LatestNEWS

December 2006

A HUGE thank you to WBAV 101.9 FM, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and all individuals for their generous contributions and support of our Angel Tree Christmas Celebration!!!
 

October 2006

October was a busy month for A Place for Hope, Inc. October 25 we hosted our 5 year Anniversary Celebration to honor all of our sponsors, donors, and volunteers. The event was a true community celebration. Members of the community prepared home cooked food for all who braved the weather and applauded the accomplishments of the past year. Pride Magazine was also on hand to photograph the ribbon cutting ceremony for our new playground. The recreation area, which includes a swing set, monkey bars, a jungle gym, sea-saws, a merry-go-round, and an expanded basketball court, was made possible by grants from Goody’s Headache Powders, and the Jr. Welfare League, as well as, support from Home Depot and the hard work of Woodland Methodist Church Youth Group and the residents of the BRC.  

Our 3^rd annual HOPEFEST Benefit Concert was also held in October. Thanks to the sponsorship of Winthrop University, Comer Distributing, Gilb’s BBQ, and the wonderful artists who gave freely of their talent, this year’s HOPEFEST was the most successful to date. The event brought together 11 local artists at the Winthrop Shack for an all day music festival that raised awareness of the community and funding for APFH. We are happy to report we raised over $1000 to support the educational, job development, and life empowerment programming for the children, youth, and adult residents of the Blackmon Road Community.

September 2006

The construction project to lay the water and sewer lines down to the Center and pave Blackmon Road is underway! After the discovery of pickup-sized boulders lining the road bed brought construction to a halt, BRC residents and APFH staff and Board members applauded the County at the York County Council meeting for their efforts to secure the additional funding needed to complete the project.  The state of South Carolina and York County both allotted an additional $102, 000 to complete Phase I of the water and sewer project!

JUNE 2006

APFH welcomes Melissa Williams to the Summer Staff. Melissa received a 2 month leave grant from her employer Wells Fargo to help design and coordinate the APFH Summer Camp “Proud to be Me”.  The day camp focuses on character development incorporating African American history and African culture into the weekly curriculum.  In addition to weekly cooking sessions and fun field trips, partnerships with the YMCA Aquatic Center, Keystone, and the Teen Health Center are making our first annual summer camp a wonderful one to remember. THANK YOU everyone for all of the wonderful support of our children!

MAY 2006

A Place for Hope was awarded the Goody’s Headache Powders Finding A Solution Together (FAST) Community Grant in the amount of $5000 to purchase new playground equipment for the center. An additional $4000 was awarded by the Junior Welfare League of Rock Hill to help complete development of the new playground designed under the resident leadership of Timothy Roseboro. Our bountiful good fortune this month was added to by the Rock Hill High Amnesty International Club. The group did an extraordinary job transforming the children’s playroom into a fairy tale escape with their beautiful murals. THANK YOU Goody’s, JWL, and R.H. High Amnesty International Club!

FEBRUARY 2006

Eva Mae’s Neighborhood Cleanup Day
Winthrop students joined resident led groups to clean up trash filling the neighborhood. A large industrial sized dumpster provided by the county overflowed with refuse cleaned up from around one house site! 
The next Saturday Clean-up is scheduled for April 1, 2006 from 10-12 pm.

Blackmon Rd Community Builders Meeting
County officials, local area agencies, city officials, School board representatives, local government officials, board members, and staff met to discuss the progress and needs of the Blackmon Rd. Neighborhood. The county reported that construction to lay the water and sewer lines as well as to pave the roads is to begin in spring of 2006. A Place for Hope staff reported on the Accomplishments of 2005 and Goals for 2006. Committees previously formed to address the infrastructural, health, transportation, and housing needs of the residents were reconstituted.

JANUARY 2006

Blackmon Rd. Community Meeting
Board Members, staff, business sponsors, county representatives, and residents met at A Place for Hope to assess the changes that had been made since September. The meeting was a time for the Board and Staff to hear the residents’ feedback regarding the new programming for both children and adults. The group focused on highlighting the strengths of the community and outlining areas that continued to need improvement. Two residents, Eva Mae Whitlock and Tim Roseboro, volunteered to help organize the community to help address neighborhood clean-up of trash and expansion of a recreational space.

DECEMBER 2006

APFH Angel Tree Gift Exchange
A Place for Hope was able to provide a wonderful Christmas celebration for the Blackmon Rd. extended family community thanks to the generous donations of area business, and concerned individuals. Children and adults were blessed with gifts and gift cards presented by Santa and Power 98, a grilled chicken and hot dog feast, love, and fellowship.

SEPTEMBER 2005

A Place for Hope opens for fall programming under new staff management! Local area businesses provided the Board of Directors with the opportunity to hire the first ever Site Manager for A Place for Hope through their generous commitment to our 5 year sponsorship program. This permanent position ensures a consistent presence at the center that provides both supervision of all programming and coordination of volunteer activities. In addition to the Site Manager, APFH has also received an AmeriCorps VISTA member through a partnership with Winthrop University. The focus of the VISTA position is to develop and coordinate programming for the center, building a sustainable infrastructure for the organization. This partnership with Winthrop also provides APFH with an AmeriCorps volunteer who serves a minimum of 450 hours of direct service in our programs. Rashon Carraway, a Winthrop Senior majoring in Political Science is APFH’s Site Manager; Stephanie Clayton is our VISTA Member, and Hollie Blake, also a Political Science major with a long time commitment to the children of Blackmon Rd. is our AmeriCorps volunteer.

Recent Media
click below for past articles

Don't Trash Our Homes (7/07)

Hope 5 Years in the Making (10/06)

Rock and a Hard Place (10/06)

Help for Blackmon Road (10/06)

But finally, Blackmon Road
Work Begins (8/06)

Road to be closed, meaning
longer walk for residents (8/06)

click to view MEDIA ARCHIVE