Literacy Initiative Expands to Bolster Learning Skills of Pre-Schoolers

Inside Message from our Executive Director page 2

Expanding Access to Health Care page 3

Strengthening Families, Schools and Youths page 4

Encouraging Voter Turnout & Election Reform page 6

Thank You, Friends and Partners page 7

Who We Are page 8

In 2013, the Palmetto Project will move forward with plans to replicate its highly successful pre-school literacy partnership in at least three new counties. The expansion will be modeled on Begin With Books, a program operating in Charleston County that has provided thousands of new books to children under five. The program in all counties will acquire books through a unique arrangement with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

John Winthrop, a Charleston investment banker and former Palmetto Project board member, has made the expansion to Allendale and Hampton counties possible through the creation of a special endowment at the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.

Mr. Winthrop’s endowment will provide funds for My First Books in the two counties, and will match individual donations up to a pre-determined level each year. Several generations of Mr. Winthrop’s family have resided in the two counties, which have some of the highest rates in the state for children without adequate skills to complete first grade.

When asked about his interest in literacy, Mr. Winthrop said “This is a great opportunity to give young children a strong start in learning, even before they set foot in a school. In life, education is the key to everything else.”

The Palmetto Project is also seeking support to expand into Richland County. To learn more about how you can participate in these programs, please visit us at www.palmettoproject.org. Mr. Winthrop is the founder and president of a financial advisory firm in Charleston, where he lives with his wife, Libby. John has four grown sons and three grandchildren. He has always loved reading to his children and grandchildren, and writes extensively on topics of public interest.

FOLLOW US

2012

As the Palmetto Project ventures into its second quarter-century, we do so with a renewed focus on those parts of our common life that historically have made South Carolina strong and vibrant. We are especially committed to those communities where disparities remain in health, education, race relations, and other challenges that lead to loss of employment and opportunity.

We work in partnership with state and community leaders to pilot entrepreneurial strategies to solving problems and creating new ways of approaching the challenges in our future. To date the Palmetto Project has been involved in more than 220 such partnerships.

For example, today our statewide, toll free call center provides support for families struggling to find local sources of affordable health care, while our Palmetto Children’s Health Initiative makes it possible for thousands of children from low-income families to gain access to health care coverage. Our nationally recognized Heart & Soul health initiative screens and empowers South Carolinians at greatest risk of heart disease and stroke to regain their health and employability, while Families Helping Families allows thousands of local sponsors in the Midlands and Lowcountry to reach out and encourage those families among us struggling with difficult circumstances. Challenge Day South Carolina continues to address dropout rates and bullying by inspiring young people in high schools to make their campuses welcoming and safe.

One of the most immediate challenges our state faces is a deficit in the learning skills of its youngest children. Nearly one in seven of children entering kindergarten and first grade in South Carolina do not have the essential learning skills to master the work they are expected to do. In response, we are developing My First Books, a unique partnership between us and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library that provides free new books each month to children up to age five. The initiative will begin in Allendale, Hampton, and Richland counties in January, and is based on the highly successful Begin With Books initiative in Charleston County.

Those of us who have studied South Carolina’s past know that, more than any other state, we have made progress only when we were willing to be guided by entrepreneurial thinking and innovative actions. In essence, it is this same spirit that drives the Palmetto Project in the present time, and the same spirit we strive to pass on to future generations when it is their turn to lead.

Steve Skardon Executive Director

MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Building Community...With New Ideas and Partnerships

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South Carolina Healthcare Information & Referral Network Today, any citizen of our state looking for affordable medical or dental care can receive live, in-person assistance through our call center. Trained navigators can help identify appropriate primary and specialty care providers, provide prescription assistance, and refer callers to mental health services in any of the state’s 46 counties.

Heart & Soul is an award-winning, faith-based initiative through which South Carolinians at greatest risk of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases are screened, monitored and referred for treatment. Health ministry teams from more than 600 churches and community organizations have participated in H&S trainings and have been certified to conduct the program in their communities.

AccessNet combines the screening and education of Heart & Soul with patient advocacy and navigation at food distribution sites that serve South Carolinians most at risk of chronic disease. In addition to connecting participants to a network of affordable services and medical homes, our on-site outreach staff use a unique health education curriculum, designed at a below-basic reading level, that can be delivered in 7-15 minute encounters, the average wait time for most food site clients.

The program is a success. Among participants who have a minimum of four screenings and education visits with program staff, 77.8% have improved clinical health indicators. Blood pressure readings are drastically improved, with 30% of participants moving from Stage 2, readings greater than 160/100, to readings at pre-hypertension and normal levels. Five years after program implementation,

statewide disparities by race in cardiovascular mortality among men declined by 50%.

Carolina Hearing Aid BankThe Carolina Hearing Aid Bank provides low-income individuals with hearing devices that enable citizens with hearing impairments to return to work and live independently. Thanks to our partnership with Starkey Labs and a strong network of volunteer audiologists around the state, we are able to provide free, state-of-the-art hearing aids to those who qualify.

Initiatives Offer Health Care, Access to Affordable Services

Among the long-term goals of the Palmetto Project is our commitment to creating a more comprehensive system of health care for South Carolinians without health insurance while increasing access to medical services, disease prevention and self-management programs.

HEALTH

PALMETTO CHILDREN’S HEALTH INITIATIVE

Three years ago, 140,000 children of low-income, working parents were eligible but not enrolled in Medicaid. In response, we created the Palmetto Children’s Health Initiative through which we enlisted and trained more than 600 volunteers to assist South Carolina parents in applying for this important health coverage for their children.

Today, the state is reporting the number of uninsured children has declined by more than half and that retention rates are on the rise. Our program partner, the Department of Health and Human Services ensures a statewide presence, while a grant from the Mary Black Foundation will increase PCHI efforts in Spartanburg County.

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My First Books

Modeled after Begin With Books, the Palmetto Project will launch a new statewide initiative in 2013 to improve the learning skills of young children by getting more books in their hands.

My First Books partners with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to provide books to children under five years old. The initial focus of the program will be Allendale, Hampton and Richland Counties, with the intent to expand the program statewide.

FAMILIES HELPING FAMILIES

Our 2011 Families Helping Families program in the Lowcountry and the Midlands was the biggest ever, providing holiday gifts, seasonal supplies and food to 2,800 families in need. The effort required the participation of more than 40 social service agencies and community organizations, our media partners WIS-TV in Columbia and ABC News 4 in Mt. Pleasant, and hundreds of business, community and individual sponsors, including SCE&G and GTS Associates.

We are excited to announce that Families Helping Families will now be a year-round program, providing children with school supplies and personal hygiene products in addition to holiday gifts.

Begin With Books Brings Opportunity to State’s Youngest Readers

FAMILIES, SCHOOLS AND YOUTH

Our commitment to Families, Schools and Youth is based on the idea that these are the cornerstones of our future as a state where opportunities and success are possible for every citizen. The more we strengthen families, bolster our educational system, and create meaningful engagement between young people and their communities, the more likely we’ll see South Carolina leading the way for other states.

One in seven of South Carolina’s children start kindergarten and first grade without the basic skills necessary to learn to read. A key factor to the absence of these basic skills is a lack of exposure to books at an early age.

The simple presence of books in a home significantly affects a child’s perception of themselves as a learner and vastly improves their educational trajectory into adulthood.

Begin With Books (BWB) is a literacy program available in Charleston County that works to address this

problem. Created by volunteers Patty Bennett-Uffleman and Janet Segal, BWB has provided nearly 10,000 new, age-appropriate books to local children since the program started nearly two years ago.

The local program partners with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which since 1995, has worked to ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow up in a home that embraces reading with its free, books-in-the-mail program for preschoolers.

BWB provides children with one book a month until he or she turns five and starts school. “Every month it never fails to be a magical moment when that book arrives,” shares BWB volunteer, Lee Moultrie.

Initially, the program focused on rural Charleston County but thanks in part to Catherine Smith, a longtime friend of the Palmetto Project, the program

has expanded to Charleston’s upper peninsula.

To find out more about Begin With Books, click on the program’s link at www.palmettoproject.org.

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South Carolina’s high schools face unprecedented challenges in creating safe, inclusive campus environments that encourage learning, personal growth, and successful socialization. For example, a statewide survey of high school students reports that one-third of South Carolina high school students fear for their physical safety at some point during each school day. These challenges have translated into unhealthy life choices by students that lead to social alienation, poor academic performance, missed opportunities for success, and other unhealthy behaviors.

HOW IT WORKS

Challenge Day is a national youth empowerment initiative the Palmetto Project brought to South Carolina nearly 10 years ago. Its purpose is to create a safer, more inclusive academic and social environment on high school campuses in ways that lead students to make more responsible choices as they become adults. The program enhances participants’ connectivity to their schools and communities through student-led strategies that address campus violence,

bullying, social alienation, and other anti-social behaviors.

Challenge Day SC is introduced to a campus through a day-long series of powerful, high-energy exercises and reflections in which participants engage each other around common values while making new commitments to personal relationships and their common life at school.

Challenge Day SC is more than a one-day program; it is the first step on the road to positive change.

Joining long-time program sponsors the City of Columbia and the Lipscomb Foundation is the Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation, whose recent $17,000 grant will allow us to introduce this program to Georgetown County high schools.

“Challenge Day SC has changed my life. Now I see people at school differently and I don’t pre-judge them. It has taught me how to deal with my problems...this is the most important thing I’ve ever done.” - 11th grader, Dreher High School

Challenge Day SC High schools across South Carolina are turning to the Palmetto Project to make campuses safer and more inclusive

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Since 1984, the Palmetto Project has created more than 220 successful public-private partnerships that have helped change the lives of South Carolinians.

BarCampCHS

Planning is underway for the Lowcountry’s 4th annual ad-hoc, user-generated, un-conference -- BarCampCHS -- that brings together the creative diversity of the Lowcountry by covering topics for technophiles, digital artists, writers, designers, entrepreneurs, non-profits, and more. www.barcampchs.org

Lowcountry Aid to Africa

Lowcountry Aid to Africa is an ecumenical initiative to channel resources from South Carolina to communities in Africa in response to the continent’s ever-widening social and health crises. To date, the program has provided $140,000 in funding to address the most critical needs.

Teaching Kids Software Applications

Teaching Kids Software Applications (TKSA) uses computer science to teach work and life skills to high school students. A $2,500 grant from the Bakker Family Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina will support an after-school interactive computer game tester program to students at Burke High School in Charleston. www.tksausa.org

FAMILIES, SCHOOLS AND YOUTH

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More South Carolinians Consistently Voting Than Ever Before

The Palmetto Project was founded to make elections in South Carolina safer, more accurate and more accessible. Created in 1994, the Palmetto Voter Project has conducted registration drives and voter education programs, while leading state efforts to reform old voting systems and practices. The map below demonstrates how the electorate has grown in certain key counties since we first started this project, as well as the increase in the percentage of a county’s voting population by age.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

9%

10%

10%15%

9%

7%

4%

11% 4%

4%

10%9%

6%15%

0%

19%

10%18%

6%

7%

11%4%

8%

9%2%

10%

2%

11%

5%8%8%

8% 14%

12%

12%

13%

12%1%

15%

17%

10% 11%

11%

9%

7%12%

1,23

7,46

7

1,20

3,48

6

1,43

3,53

3

1,63

1,14

8

1,93

0,35

2

19961992 2000 2004 2008

Increased Participation inPresidential Elections by

South Carolinians 18 & older1992-2008

Total SC Voters in eachPresidential Election0 - 5 %

6 - 10 %

11 - 15 %

16 - 20 %

YOUNG VOTERS INITIATIVE Since 2010, the Palmetto Project’s Young Voters Initiative has recruited, trained and deployed nearly 400 college students from across the state to serve as poll managers in state and local elections. With the advent of computerized voting systems, young people are playing an increasingly important role in conducting elections in South Carolina, and in expanding our state’s electorate faster than almost every other state.

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Palmetto Project is the Favorite of Starbucks’ Customers

The Palmetto Project is the favorite non-profit organization of Starbucks and its customers in South Carolina, according to the results of a month-long vote.

In April, Starbucks turned to its customers to help identify non-profits that provided innovative community revitalization and needed services for the underserved. The Palmetto Project joined three other non-profits for the statewide ballot and after four weeks of voting, received 44% of the votes cast, the most by any organization.

As the favorite non-profit organization in South Carolina, the Palmetto Project received an unrestricted $25,000 award from the Starbucks Foundation.

Executive director, Steve Skardon, believes that, “Starbucks’ customers liked that we are innovative and work on issues where South Carolina ranks poorly. We’re a think-and-do-tank, and they really liked the doing part.”

To find out more about Starbucks’ corporate responsibility commitment, please visit their website at www.starbucks.com.

Thank You For Your Support

The Palmetto Project relies completely on the financial

support of individuals, small businesses, corporations,

and foundations with a commitment to putting new

ideas to work in South Carolina. We are equally proud

of the 220 community partnerships and coalitions

we have participated in, and the amazing volunteers

and community organizations that have made them

successful. Their confidence inspires us to go the extra mile.

Thank you for your generous support over the years. You may be interested

in knowing that the Palmetto Project’s administrative overhead is among

the lowest of most non-profits operating in South Carolina. In the past two

years, more than 90 cents of every dollar donated to the Palmetto Project went

directly to programs serving communities throughout our state. Our finances

are audited each year such that every dollar we receive and spend is fully

accounted for.

Listed below are some of the key funders whose contributions and participation

in our work have enabled us to start new projects or expand existing ones. For

a full list of our supporters, please visit www.palmettoproject.org.

Visit www.palmettoproject.org to make a donation today!

The Bakker Family Fund The Beach Company Blackbaud Fund BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation City of Columbia, SC City of North Charleston, SC Mr. Elliott Springs Close Coastal Community Foundation of SC Mr. and Mrs. Wayne G. Damron Mr. John G. Davis Dorothy D. Smith Charitable Foundation EDENS Find Your Light Foundation Grace Episcopal Church Henry and Sylvia Yaschik Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Brett A. Hildebrand Holy Spirit Catholic Church The InterTech Group Foundation, Inc. Jack’s Cosmic Dogs James O. & Harriet P. Rigney Endowment

Jerry & Anita Zucker Family Endowment Kiawah Island Golf Resort The Ladies Benevolent Society Lipscomb Family Foundation Lothmann Family Fund Mary Black Foundation Medical Society of South Carolina Palmetto Health Richland Sertoma Club The Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust Select Health of South Carolina, Inc South Carolina Electric & Gas Company The Starbucks Foundation Ms. Sylvia Toussaint-White The Town of Kiawah Island Trident United Way The Unitarian Church in Charleston Unitarian Universalists of Columbia Ms. Caroline W. Vreede Ms. Esther S. Walker Walmart

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Charles P. Austin, Sr. Benedict College

Lee Bussell Chernoff Newman

Elliott Springs Close Island Harbor Development

Fred DuBard Pee Dee Community Foundation

Calvin K. Hastie, Sr. City Council, Sumter

The Rev. Susan Heath

M. Russell Holliday, Jr. Holliday Associates, LLC

Bobbi J. Kennedy SC Educational Television

Milton Kimpson Attorney at Law

Marie Land Community Leader

Jack. W. Lawrence Attorney at Law

E. Erwin Maddrey, III

Brady Quirk-Garvan Natural Investments

Theodore D. Riley Riley, Pope & Laney, LLC

M. Edward Sellers BlueCross BlueShield of

South Carolina

Hilton C. Smith, Jr. East Bay Company

The Rev. McKinley Washington, Jr.

Jonathan Williams SC Office of the Attorney General

Barry D. Wynn Colonial Trust Company

The Palmetto Project is a statewide non-profit organization whose mission is to put innovative ideas to work solving South Carolina’s social and economic challenges, focusing on health care and health care access;

race and community relations; economic development; and families, schools and youth.

Board of Directors2012

OFFICERS

S. Anne Walker, ChairmanAlston Wilkes Society

Robert A. Barber, Jr., Vice-ChairmanBowens Island Restaurant

Judy C. Cannon, SecretaryCommunity Leader

MIDLANDS & UPSTATE 4500 Fort Jackson Blvd. Columbia, SC 29209 (803) 779-4875 / (803) 212-7124 (fax)

LOWCOUNTRY 1031 Chuck Dawley Blvd., Suite 5 Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 (843) 577-4122 / (843) 723-0521 (fax)

www.palmettoproject.org

STAFF

Steve Skardon Executive Director

Jeffrey Elliot Fleming Chief Operating Officer

Shelli Quenga Director of Programs

Nell Killoy Deputy Director Midlands/Upstate

Ann Addison Corporate and Community Relations Manager

Barbara TildenComptroller

Carrie WhipperHealth Outreach Coordinator

Julie GathersCall Center and Resource Coordinator

Khadijah DawkinsFamily Resource Specialist

Emilia Odenkirchen AmeriCorps*VISTA