Candice: [This picture] is about hope because I hope that with the work that I do in my community, I hope that I bring hope to my clients and to the people in my community to know that things might be hard right now, but there’s a way to get out of it and we’ll figure that out.
So the picture with the people standing in line is from the Bethune Community Center in Bethune, SC. This was a school that had been consolidated with two others to form a larger North Central Elementary School. Access Kershaw along with the United Way are on hand at this site on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a food pantry and Access Kershaw is on hand talking to clients about our services and resources we can help them connect with. On Tuesday the United Way has a mobile produce trailer they bring to give our free produce. This is a USDA grant for rural communities and the United Way is kind enough to let us tag along so that we can capture and educate the community. Every Tuesday at this produce giveaway we will see around 50-100 people. This program is for Kershaw County residents only, so the client needs to provide an ID as proof of address. They do not ask for income or any other information. Most of the people that come to this giveaway are senior citizens that are on a fixed income. They are very thankful for the free local produce, and some people have even tried new produce. Since this is a free program, they are willing to take the new items and try them and then come back the next week and they love to tell us how they used the new items. We found that a lot of people in the northern part of Kershaw County love kale!
During these events, I have been able to talk to people about help with finding a medical provider, medication programs, and where to go to get help with utility bills. It takes time to build relationships in these small communities. We all go into these events and programs planning on making big changes in the community, but first we have to build trust in order to help make change.