Our Story
Begins with the Grace Reformed Episcopal Church family having an acute awareness of and vision to address the needs of several communities in Moncks Corner. There was an absence of community unity, social and cultural awareness, and youth empowerment. Therefore, the idea of a facility to provide all the necessary functions to create an atmosphere of enlightening our communities with “hope” and “impacting” their lives through intentional programming and social events developed into a living organism.
Our communities were craving for a home to come to and be engaged! Grace R.E. Church, driven by the leadership of Pastor Tory Liferidge, began a movement of active love! Our mission was to inspire, enlighten, and engage our communities by any means necessary.
Our Story
With what once was a bustling icon of community gatherings: a baseball field that morphed into a bar/club and over time a couple of dilapidated buildings at the corner of Cooper Street. This would now become the future site of our community’s refuge; a center for programming, community unity, social and cultural awareness, youth empowerment, and general education. Community’s Hope Impact Center will be the people’s “home away from home: the place where everything you need, is provided”!
This grass-roots community effort was the convergence of several necessary paths. As much as Grace R.E. Church was working to follow its vision, the Wall Street Neighborhood Coalition (comprised of Wall St. residents) was working with Habitat for Humanity of Berkeley County and envisioning much of the same for their community.
Our Story
After collaborating in community events together, Habitat for Humanity organized a prayer walk throughout the community and the corner of Cooper Street became a focal point. As everyone engaged in prayers for what that space could become for the community, the seed of faith was planted for a community center. We began to engage the land owners, Yvonne C. Knight and Eleanor Brown to cast the vision for community and their land. They graciously joined the vision and after the creation of a Community Development Corporation (The Grace Impact Development Center – GIDC),
They entered into a long term land lease with GIDC for the purposes of erecting a community center. Habitat for Humanity applied for a $70,000 Lowe’s grant with Grace R.E. Church and GIDC, among others as partners. The parameters of the grant were $35,000 in money and $35,000 in a Lowe’s store credit. However, it also required that the partners match the $70,000 in our own money and in-kind donations.
Our Story
Received initial funding when Habitat for Humanity of Berkeley County was awarded the Lowe’s grant for the building of a new community center. Now the prayers and vision had to turn into work! Habitat for Humanity managed the construction project. With many volunteers and with the support of the Wall Street community, Lowe’s employees, the Town of Moncks Corner, GJS Architecture, SuperGreen Solutions, Parker Land Surveying, Trulane, Grace R.E. Church and so many community supporters, we successfully built a 1,600 sq. ft. community center building with three classroom spaces. It is a beautiful sign of what a community’s hope can build.
Our Story
Is that Community’s Hope is a brand new community center that will be home to empowering initiatives in the greater Moncks Corner area. The residents of the Wall Street Neighborhood Coalition had a vision for a center like this for many years. Through God’s grace and great collaboration, it is now a reality. It will be managed and supported by GIDC. As a nonprofit Community Development Corporation (CDC), GIDC is led by a variety of community leaders with the focus on community impact through improved housing, education, health and employment opportunities. Community’s Hope will be a critical component to delivering services in those key areas for years to come!
