Opportunity SC Recap

Our 2016 Community Economic Development Conference, Opportunity SC, was a huge success! Thanks to everyone who attended the event in Greenville on September 14-16. We truly appreciate your support and involvement.

The goal of Opportunity SC was to bring together a diverse group of public, nonprofit and private sector leaders who are working collaboratively to build wealth and create opportunity for all South Carolinians. We connected communities with one another and to valuable resources by providing a series of forums, networking events, seminars and training sessions.

Through this event recap, both conference attendees and those who missed it can gain access to a nice selection of event photos, documentation from the informative training sessions and the #opportunitysc Twitter feed...

Event Photos

Click the left and right arrows to scroll through all available photos. 

Training Sessions

• Advocating for Affordable Housing - Vivian McCray

• Business Responsibilities & Consumer Protection - Marti Phillips

• Changing the Conversation - John Boyanoski

• Charting the Course for Change - Amy Brennan

• Community Development in the Promise Zone - Dean van Pelt

• Community Development in the Promise Zone - Matt Mardell

• Developing the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem - Taylor Beard

• Healthy Insights Initiative - Lowell Atkinson & Sarah Pinson

• Historic Tax Credits Life Cycle - Ryder Mathias

• National Housing Trust Fund Program - Laura Nicholson

• Performance Context for CBOs - Victor Galloway

• SNAP 2 Work - Kristi King Brock & Dana Grant

• The Entrepreneurial Mindset for Nonprofits - Dorothea Bernique

• Your Website - Chris Manley

#opportunitysc

We encouraged attendees to use #opportunitysc during the conference. You can see all the videos and chatter during the event at https://twitter.com/hashtag/opportunitysc.

Opportunity SC 2017

The 2017 Community Economic Development Conference is already slated to take place next fall in Myrtle Beach. We will release details closer to the event and hope to see you there!

2016 Healthy Insights Grant Program

Important Update on 10/14/16: 

• The grant application deadline is now 2:00pm on Friday, November 4th.
• The match funding requirement has been lowered to 1:1, which means:
  • A $25,000 grant would require a minimum match of $25,000.
  • In-kind funding (e.g. staff time, volunteer hours, etc.) is an eligible source for this match requirement.
  • No more than 50% of the total $25,000 match ($12,500) can be satisfied through in-kind sources.
  • Grant partners may contribute resources to the project that count towards in-kind match funding (e.g., staff or volunteer time, event space, etc.)

SCACED's Healthy Insights initiative was launched this year as a joint partnership with MITRE Corporation and is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The goal of the program is to strengthen efforts to combat obesity in South Carolina, and our Healthy Insights tool visualizes population data and community resources to provide insights for public health improvement in South Carolina. Learn more at healthyinsight.org.

We are excited to announce our 2016 Healthy Insights grant program which will provide four grants of up to $25,000 each. The purpose of the program is to demonstrate how public data sources can be used to guide initiatives that improve the health of and promote healthy lifestyles in South Carolina's communities. By coupling data with the location of county and sub-county level community resources, SCACED will make strategic investments in community health projects. Each community is unique, and upfront data analysis will help illustrate how and where funds should be directed to support projects that address the health challenges a particular community faces. Considering this data, SCACED will provide a grant in the each of these South Carolina regions:

• Lowcountry: Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper, and Orangeburg Counties
• Midlands: Aiken, Calhoun, Chester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Richland, and Saluda Counties
• Pee Dee: Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Horry, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, Sumter, and Williamsburg Counties
• Upstate: Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Lancaster, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, Union, and York Counties.

The due date for applications has been extended to Friday, November 4, 2016 at 2:00 pm. To learn more about eligible applicants and projects, please reference our 2016 Healthy Insights Grant Application Guidelines.  

We have also created a Healthy Insights Grant Budget worksheet to assist you in calculating your income sources and expenses while applying for the grant.

Several Healthy Insights community workshops are taking place across South Carolina. Attend an event in your area to learn even more about the Healthy Insights initiative. 

For those who are interested in the Healthy Insights data tool, click the following link to access a table which outlines the data sets that are used along with sources and dates for that data... Healthy Insights Data Sources.

Stories of Solar Video Series

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) recently launched a website and video series to tell the stories of the many residents of the Southeast who are using and supporting solar power in their states. From a former coal miner turned solar installer in Alabama to a farmer in North Carolina, from a pastor in Georgia to high school students in Virginia, everyone has their own reasons for wanting to go solar. And this new video campaign is an effort to ensure their stories are heard.

You can view the website, entitled Stories of Solar, at www.stories.solar, where you will see these Southerners share their stories in their own words about why they went solar; what it’s meant for their home, business, or community; and why they want to see policy changed to level the playing field in their states.

Solar power can have a lasting positive impact on our environment, communities, and families; it stimulates job growth, decreases energy costs, and promotes energy independence. South Carolina’s Solar Act kick-started the state’s solar industry, but there is more to be done. Policymakers should work to encourage competitive solar investments and make sure solar opportunities are available to all South Carolinians.

Healthy Insights Community Workshops

We are hosting several workshops throughout SC during September and October which are designed to introduce SCACED’s Healthy Insights initiative. Participants will better understand the situation in their communities and the impact that various factors have in accessing healthy food and healthier lifestyles.

During the workshops, we will:

• Discuss available funding
• Solicit feedback from attendees about the community health challenges they face
• Explore potential projects and programs to address those challenges
• Present data from our Healthy Insights tool 

Click below for event details and to register.

Midlands Housing Trust Fund is Now a Certified CDFI

Congratulations to SCACED member Midlands Housing Trust Fund (MHTF) which has been formally certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) by the CDFI Fund of the United States Department of the Treasury.

Since MHTF was founded in 2010 as an initiative of the United Way of the Midlands, achievement of CDFI certification was a primary organizational objective. MHTF has reached its CDFI certification goal almost a year ahead of its original timeline.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are a select group of mission-driven specialized financial institutions working to transform lives in some of America's most underserved communities. The Midlands Housing Trust Fund's focus is on financing affordable housing for households at or below 80% of area median income in twenty-three South Carolina counties. In the MHTF service area there are tens of thousands of households that qualify for housing MHTF will finance. More than 50% of renters and 35% of homeowners in the counties we serve are "housing cost burdened," paying more than 30% of their income for housing. When housing costs are too high, hard choices have to be made every month: Do I buy healthy food for my children? Can I afford the prescriptions I need? Buy new tires for the car I need to get to and from work? Or pay the rent?

MHTF has already made a difference. They have deployed more than $1 million in financing that has helped create or preserve 230 units of affordable housing. MHTF expanded its service area from its original seven counties to now serve twenty-three counties. Their impact objective is to reduce the number of housing cost burdened individuals and families and help them re-allocate resources to begin building wealth: saving for homeownership; helping pay for college education for their children; and having enough to not retire in poverty. Affordable housing is the cornerstone to help people begin making those incremental financial improvements in the lives.

As a certified CDFI, the Midlands Housing Trust Fund will now be able to access financial resources previously unavailable for affordable housing finance in the region. And as the only CDFI solely focused on affordable housing finance, MHTF is uniquely positioned to catalyze holistic community development in some of the most marginalized areas of South Carolina.

Visit midlandshousing.org to learn more about the Midlands Housing Trust Fund.