the porch outside of A Place for Hope, a nonprofit community center in the impoverished Blackmon Road neighborhood near Rock Hill.
A throng of kids swarmed around her, sipping from yellow juice boxes. When one youngster tossed his box on the ground, McLaughlin, the center's director, prodded him to pick it up and throw it in the garbage. He complied.
The scene was a ray of hope in an area once known as Trashpile Road - a name stemming from its location near the city's old landfill.
For decades, Blackmon Road has been a magnet for York County's poor. The community lies at the end of a dirt road off S.C. 72, less than two miles from downtown Rock Hill. Many residents are squatters who live in crumbling shacks or old school buses with no indoor plumbing or electricity. A number of individuals, churches and agencies have tried over the years to help the neighborhood, organizing cleanups, goods collections and meals.
Now open six months, A Place for Hope has become like a community within a community.
Volunteers tutor neighborhood students with homework. Residents stop by for bags of food or supplies. Several Blackmon Road residents help out at the center on a regular basis. Once-shy neighborhood children now zip through the center's hallways, in search of toys or mischief.
McLaughlin soaks it all in - proud and amazed at how far the place has come, with the help of many donations and volunteers. "I couldn't ask for a more fulfilling life right now," said the York resident, who also works in human resources for a Charlotte engineering firm.
About a dozen volunteers now come regularly to the center to help with a range of activities, from tutoring children and adults to assembling food bags, to helping repair houses in the community.
Specialists from Keystone Sub-stance Abuse Services in Rock Hill offer educational programs at the center.
On a recent Thursday, Donna Wylie of Keystone taught a group of 9- and 10-year-olds about the dangers of cigarettes. "They're very open to what I have to say," she said of the kids.
In another room, Fort Mill resident Ken Bragg coached 10-year- old Britiany Gullatt on her social studies homework.
"This is a great opportunity here to reach out and help other people," said Bragg, a rehabilitation counselor. "I just try to pitch in wherever I can."
Volunteer Belinda Nix of Rock Hill recalls helping a woman from the Blackmon Road community prepare for a job interview. Besides coaching the job seeker on interview skills, volunteers helped her find a fashionable suit and a briefcase. "We got her fixed up," said Nix, an accountant with Springs Industries who also tutors at the center.
Former Blackmon Road resident Lisa Wylie credits the center for turning her life around. The former drug addict ended up in the community after fleeing New York, where she was wanted by police.
Then she met McLaughlin and started getting help at the center. "They got me back on my feet and gave me my life back," said Wylie, 34, who now attends drug-rehabilitation classes at Keystone and volunteers at the community center. "I haven't been this happy in a long time."
Despite its successes, the center still operates on a shoestring budget and needs more regular volunteers, McLaughlin said. Once resources are available, organizers hope to build a playground and basketball court on nearby property.
Contact Caroline Brustad at 329-4082 or cbrustad@heraldonline.com.
A Place for Hope is a nonprofit community center in the impoverished Blackmon Road neighborhood, located off of S.C. 72 near Rock Hill.
The center is located at 1020 Archer Drive and is open Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center doesn't have a phone.
Volunteer services offered at the center include tutoring, distributing food and supplies and repairing homes in the neighborhood. Organizers hope to offer additional services in the future, including medical and dental evaluations, outdoor recreation programs and job training.
The center needs more volunteers. Forms are available on the center's Web site, www.aplaceforhope.net.
On a recent warm spring night, Donna McLaughlin relaxed on the porch outside of A Place for Hope, a nonprofit community center in the impoverished Blackmon Road neighborhood near Rock Hill.
For decades, Blackmon Road has been a magnet for York County's poor. The community lies at the end of a dirt road off S.C. 72, less than two miles from downtown Rock Hill. Many residents are squatters who live in crumbling shacks or old school buses with no indoor plumbing or electricity. A number of individuals, churches and agencies have tried over the years to help the neighborhood, organizing cleanups, goods collections and meals.
Volunteer Belinda Nix of Rock Hill recalls helping a woman from the Blackmon Road community prepare for a job interview. Besides coaching the job seeker on interview skills, volunteers helped her find a fashionable suit and a briefcase. "We got her fixed up," said Nix, an accountant with Springs Industries who also tutors at the center.