This neighborhood has scars.
It has scars from the death of the textiles industry.
It has scars from Hurricane Helene.
The Mill’s water tower still stands. Some of the neighborhood’s Oaks lie on their sides.
And, yet, this is one of the most hopeful and resilient neighborhoods you’ll ever find.
Because, United Way lives here.
Last Saturday, that hopeful spirit was on full display at the United Way of Laurens County headquarters, as young people and adults hauled boxes and mulch, as volunteers climbed stairs inside the headquarters to outfit a clothes closet, as planting took place in a garden, so that this spring and summer new life can spring forward from the soil.
Angela Williams saw all of that. Even as the President and CEO of United Way Worldwide was gently chided for opening a box and handing out clothes to be hung up, that she should take care not to “mess up our system.”
Williams was in Clinton to find out this: How was Laurens County’s United Way faring 6 months after its Lydia Mill neighborhood was ripped apart by a hurricane we’d never thought we would experience. She brought with her the knowledge that the organization she leads had puts boots on the ground in yet another natural disaster. Her film crew was just a few yards away from a street where, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helene, three National Guardsmen and a chainsaw fought against 12 fallen trees that, basically, trapped people in their own yards.
It looked like an impossible task.
The Guardsmen just kept right on working (The Chronicle has sent this and other post-hurricane photos to the UWW headquarters in Washington for possible inclusion in a Hurricane Helene follow-up documentary).
“United Way is in every Congressional district in the United States,” Williams observed. “We were on the ground before, during and after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. In our response center, we really are first responders.”
Williams and her team visited North and South Carolina and Georgia last year and now, 6 months later, they are looking at the devastated areas again. United Way has the means to bring global dollars to local disasters, Williams said.
“Hurricane season will be back upon us soon. We need to look at the lessons to know how best to respond. It’s really all about community resilience - how we bounce back.”
The 2020 Covid pandemic ushered in a new era of respond, she said, teaching help agencies how to pivot and respond on a weekly basis. Right now, United Way is boots on the ground in Kentucky and Tennessee responding to devastating and life-threatening flooding. United Way teaches communities how to be generous and how to use their time, talent and treasure to help people in need.
For communities throughout the nation it is “a great investment,” she said.
Just in case Angela Williams is a person you don’t know, here is her UWW Bio:
Angela F. Williams is President and CEO of United Way Worldwide (UWW). With more than 30 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and corporate sectors, Williams brings her innovative vision and a long history of purpose- driven work to her role at United Way Worldwide.
Before joining United Way, Angela was President and CEO of Easterseals, the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of life-changing disability services. Angela also served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps for more than six years; led as an Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Administration Officer at YMCA of the USA; served as an inter-faith liaison for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund; was special counsel on criminal law for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff; and served as a prosecutor on the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s National Church Arson Task Force; and an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Recognized for innovative leadership, Angela was included in the 2022 NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50 and Forbes’ 2021 List of Women Over 50 Creating Social Change at Scale, and she received a 2021 CEO Today Healthcare Award. Angela earned a bachelor’s degree in American Government from the University of Virginia, a juris doctor from the University of Texas School of Law, and a Master of Divinity cum laude from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University.
The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund reference is a little modest: she oversaw a $26 Million budget that rebuilt houses of worship in New Orleans following a devastating hurricane and mass, fatal flooding.
Williams is especially proud of the fact that today’s United Way traces its origins 137 years back to the days of The Community Chest.
Yes, it’s the Community Chest that you see on a Monopoly board - although United Way gets no royalties from one of the world’s most popular board games.
Williams said when she visits a community she wants to get “dirt under my nails.”
That wasn’t difficult at United Way of Laurens County since the headquarters in Clinton has its own vegetable and flower gardens, and last Saturday volunteers were in the attic setting up the agency’s new clothing closet.
Students from the Echo Club at Clinton High School assisted with the gardening, unloaded a trailer filled with boxes, and downloaded mulch to place in bags around rose bushes. This garden is directly beside the children’s playground and the adults’ workout stations.
Williams said the work teaches high school students “how to help someone else” and that “generosity is a virtue.”
Alesia Carter, executive director of the United Way of Laurens County, said the City of Clinton has been incredibly generous in giving over vacant lots that use to be part of the Lydia Mill site to the agency for development. These city lots have gone, she said, “from trash to transformation.”
Fruits and vegetables grow there, and young and old alike can play and work out there. They have other plots that could be developed, if the United Way had the money to do so. (On April 29 at Noon, UW will host a ribbon-cutting at its new Outdoor Gym equipment, at 16 Peachtree St., Clinton.)
Meanwhile, Williams marveled that this kind of United Way involvement is replicated in 36 countries. She’s just returned from India, where a community was drowning in its own trash. The community tradition was simply to throw it outside the house; but when everyone in the city does that, it doesn’t take long for a major health threat to develop.
United Way and its partners conceived and executed a plan that convinced residents to do one simple thing - put their household trash in bins.
Suddenly, it was easier to pick up and remove.
Once the streets became uncluttered, they could work on a pond inside the city. It was beautified, stocked with fish, and developed with walking and biking trails. Trees were planted. Benches were installed so people could watch wildlife and birds. Now, the residents had something in which they could take pride.
And, nobody would even think about trashing their city.
And, if they can do it - transformation - in India, they can do it in Clinton, South Carolina.
In fact, they already have.
Did You Know?
United Way of Laurens County has been serving the health and human services needs of the people of Laurens County since 1955, working to advance the common good by focusing on education, income, and health. These are the building blocks for a good life - a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement and good health.
The United Way of Laurens County office is staffed with three full-time members and one full-time garden staff member. Our team truly values the community and would be thrilled to hear from you.
864-833-3623
From:
https://www.unitedway.org
On October 16, 1887, in Denver, Colorado, a woman, a priest, two ministers, and a rabbi came together with a simple goal: to make their community a better place for everyone through cooperative action. Calling themselves the “Charity Organization Society,” they planned and coordinated local services and conducted a single fundraising campaign to support more than 20 local health and welfare agencies. That first fundraising campaign raised $21,700 (over $700,000 in today’s dollars) and ignited a movement that would become known as “Community Chest,” “United Fund,” and, by 1970, United Way.
More than 135 years later – true to our founding spirit – whenever there is a need in our communities, United Way is there. Like our founders, we take a cooperative approach to tackling the toughest challenges, actively listening and responding to local needs through the power of partnerships and collective action. And today, our reach across tens of thousands of communities means we can share innovations and scale impact to improve lives around the world.
From strengthening local resilience to advancing health, youth opportunity, and financial security, we’re working towards a future where every person in every community can thrive. Join us!
United Way of Laurens County posted photos and this message to Facebook, “We had an amazing Day of Caring last weekend! 117 volunteers were able to plant, organize, clean, etc. at numerous Laurens County nonprofits and our community gardens. Thank you all that gave your time to this cause.”
ALSO, on the Day of Caring: The Clinton Community Garden Project posted, “Clinton Community Garden volunteers made a huge impact on Saturday during Planting Day, tackling a multitude of projects including garden bed preparation, vegetable harvesting, trellis maintenance, and mural painting, yielding delightful results. Surrounding community members converged on Saturday to help and partake in a meal featuring cooked collards and other healthy options right out of the garden prepared by Chef Robert. In addition, helpers were able to plant a veggie and take it home.”
The Laurens County Trails Association posted, “Many thanks to everyone who supported LCTA’s ‘Clean Sweep’ on the soon to be dedicated 2-mile May-White Azalea Trail at the Laurens County Park today (April 12), in celebration of Earth Day, including Keep Laurens County Beautiful, the Laurens County Department of Parks and Recreation, Sigma Nu fraternity of Presbyterian College, and the Duke Energy Foundation.”
Angela F. Williams' Facebook page has an April 15 video from Clinton / United Way of Laurens County here.
