Palmetto Goodwill Awards $200K to Tri-County Nonprofits

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — Seven Lowcountry nonprofit organizations received a ‘Big Check’ to help their outreach for underserved communities.

Palmetto Goodwill granted $200,000 in funds to nonprofit leaders ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 checks on Wednesday morning.

Awarded nonprofits are listed here:

• Charleston Promise Neighborhood – $50,000
• I AM VOICES – $40,000
• A Father’s Place – $30,000
• My Sister’s House– $25,000
• Berkeley County First Steps– $20,000
• Beyond Our Walls– $20,000
• Charleston Habitat for Humanity– $15,000

The program works by awarding nonprofits on a regional basis across 18 counties in the state.

Palmetto Goodwill President and CEO Brian Itzkowitz started the community-based program two years ago. Itzkowitz says the idea is to create more opportunities for people beyond the 4,000 jobs the nonprofit helps the community find on an annual basis.

“When you think about Goodwill’s mission is we help people change their lives through training, education and employment,” Itzkowitz says. “But there’s other things that keep people from actually being able to afford those opportunities like access to affordable, good childcare, transportation, housing.”

I AM VOICES is a Summerville-based nonprofit that received the second-highest award amount in the program. The organization works by offering housing and supportive services to survivors of sexual violence or trafficking.

Nonprofit founder and executive director Megan Manigault started the initiative in 2017. She says the group served 60 in the organization’s program this year alone. Manigault says the need for survivor resources are high as the organization gets up to 15 calls on a daily basis.

The founder and executive director participates in regional task forces focused on human trafficking, along with the South Carolina Attorney General Task Office. She says funding opportunities such as the ‘Big Check’ help fill the gap in services for survivors in the state.

“Last year alone, there were over 150 calls that were made to the human trafficking hotline,” Manigault says. “We weren’t able to serve, like the state of South Carolina, weren’t able to serve but 15-20 of those and that’s because we don’t have enough housing spaces to serve all of those clients.”

Source: Palmetto Goodwill awards $200K to Tri-County nonprofits