We are pleased to announce the recipient of the first GWC Women’s Health Grant! Greater Greenwood United Ministry (GGUM) has received $3250 in support of their newly established Women’s Health Clinic.

The clinic opened in March 2021 to serve women who cannot afford health insurance and are not covered by Medicaid or Medicare. Dr. John Eichelberger and Dr. Julius (Jukie) Leary donate their time as medical providers. The clinic focuses on the prevention of cervical and breast cancer and addresses episodic health issues for women served to improve their overall quality of life.

The GWC Women’s Health Grant was first offered this year. The grant supports holistic care and health education to improve the physical, mental, or social health and well-being of women in our community. It is funded by a field of interest fund endowed by Jim and Denise Medford and held by the Greenwood County Community Foundation. The award to the new GGUM Women’s Health Clinic was finalized at the conclusion of an application process that required a letter of intent followed by a full application. The GWC Women’s Health Grant will be offered again in 2023.

Members of this year’s GWC Women’s Health committee are: Anne Craig (Chair), Kelly Addy, Anit Vettukattil, Alice Hodges, Priya Kumar, Marilyn Murphy, Sally Kauffman, Sharlene Greene, and Mary Woodiwiss.

Pictured here are: Sharlene Greene, Mary Woodiwiss, Anne Craig, GWC Women’s Health Grant committee; Brenda Milford, Medical Administrative Assistant; Donna Trapp, Medical Clinic and Pharmacy Coordinator; Rosemary Bell, GGUM Executive Director, Julius Leary, MD (OB-GYN); Edith Pineda, Patient Navigator; Gail Alison, LPN; (back row): Mary Lewis Hamrick, RN; Coleman Robinson, MD, GGUM Medical Director.

GWC’s first Quarterly Meeting of 2021 convened with a warm welcome by Laura Bachinski, Co-Chair of the GWC Advisory Board. She stated that the focus of this Quarterly Meeting would be “Community in Crisis Response”. Also, she noted that GWC is 115 Members strong and growing and welcomed our guests by name.

Edris Louise Robinson, Chair of the Programs & Education Committee, said that during our meeting we would have presentations from three spokespersons:  Rosemary Bell of Greater Greenwood United Ministry, and Vicki Jackson and Kim McIntyre of Lighthouse for Life. She gave a definition of crisis and expressed how any one of us may experience a crisis at one time of another.

Mamie Nicholson introduced Rosemary Bell, Executive Director of Greater Greenwood United Ministry (GGUM), noting that Rosemary has been involved with health care for a number of years and the Executive Director of GGUM for the last seven. Rosemary Bell discussed the origin of GGUM and how it has evolved. Since 1996, it has operated a free clinic serving uninsured community residents as their medical home. Currently, GGUM also has a pharmacy, provides financial assistance for utilities and rental eviction and financial counseling, offers dental screenings, and assists clients with some other dental treatments. And, with the assistance of the Greenwood and Mathews Lions Clubs, GGUM provides free eyeglasses.

GGUM was begun by the collaborative effort of many area churches and continues to receive support from multiple congregations.  Self Regional Healthcare is also a primary partner. GGUM has recently begun a monthly women’s clinic with the services of retired OB-GYN physicians. The GGUM Crisis Ministry’s activities for 2020 and 2021 included not only financial assistance for utilities and rental eviction, but also distribution of food and help with job searches. Rosemary ended with an uplifting anecdote about a resident who received life-changing services through the free clinic.

Carol Scales introduced the next two speakers: Vicki Jackson and Kim McIntyre (a minister), of Lighthouse for Life. Vicki Jackson gave a thorough explanation of Lighthouse for Life’s work in helping victims of human trafficking become survivors. She enlightened us about various aspects of trafficking, e.g.., domestic servitude, forced begging, and meeting coercive sales quotas. She discussed how there are at least 40 million victims of human trafficking worldwide and how to be alert to the signs and red flags of trafficking in our own interactions. She also spoke of the objectification of women, citing examples from literature and last year’s Super Bowl halftime show. She reminded us that boys could be victims, too. She noted how important it is to pay attention to the activities of young children you know and to believe them if they are brave enough to tell you of abuse. She gave a phone number for reporting, 1-888-373-7888, shared this link for a video entitled “Can You Spot Human Trafficking in Your Neighborhood?”, and said that volunteers for Lighthouse for Life are always welcome.

After the presentations, Lisa Smith thanked our program contributors stating how enlightening the information was and announced that Greenwood Women Care would be donating two books, Song of Creation and The Fabled Life of Aesop, to the Greenwood County Library children’s collection in their honor.

Edris Louise Robinson recognized Catherine DiBenedetto, Communications Committee Co-Chair, who reminded everyone to RSVP within their evite invitations to our gathering.

Mary Woodiwiss, Co-Chair of the Advisory Board, thanked all the Zoom attendees, presenters, and guests, then gave several GWC announcements. She requested that Members look for an email next month containing links to a ballot for GWC officers, a few survey questions, and a 2020 GWC year in review video, and wished everyone a good evening.

A video of our meeting may be found here.

GWC Announces New Women’s Health Grant for 2021

Greenwood Women Care (GWC) is pleased to announce a new grant initiative for our community.

The GWC Women’s Health Grant will support holistic care and health education to improve physical, mental, or social health and well-being. This grant is funded by a Field of Interest Fund endowed by Jim and Denise Medford and held by the Greenwood County Community Foundation.

An award of approximately $2500 – $3000 will be made to an organization working to improve women’s health. Funded projects should occur from April 1 of the current year through March 31 of the following year. The GWC Women’s Health Grant will be offered every other year, beginning in 2021.

Initially an interested organization should submit a brief letter of intent describing the project or need by February 8. Several organizations will be selected to submit a full application, due March 15. The GWC Women’s Health review committee will announce the grant recipient on March 31.

More information for applicants may be found here.

After a warm welcome by Mary Woodiwiss, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee, the meeting convened at approximately 5:35pm. Mary noted that GWC is 129 members strong and growing, and encouraged us to “consider the power of collective giving when 129 women can move $74,000 into our community in our second granting year”.

Louise Robinson, Chair of the Programs & Education Committee, led the program and announcement portions of our meeting. Louise reminded us of recent programs and this meeting’s theme of “Lighting the Way with Literacy” through child and adult literacy programs at Community Initiatives (Safe Haven) and the Greenwood County Library.

Dawn Puderbaugh Hodges introduced Teresa Goodman, Executive Director of Community Initiatives, who discussed Safe Haven, an after-school and summer program. Teresa highlighted that the program serves children up to sixth grade. Safe Haven includes a five-tier approach to helping children, especially those in low income neighborhoods. The program focuses on making sure students can read on level by third grade. She pointed out that Greenwood County ranks 29 of the 46 counties in South Carolina when it comes to literacy Safe Haven strategies to address childhood literacy are research-based.

Dawn gave a brief bio to introduce Pattie Fender of Greenwood Public Library. Pattie could not attend the meeting due to an important family celebration but provided an excellent video about the GPL’s Adult Literacy and ESL programs. There were testimonies by students, volunteers, and staff. The video included an appeal for more volunteers, with several participants sharing about how rewarding it can be.

Lisa Smith thanked our presenters, stating how enlightening the information was and announcing that Greenwood Women Care will donate a book to the GPL Children’s Collection in honor of each of our speakers.

Louise Robinson called for announcements from: Sally Kaufmann, Grant Review & Awards Committee, who gave an update on the new Women’s Health Grant to be publicized in early 2021; Trentsie Williams, Grants Review & Awards Committee Co-Chair, who spoke about our recent GWC Grants to 10 local nonprofits; and Summer Booker, Membership Committee Co-Chair, who said that renewal packets would be mailed this week and 2021 renewals should be returned by December 31.

Laura Bachinski, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee, reminded us that “GWC grows through membership of a broad range of women from many professional and personal sectors and our membership is open to everyone. New members many join us at any time. Participating in our organization is truly rewarding as we seek to enrich and strengthen our community in the good company of community-minded women.” Laura closed the meeting at approximately 6:35pm after thanking all the Zoom attendees, presenters, and guests and wishing all a Happy Thanksgiving and a peaceful and loving holiday season.

A video about Community Initiatives’ Safe Haven program is here. (6 min.) (NOTE: Community Initiatives received a GWC 2019 Grant for $10,000 in support of the Safe Haven program.)

A video on the Adult Literacy and ESL programs at the Greenwood County Library here. (8 min.)

A video of the Quarterly Meeting may be found here. (52 min.)

GWC’s first virtual “Kick Off the Vote!” event was a tremendous success. For the 2020 grant cycle, we are delighted to be able to award upwards of $50,000 this year to nonprofit organizations serving Greenwood County. The completion of our second grant cycle will bring our total grant awards to approximately $100,000. With your continued support, GWC is on track to grant half a million dollars or more into Greenwood County during our first ten years as an organization!

We welcomed around 35 Members to the Zoom meeting, taking some time to chat as we settled in. Margaret Conrad, Jan Puzar, and Mary Woodiwiss (Grants Review & Awards Committee members) developed our “Kick Off the Vote!” program, presenting GWC Grants information with detailed PowerPoint slides and allowing time for questions.

Margaret reviewed the highlights of our 2019 granting cycle: Eight local nonprofits received a total of $47,625 in last year’s cycle with our top ranked organizations receiving their full request. There was a natural break in the data between organizations receiving a higher total of votes and those receiving fewer votes. This break was the deciding factor between those organizations receiving funding and those that did not, and in determining amounts of each grant award.

During the “Sample 2020 Ballot” portion of the meeting, Jan reminded us not to forward the email containing our personal ballot link, to fill out our print worksheets prior to voting for ease in entering our votes electronically, to vote on a desktop or laptop as opposed to a phone, and, of course, to vote prior to Wednesday, October 21^stat 11:59pm. Points will be assigned to organizations based on your ranked votes: Your first ranked nonprofit will receive ten points, the second nine points, down to the tenth selection which will receive one point.

Before and after the ballot discussion, Mary led us through some “FAQs About Nonprofit Funding” to help inform our voting decisions and described “What Happens After You Vote”.

After a quick 30 minutes, with everyone’s questions answered, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00, just as our email ballots arrived in our inboxes. What incredible timing! Thanks again to Mary, Jan, and Margaret for an informative and enjoyable “Kick Off the Vote!” meeting.

If you missed the meeting, you can view it here.