Feb 9, 2023 | Staying on Top, Uncategorized
Welcome and Introductions: David Feild, Chairman of the Board
Local Public Health Strategies: Improving the Health of our Upstate Communities
Dr. Kandi Fredere, Region Director of SCDHEC
Click here to view a recording of the meeting
Click here to view the presentation
Resource Updates
Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement Department
James Nelson shared updates and information on initiatives that focus on litter removal, and “Keeping Spartanburg Beautiful”. To learn more about Spartanburg County’s Environmental Enforcement Department, click the link above.
Jasmine Road
Jasmine Road provides help for women in need by providing safe housing, basic needs, life/job skills training, and more. To learn more about this incredible resource, click the link above.
Feb 7, 2023 | Staying on Top, UpstateVibe365
“I feel like Rooted in Love isn’t just a fake catchphrase here. You can really feel it,” said one Jasmine Road resident, smiling broadly from her chosen spot on the living room couch. “I can’t explain it, it’s just the love, the love.”
We truly believe in the transformative power of love; and time and time again, the women of Jasmine Road tell us that love really makes the difference for them — and this difference can mean life or death for the women we serve.
Love is truly at the heart of everything we do at Jasmine Road. The women here are offered unconditional love and the opportunity to flourish, and many, for the first time in their lives. Our program provides women with a sanctuary where they can start to heal, hope, and dream again, surrounded by a lifelong support network that is Rooted in Love.
Our most recent survivor-made candle that was launched last year is focused on that same love. In naming the candle, the women wrote these words about their experience at Jasmine Road and what love means to them:
“When I walked into this community, their arms were open and their hearts were free and there was no cost and no judgment. They are always like ‘let me love you until you see how to love yourself’. The women in this community have never given up on me and God never gave up on me, so I have no reason to give up on me.”
Jasmine Road is South Carolina’s first long-term program designed specifically for adult women survivors of sex trafficking, prostitution, and addiction. Our mission is to heal and employ women survivors, one life at a time. We do that by offering two years of safe housing, basic needs, mental and physical healthcare, therapy, time and space to heal, life and job skills training, and meaningful employment. More than 50 community partners join us in this work by providing much-needed trauma informed services to support each survivor’s comprehensive and individualized care plan.
Our unique social enterprise component gives women a safe, nurturing environment to learn sustainable job skills and find independence and economic mobility. Since launching our program in 2018, residents and graduates have booked more than 15,000 hours working at Jasmine Road and Jasmine Kitchen, our social enterprise lunch cafe, and in our jewelry and candle businesses.
To date, 100% of Jasmine Road graduates are in long-term sobriety, are safely housed, and are employed full-time. Many of the graduates are working in the Jasmine Road residential program and in the social enterprises, and several are employed by other organizations in the community.
One recent 2022 graduate worked full-time for Jasmine Road’s social enterprise lunch cafe Jasmine Kitchen, after completing culinary school at Truist Culinary & Hospitality Innovation Center, and recently accepted another position in the community. After graduation from Jasmine Road, she took on the parenting of her teenage daughter who lives with her full-time in housing as part of Homes of Hope’s affordable housing program. With more than two years of sobriety under her belt, she says at 50 years old she’s never going back to the life she led before. During her time at Jasmine Road, she participated in a workforce development program with Goodwill Industries and United Ministries, where she also took financial wellness classes and took advantage of a savings match program through Jasmine Road social enterprises. With her savings, she was able to purchase a car after getting her driver’s license reinstated. Her time at Jasmine Road also provided her with free trauma-informed therapy and medical care including a mammogram and colonoscopy, as well as extensive dental work, which ultimately helped her become an advocate for her own healthcare. The network of support at Jasmine Road and Jasmine Kitchen along with her addiction recovery community has been a foundation for her success and accomplishments.
By supporting our mission, you are helping us provide more women in our community with the opportunity for healing and real life change. The need is great for our program as we have received more than 300 applications for residency since Jasmine Road opened the doors of its first safe home in 2018.
We invite you to join us – visit our website at jasmineroad.org to learn more and be our guest for lunch at Jasmine Kitchen (503 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC 29605). All of our social enterprise products are made by the residents and graduates of Jasmine Road with love and the hope that more women in our community will find their way home, are available online at jasminekitchen.org. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram!
Feb 6, 2023 | Staying on Top, UpstateVibe365
History/Creation of Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement Department
The Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement Department was formed in 2000.
At that time, Animal Control and Litter Control were brought together for the purpose of being good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars while also utilizing all available resources. Then, in 2006, four Property Maintenance Inspectors were moved from the Building Codes Division to our team. In 2018, the Keep OneSpartanburg Beautiful Coordinator position was created, and, in 2020, a County employee Roadside Litter Crew was added.
Our department strives every day to meet and accomplish the goals and the vision set by our County Council. Our staff has always had an unpublished mission statement of “Where do you need us to go, what do you need us to do?” This department has served as a model throughout the state for other counties to emulate and adjust to their needs.
Property Maintenance Division
Our Property Maintenance Division consists of one Senior Officer and five field officers. The current major focus of this division is a joint effort to remove blighted areas—mainly structures and blighted properties, while also focusing on cleaning up our county’s gateways.
Spartanburg County’s leaders and elected officials understand that, to have growth, there must be reason for growth to happen. Areas with blight generally do not grow. Our leaders have never ignored the fact that we have blight in our county and removing that blight has always been at the forefront of their minds. In fact, removing blight has become a key part of our County’s most recent Strategic Vision Plan. In an effort to support this vision, we recently removed two large abandoned and nuisance commercial properties and are currently working to remove many other unsafe structures.
Litter Control Division
Our Litter Control Division consists of one frozen Senior Officer position and five field officers. Early on, our leaders understood the need to have resources addressing the crime of littering. These officers use many different tactics to address issues, such as field surveillance cameras, special details, community awareness programs, etc.
The newest program is a joint effort with the City of Spartanburg, United Way of the Piedmont, SC Works, Hope Ministries, PalmettoPride and various private groups. It is called our “Litter Heroes” program. This is a 90-day program which currently employs up to four individuals, who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability, to work in a litter crew as employees. These individuals will earn a wage of approximately $12 an hour and will work approximately 25 hours a week with their assigned agency. While going through the program, these individuals also receive case management and life skills training. The program has graduated nine individuals, with three of those individuals becoming officially employed with Spartanburg County.
Animal Control Division
Our Animal Control Division consists of one Senior Officer, a newly created Animal Cruelty Investigator position, and six field officers. Of all of our divisions, this division receives the most calls for service, on a daily average.
Spartanburg County is currently in the process of building a Pet Resource Center. This would be the first of its kind in our County, as Spartanburg County has always contracted out the animal sheltering portion. Currently, we are partnered with Greenville County Animal Care and have been working with them for the past 11 years. The Greenville County staff has been and continues to be very helpful in this process. Greenville County helped us establish our feral cat program, in which we partner with Animal Allies, a low cost spay/neutering facility. This program is nearing 10,000 surgeries on outdoor community felines.
As part of the planned Pet Resource Center’s team, Spartanburg County recently created our first Animal Cruelty Investigator to tackle the in-depth animal cruelty cases we face. We are also looking to hire a Director of Animal Welfare Services to head our Pet Resource Center. Our next steps will be to secure a site for the Center and begin putting safety net programs into place.
Keep OneSpartanburg Beautiful Division
The Keep OneSpartanburg Beautiful (KOSB) Division is new to our team and consists of the Coordinator position. In 2022, we hosted 45 events and collected 14,997 pounds of litter and 14,200 pounds of recycling from Spartanburg County. In 2023, we’re looking to double our hosted events.
This year, we hope to expand our focus on educational projects and workshops. During the last week of January, we finished our Recycling into Art Mosaic Project with Woodland Heights Elementary School. KOSB and Spartanburg Soil and Water Conservation District will seek design concepts from Spartanburg County artists to enhance selected storm drains along the Butterfly Creek Greenway on the Northside of Spartanburg, SC. Selected artists will turn their concepts into reality in the form of small-scale, semi-permanent, outdoor murals that will adorn Spartanburg County storm drains, raising awareness, and educating the public about the effects of stormwater runoff on water quality.
Another exciting event that we will need everyone’s participation in is the Team-up to Clean-up Litter Competition. The Keep SC Beautiful affiliates in seven counties in the Upstate have organized the Team-up to Clean-up Litter Competition from April 1st – 22nd.
Feb 6, 2023 | Press releases, Staying on Top, Uncategorized
Ten at the Top (TATT) is pleased to announce the addition of Anna-Elyse Lewis Abrams to the position of Communications Coordinator.
Her role centers around TATT’s mission to increase collaborative capacity across the 10 counties
of the upstate by highlighting the efforts and initiatives of the organization, as well as those of its
partners and sponsors. Additionally, she will serve as the primary point of contact for media inquiries,
coordinate outreach efforts, draft in-house publications, and devise strategic marketing campaigns that
amplify and elevate TATT’s messaging.
A graduate of USC Upstate, Anna-Elyse brings with her a background of communications and marketing
in local government and community development, having served as the Communications Specialist for
the City of Spartanburg. She is a lifelong resident of Spartanburg, and enjoys spending time with her
family and friends, and performing with local community theatres.
“We are pleased to have Anna-Elyse join the Ten at the Top team,” said TATT Executive Director Dean
Hybl. “Her background in communications and familiarity with the region will be very valuable as we
continue to build connections and the collective capacity of the Upstate.”
“Ten at the Top is doing such great work to connect and strengthen the Upstate.” said Lewis Abrams, “I
am so excited to join those efforts, and amplify the message of this organization’s inspiring mission
alongside an incredible team.”
Have a question for Anna-Elyse? Email her at aeabrams@tenatthetop.org
About Ten at the Top: Comprised of public, private, and civic leaders from across the ten-county Upstate South Carolina
Region, Ten at the Top connects and encourages regional collaboration through data-driven research
and regular gatherings of leaders and residents to address key regional issues. TATT works with local
partners to foster collaboration and strategic planning that enhances the economic vitality and quality
of life for Upstate residents today and as the region continues to grow.
Feb 3, 2023 | Staying on Top
2022 YEAR IN REVIEW
Feb 3, 2023 | Creating a Safer Upstate, Staying on Top
January 23, 2023
Another robust conversation between law enforcement and community leaders took place at this virtual Beyond the Shield. Important topics were discussed including efforts to engage the Latino and Asian population, tackling unconscious bias and how to measure success, behavioral and mental health in Upstate communities and within law enforcement, increasing school safety, efforts to decrease racial profiling, and best practices to communicate with law enforcement and request patrols.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Chief Matt Hamby, Greer Police Department
Chief Jorge Campos, Clemson Police Department
Sgt. Natalie Hill, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office
COMMUNITY LEADERS
Keishe Nelson, Michelin
Dorothy Russell, Sterling Community
Tiffney Davidson-Parker, Universal Therapeutic Services, LLC
YouTube link to recording
Podcast link
Feb 2, 2023 | Staying on Top, Upstate Entrepreneur Ecosystem
On Thursday, Jan 26, The Upstate Entrepreneur Ecosystem met to connect and learn about Human Resource Laws and Regulations from attorneys Michael Nail and Melissa Malone of Ogletree Deakins. In addition to detailing new regulations to look out for in 2023, they also discussed human resources through the lens of immigration policies. Following the presentation and group discussion, we heard from UEE’s new facilitator Craig Scharton.
Craig comes to us from Fresno City, CA where he served as a council member, developed ecosystems of support for entrepreneurs as the Senior Director of Economic Development with One by One Leadership, served as the president of the California Main Street Alliance, held multiple positions with the City of Fresno and Downtown Fresno Partnership, and much more. We are thrilled to welcome him to our community, and look forward to the ways in which he grows UEE!
To view Michael and Melissa’s presentation, click here.
Jan 12, 2023 | 2023 TATT CHAT Recap, TATT Chat, TATT Chat - Recap
Guest Speaker
Scott L. Baier
Professor and Department Chair – John E. Walker Department of Economics
Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business
Clemson University
To view a recording of the meeting, click here
To view the presentation slide deck, click here
Resource Update
RIZE Prevention – Diandra Pestana
To learn more about RIZE Prevention, click here.
Jan 11, 2023 | Staying on Top, UpstateVibe365
Greenville County
“MLK Dream” Poetry Slam: Social Justice Poetry
Janurary 11th, 7pm-9pm
Coffee Underground
1 East Coffee Street Greenville, SC 29601
Event Website
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mlk-dream-poetry-slam-social-justice-poetry-tickets-483319109467?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Poets perform and offer an OPEN MIC where members of the audience can share their ideas about issues facing our nation and world.
MLK Community Breakfast
Janurary 13th, 8am-10am
Furman University Melvin and Dollie Younts Conference Center
Event Website
https://alumni.furman.edu/MLK2023
Community Breakfast with Dr. Eddie R. Cole
MLK Jr. Celebration Luncheon
Janurary 16th, 11:30am
Greer City Hall
Event Website
https://www.cityofgreer.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=370
Community Breakfast with Dr. Eddie R. Cole
MLK Day of Service
Janurary 16th, 9am-12pm
Greer City Hall
Event Website
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2023
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of service, United Way is
partnering with the City of Greenville, Greenville County’s Litter Ends Here and PalmettoPride to
organize neighborhood cleanups across our community. (Volunteer)
REEMGVL’s King Day Forum on Economic Justice
Janurary 16th, 6pm
Phillis Wheatley Community Center
40 John McCarroll Way Greenville, SC 29607
Event Website
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reemgvls-king-day-forum-on-economic-justice-tickets-467685077657
Join the Greenville Racial Equity & Economic Mobility (REEM)
Commission for a special community event focusing on income and wealth.
Spartanburg County
Unity Walk and 5K Run
Janurary 18th, 9am
Spartanburg Community College’s Downtown Campus
Event Website
https://www.cityofspartanburg.org/news/
5K run celebrates and renews the community’s shared sense of belonging
Day of Service
Janurary 20th
Event Website
https://uwpiedmont.galaxydigital.com/aem/general/event/?doc_id=6376
The City and United Way of the Piedmont partner to help further Dr. King’s legacy by
celebrating Jan. 20 as it was intended — not as a day “off,” but rather a day “on,” and a day
committed to community volunteer service.
MLK Jazz Celebration
Janurary 6th, 7pm
Cleveland Park
141 North Cleveland Park Drive Spartanburg, SC 29303
Event Website
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mlk-jazz-celebration-tickets-483439740277?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Come celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with this Jazz Celebration!
Press Conference
Janurary 9th, 5pm
Front steps of City Hall
145 W. Broad Street
Event Website
https://spartanburgcounty.org/
Art Reception
Janurary 13th, 6pm
Mayfair Art Studios
1885 Hayne Street
Event Website
https://spartanburgcounty.org/
Walk As One
Janurary 14th, 9am
Spartanburg County Admin Building
366 N Church Street
Event Website
https://spartanburgcounty.org/
United Way Day of Service
Janurary 16th
Event Website
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2023
MLK Unity Celebration
Janurary 20th, 6:30pm
Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium
Event Website
https://www.cityofspartanburg.org/news/
The celebration includes keynote speaker Dr. Adolf Brown III, music from the Sounds of
Diversity Choir & Orchestra, the MLK Awards for Humanitarian Excellence and announcement
of the poster and photo contest winners held throughout all Spartanburg County Schools.
Anderson County
Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration
Janurary 16th, 5pm
Anderson Sports & Entertainment Center
3027 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Anderson, SC 29625
Event Website
Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration
Community MLK Birthday Celebration hosted by Anderson County Ministers Organization with keynote speaker Darrin Henson.
MLK Day Chapel
Janurary 17th, 11am
Reardon Auditorium
Event Website
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
Community comes together to celebrate the life and legacy of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Using this time to renew commitment to the ongoing work of social justice and racial equity.
Jan 10, 2023 | Staying on Top, UpstateVibe365
Saving Teens in the Upstate from the Rising Tide of Addiction!
Did you know that teens in our community report that 3 out of 10 of their middle school friends are vaping or experimenting with substances?
Did you know this number grows to approximately 8 out of 10 among high school students?
Teen substance use has become our country’s #1 public health crisis.
While working at the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office 5 years ago, our founder and CEO, Martine Helou-Allen, had a vision that every teen- and their family- live free from drug use and addiction. After years of passion and research, she created RIZE Prevention in June 2021.RIZE Prevention offers innovative, evidence-based prevention and early intervention programs as a solution to the rising tide of addiction that is compromising the quality of life of our youth and their families today. Our mission is to empower teens to resist drug use and make healthy lifestyle choices.
Our future, and that of our communities, depends on today’s prevention efforts. Substance dependency is a chronic problem, therefore why not prevent it from ever happening in the first place? RIZE’s programs have been developed in partnership with federal government agencies, in addition to the SC State Department of Education, using the latest prevention science research and recommendations. Our programs “go upstream” and reach teens before they experiment with or initiate drug use. RIZE approaches teens with respect and encouragement. We seek to empower them by giving them knowledge about drug use and active resistance skills, but also enlightening them to why they may be seeking substances to solve their emotional issues, and how this “self-medicating” can lead them to a life of addiction.
iRIZE in Schools
RIZE Prevention’s iRIZE Program in middle schools changes kids’ mindsets about substance use. We teach them that drug use shouldn’t be considered a “rite of passage”, a means to gain autonomy, or a risk-free way to address their emotional needs. The iRIZE Program is designed to support a young teen’s journey of development by engaging their power of choice and providing them with support and skills to resist drugs and live positive lives.
Components of the iRIZE program include:
- Motivational presentations
- Mentorship
- Important life skills guidance
- Parent resources
- Mental/behavioral health resources and financial assistance
- iRIZE Club
This 2022-2023 School year iRIZE is at the following middle schools in the Upstate:
- Hillcrest Middle School
- Berea Middle School
- Greer Middle School
- Woodmont Middle School
- Laurens Middle School
- Gray Court-Owings Middle School
- Hickory Tavern Middle School
- Sanders Middle School
Support RIZE Prevention: Help reach more teens in the Upstate!
Visit our website at rizemovement.org and join our email list to find out more information and get news about events, volunteer opportunities, or corporate sponsorships. Or you can donate online and help save the lives of teens facing the battle against drug use and addiction in the upstate of South Carolina. Your donation will go towards being able to provide more middle schools in the upstate with the iRIZE Program.
Check out our website rizeprevention.org and follow us on social media!
