From all of us at the Darkness to Light office, we hope you are staying safe and protected from COVID-19. Our staff is working 100% remotely.

To our friends, donors, partners, and community,  As our communities cried out for justice and healing five years ago in the wake of the Walter Scott shooting and the Mother Emanuel AME tragedy, Coastal Community Foundation recognized we had a duty to show leadership in our region, to read reality truthfully and to confront the…

Like many South Carolinians, I vividly remember where I was when I heard the news of the shooting at Emanuel AME Church. At the time, I was CEO of the Capital Area United Way in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After a long day of traveling, I got a call from my mother, shaken, saying, “They shot…

Five years ago, nine innocent black lives were taken by a self-avowed white supremacist during a Bible study at Emanuel AME Church.  Many today in South Carolina will still be able to recall exactly where they were on the evening of June 17, 2015, when they heard the news when they realized this had happened…

On May 18, 2020, I was set to host a listening session with a U.S. Congressman to discuss South Carolina’s plan to reopen the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As we started the call, an Internet troll disrupted the call with sexually explicit sounds and words, as well as an audio clip repeating the N-word…

Today, S.C. Sen. Marlon Kimpson and S.C. Rep. Marvin Pendarvis announced that their Charleston Together initiative has raised more than $50,000 since the formation of the fund on Sunday, May 31, 2020. The fund, aimed at enhancing community and race relations, will be established at Coastal Community Foundation to manage the assets and expand the…

As we all collectively respond to the death of George Floyd, we’re reminded of similar tragedies in our own region and the work that remains to heal our communities. Today, our communities are still burdened by the inequities created by a long history of systemic racism. It is our purpose to build up our communities by uniting people and investing resources and to help…

 During the COVID-19 pandemic, therapists and special education teachers at Pattison’s Academy are using new technology and techniques to help their students. Pattison’s Academy is an education and rehabilitation academy for children with disabilities and their families in the Tri-County area. After the governor ordered schools to be closed, the teachers and therapists had to…

The COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Fund of Coastal Community Foundation is awarding grants on a rolling basis to nonprofits working with communities disproportionately affected by the coronavirus outbreak and whose work is within the nine counties of coastal South Carolina: Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Horry and Jasper Counties. With a record number…