Wholespire is pleased to announce that ten Healthy Eating, Active Living mini-grants have been awarded to non-profit organizations, schools, faith-based organizations, community coalitions, and local government in South Carolina. This mini-grant was awarded through a competitive application process to fund sustainable projects that aim to reduce chronic disease and create more fair and equal opportunities to make healthy choices by improving access to healthy food or creating opportunities for physical activity.
The ten mini-grant recipients are:
Bridging the Gap Advocacy – The Home Plate Initiative, led by Bridging the Gap (BTG) in Laurens County, is a small home that is currently being transformed into a community education center for the HYPE team, youth, and families within the region. Funding will be used to create a demonstration kitchen for BTG program participants to utilize produce from its community garden to aid in cooking competence and food literacy. The kitchen will be open to the community after BTG hours. This project is being supported by Clemson YLI SNAP-Ed, Lakelands Regions YMCA, and Wholespire Laurens County.
Charleston Orphan House, Inc (Carolina Youth Development Center) – Growing Goodness is a community garden project that will be located on the Berkeley County Campus. Also supported by The Green Heart Project, funds will be used to build garden beds to engage group foster care youth in hands-on gardening activities that will promote physical and mental health.
City of Darlington– The City of Darlington Outdoor Fitness Project expands on and continues a larger plan created for the Frank & Mary Sue Wells Park by the City of Darlington Beautification Board. Funds will be used to purchase and install outdoor fitness equipment and bicycle racks in four parks. This project aims to continue to promote an active lifestyle by giving citizens more access to an active mode of travel, through the placement of bicycle racks, and several designated areas to freely perform fitness routines across the city.
Helping Others Progress through Education (H.O.P.E.) – Serving the Community with FoodShare York County is an effort by H.O.P.E. to strengthen the food system and reduce food insecurity in the southside of Rock Hill. Funds will be used to create community gardens that will help supply FoodShare York County, as well as increase the number of SNAP customers by promoting FoodShare in apartment complexes, training partner organizations on SNAP equipment, and training staff on the Healthy Bucks program.
Marion County Library System– The Storyscape project is an interactive outdoor literacy self-guided walking and biking trail activity featuring 20 hanging structures that display sequenced pages of a children’s book and placed throughout a high-traffic area within the community. Already established and well-received by the community, funding will be used to reinforce the structures at Marion Hike Bike Trail in the City of Marion.
Oakwood-Windsor Elementary – Open community use is an asset for community members in Aiken who use Oakwood-Windsor Elementary’s open fields for physical activity after school hours. Funds for the Hydrating and ASSISTing our OWES Community project will be used to purchase an outdoor water hydration/bottle filling station and two soccer goals for use by the community.
SC School for the Deaf and the Blind Foundation – The Freedom to Play project will improve the play experience for sensory multi-disabled students at Cedar Springs Academy in Spartanburg. Challenges like slipping, falling, and getting hurt for these students keep them from running freely. Funds for this project will be used to purchase adaptive play equipment and paint lines on a recently paved surface to create a walking track, half basketball court, and hopscotch, and Four-square game areas.
The S.O.S. Project, Inc. at Poplar Spring AME Church – Like many rural communities, the Ora community in Laurens County doesn’t have sidewalks, parks, or any safe areas that promote physical activity. By creating a safe space at Poplar Spring AME Church, community members can use the area to be physically active and improve their health. Through the Creating a Healthy Community project, funds will be used to transform a grass basketball court to concrete or asphalt, creating a kids’/family corner by adding playground equipment and benches, repairing and upgrading the baseball field, and adding safety features like lights and signage.
Generation 4 – An Open Play Space for Community Use is a collaborative project between Generation 4 and Wholespire Anderson County to encourage the use of a trail located at Welfare Baptist Church in Belton. Funds will be used to erect Passport to Health kiosks along the trail that will offer health information. This project will improve upon and assist in the development of a place where all community members have a safe, secure, accessible, equitable, and enjoyable place to walk and be physically active.
Wholespire Richland County – The Project Discovery Palmetto Trails aims to increase access to physical activity for families in Hopkins through the use of the local trailhead of the Wateree Passage of the Palmetto Trail. Funds for this project will be used to purchase signage for this section of the trail to help guide trail users and to help them feel more comfortable knowing where they are going. The Palmetto Trail is supporting this project and will partner on guided trail hikes, educational sessions, and materials.
Funding for these mini-grants was made possible by a grant received by Wholespire, formerly Eat Smart Move More South Carolina, and the South Carolina Office of Rural Health from the BlueCross® BlueShield® of South Carolina Foundation, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
During this time of uncertainty, one Laurens County group has been working hard to become “Champions of Change.”
The Laurens County Bridging the Gap Advocacy HYPE team is composed of students from schools and communities in the Laurens area working as one united team to bring about change in the community.
HYPE stands for Healthy Young People Empowerment. It is a curriculum-based youth engagement program designed by Wholespire (formally Eat Smart, Move More SC) to build the skills of youths to become a greater voice in their communities.
The Laurens County School District Hype team includes middle and high school students from both Laurens and Clinton. They have worked to address the issue of unsafe playgrounds, unsafe passage to schools and parks, and lack of accessibility to fresh vegetables in lower-income communities.
The HYPE team has worked to have pedestrian signs and flashing school lights installed to make the entrance to the school safer. They have worked to restore and update abandoned parks in the area. They have also implemented a fresh vegetable garden to help provide fresh vegetables in lower-income neighborhoods.
People who the group met and worked with include Laurens Mayor Nathan Senn, Waterloo Mayor Barbara A. Smith, Gray Court Mayor Stellartean Jones, Laurens City Council, Laurens County Council, DOT, Laurens Park and Recreation, Churches, Laurens Rotary Clubs, Laurens Exchange Club, and Laurens District 55 School.
Even in times of COVID-19, the team has been able to make change in the community. Though its plans for a countywide Kids Kickball Festival in June 2020 had to be postponed because of CDC guidelines, the group still had a productive year. Members helped improve the community through the renovation of Hickory Tavern Park and by helping restore and repaint the railings and awnings of an older member of the community. They also worked to maintain the garden to provide fresh vegetables for the community. All of this was accomplished while adhering to CDC regulations.
The HYPE team looks forward to making Laurens County a safer and more enjoyable place to live by putting their skills to use and being a greater voice in the community. It hopes to be able to set the plan in motion for the Kickball Festival at the abandoned football field it helped restore. The HYPE team’s next goal is to build a greenhouse to improve the garden’s productivity.
Wholespire, formally Eat Smart Move More South Carolina, has a brand new funding opportunity for communities interested in increasing access to healthy choices. In partnership with the South Carolina Office of Rural Health, the healthy eating active living (HEAL) mini-grant will also help increase community capacity to address health through technical assistance.
The HEAL mini-grants must be used to fund healthy eating and active living projects that support policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes. There will be one grant cycle per year with an application deadline of July 21. One mini-grant is available each year for up to $5000 per applicant.
Applicants may be a current 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization OR use a fiscal agent who is a current 501(c)(3), school, local government, or faith-based organization. All grant proposals must be related to healthy eating and/or active living and implement, promote, or support a PSE change.
In addition, strong grant proposals will include:
A project idea that is ready to be implemented.
A letter of support for the project from partnering organizations.
Outline of how the project will address health equity in your community.
More information, including project examples, key date, frequently asked questions, sample application, and more resources can be found on our website at www.wholespire.org.
If you are interested in speaking with a staff person about your project idea, email Community Coordinator Lauren Everett at community@wholespire.org.
This funding opportunity is made possible by a grant from the BlueCross® BlueShield® of South Carolina Foundation, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
In 2020, Wholespire Richland County, formerly Eat Smart Move More Richland County, collaborated with Koinonia of Columbia and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) to support a local community garden. The community garden was funded by SCDHEC and demonstrated the idea of community and unity by taking a collaborative approach to fulfill the mission that Koinonia of Columbia, an asset-based community development non-profit in the Eau Claire community, had proposed.
The Midlands Community Systems Team at SCDHEC worked with the Central Midlands Council of Governments to provide grant funding to Wholespire Richland County for healthy eating initiatives. Funds supported the Koinonia’s expansion of 8 garden beds to twelve beds, along with supplies for building, gardening, and education.
Tecoria Jones, program manager at Koinonia, is responsible for gardening maintenance and educational programming. She says they intend to continue providing hands-on learning through gardening as part of their afterschool curriculum. “Koinonia is so appreciative to have been a recipient of the Wholespire Richland County funding. We are thankful for the growth in the children and in the community this opportunity has presented.”
It Takes a Village
Children from the Eau Claire Community learn how to plant a garden.
A few years ago, the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS) of Lenoir-Rhyne University began its partnership with the Koinonia to install the first raised beds. Since then, neighboring families, LTSS staff, and volunteers have grown vegetables in the gardens and sold the produce as a fundraiser for Transitions Homeless Center in Columbia. Students of an LTSS ethics class joined in on the collaboration after learning about asset-based community development from Koinonia staff and board members. They also learned gardening through a hands-on harvesting event with children. Ethics students also have participated in Koinonia’s mentoring and afterschool programming.
“As a Christian seminary, our partnership with Koinonia demonstrates a theology that upholds a healing connection to land, food, and neighbors. When we grow good food together, we demonstrate what God’s beloved community can look like in action,” said Dr. Melanie Dobson, assistant professor.
Dr. Dobson went on to explain the partnership allows LTSS to practice being a good neighbor, both in the sharing of land as a resource and in building relationships with local children.
Breaking Ground and Expanding
Wheelchair-accessible garden beds.
In March 2020, Wholespire Richland County, Koinonia and LTSS broke ground on the educational garden expansion. With the approval from LTSS leadership, Koinonia was able to map out and design a layout for the future beds. The funding supported the building of two 12’x4’ beds and two 4’x4’ wheelchair-accessible beds. Wholespire Richland County members, Koinonia staff, and LTSS staff and students rolled their sleeves up to help build the proposed beds.
On Earth Day 2021, Koinonia kids did their spring garden planting. Kids planted herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, peppers, and squash to the existing spinach, cabbage, and collard green plants.
In Summer 2021, Koinonia is hosting Freedom School, a culture-specific framework sponsored by the Children’s Defense Fund. The children of Koinonia will be seeing themselves in every book they read at Freedom School.
“We will be spotlighting and celebrating black culture. Watching and talking about how things evolve will be an essential conversation,” explained Jones.
The garden will also provide learning opportunities like agriculture, water cycle, ecosystems, and entrepreneurship.
Finishing Touches
Select Health of South Carolina donated a bench for the garden.
Select Health of South Carolina (SHSC), the oldest and largest Medicaid Care organization in South Carolina for over 26 years, got on board and donated a garden bench to support the continuity of community’s mission for sustainable, healthy communities.
“It was our deepest pleasure to support Wholespire Richland County on the 2021 project at Koinonia’s Community Garden, which hosted the Spring Garden Planting on Earth Day,” said Addie Bors, SHSC director of community education and outreach.
Impact of Community Gardens
One of the several tomato plants for the garden.
Community gardens bring positive activity to neighborhoods. They provide a source of fresh, affordable and local produce. Some produce is donated to the community and used in educational and nutritional cooking programs. This garden is an excellent learning tool in Koinonia’s afterschool program. The gardens will provide access to nature, healthy food, green infrastructure, and ecological restoration for the community.
“We are thankful for all of our coalition members and community partners. It is our hope that these children will start having a natural love of gardening. We would love to see their enthusiasm spill over into other school subjects that are related to the garden, like science, art and math,” said TQ Davis, Wholespire Richland County chair.
If you are interested in learning more or joining Wholespire Richland County, please visit our website.
Koinonia of Columbia is a asset-based community development non-profit in the Eau Claire community. Founded by Kelly and David Strum, Koinonia of Columbia sees the power of nature as equally important in the growth and development of children and the village around them. They aim to provide a fruitful and robust nation of good citizens, and they believe children are key to the future.
This last legislative session has been one for the books. From dealing with COVID-19 recovery to very polarizing social issues, the South Carolina General Assembly has been very active. Wholespire has been busy building relationships and fighting for greater access to healthy lifestyles.
For the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, we have been tracking 13 bills in the Senate and House. You can check out the legislative watch list here. Two of these bills passed full House and have moved on to Senate Education Committee.
H3319 – Under this bill, students that are eligible for free and reduced lunch must be offered the same meal as other students and these meals must be offered regardless of if the student owes money for previous meals. Districts cannot penalize students for failing to pay for school lunches and the State Department of Education will develop and provide a model policy and template for school meal debt collection to each school district.
H3006 – Under this bill, school and school districts would be unable to use debt collectors to collect outstanding debts for school lunch or breakfast accounts. It would also prevent these entities from assessing or collecting any interest, fees, or additional charges for outstanding debts.
While the legislature may be out of session until a special session, planned for September & October, Wholespire remains committed to continue the work in the “off-season.” We will continue to build relationships with elected officials and decision makers across the state, and we will be providing resources to our advocates on the ground. Additionally, the Wholespire team has developed a 3-class advocacy training series for our chapters and partners – Government 101, Advocacy 101, & Relationship Building 101.
We look forward to sharing more with you and advocating to make South Carolina a healthier state. Please contact us at info@wholespire.org if you would like to learn more about our advocacy efforts.
