Outlying USC Campuses Are Important to Our Future

The recent discussion regarding the closing of some of our outlying University of South Carolina campuses such as Lancaster and Salkehatchie concerns me. It is pretty easy to put a financial number on a facility and determine that by cutting back or closing it money is saved. I think the real issue here is what a decision of this magnitude will have on those communities and on the young people who reside in or near those communities.

When you look at rural South Carolina where poverty runs rampant, it is a whole different scenario than here in the capital city. There are very few educational options for students beyond high school. Many who live in Allendale and other outlying communities are the first in their families to ever attend college. I recently heard USC President Dr. Harris Pastides say that the gap between no college education and a two-year college degree is monumental. It can mean the difference between a job with growth potential, a retirement plan and health benefits versus a job that pays a minimum hourly wage with no benefits and a very limited future for growth.

With only 23% of the adult population in South Carolina, 18 years and older, having earned a four-year degree, having higher education attainable for these residents is a must. These schools give local students a hope for a better future and an opportunity for a better education right in the community where they reside. This is true not only for high school students, but also for younger students in elementary school. It gives them something tangible to strive for as a student. However, the chances of those same students enrolling in the Columbia campus or traveling 50 miles to the closest technical college are slim at best.

In addition, the influence of these schools goes beyond the classroom and earning degrees. They better the community through their libraries, cultural performances and programs to engage and enhance the residents. These schools bring communities together.

Even though we are going through tough economic times, let’s not throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water. Higher education is the stepping stone for our future workforce and yes, our future economy. Public education in South Carolina has been dismal for years, and I applaud the work of State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex’s effort to raise quality and overall standards for students so they can learn in a better environment and learn from teachers that have all the tools necessary to teach effectively.

But to now reduce the opportunities for extended education beyond high school, particularly in low-income communities, would be a mistake. We have to be sensible with our resources, and I realize that tough decisions must be made in state government with regard to costs and budget shortfalls. However, the last thing I would do is close any college campus in an outlying area. The minimal savings (less than 1% of the state’s higher education budget) that would occur would pale in comparison to the devastation it would have on these rural communities, and it will send a strong message to its young residents and also older working residents that want to go back and continue their education. “We don’t think getting an education beyond high school is that important.”

We already have one corridor of shame with our public schools in the I-95 corridor. Let’s not create a second corridor of shame for higher education, because to me, it will truly mean we are headed in the wrong direction.

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

The One Grant

Since the Foundation’s inception in 1996, there have been over 1,300 grant awards made to hundreds of organizations across South Carolina. Actually, the Foundation has awarded grants in every single county in the state. There have been very large grants and very small grants. Some have served large populations and some have served a small group of people. Several have been very strategic and systemic and others have been to deal with consequences and meeting basic needs of those living in poverty.

I have often been asked which grant made the biggest impact on me personally. That is a difficult question because so many good people are doing tremendous work and I value the hundreds and hundreds of nonprofit organizations and their people who serve others. It is one of the most rewarding parts of our Foundation ministry to me.

But back to the question about one grant. Well, yes there is one grant and grantee that changed my life in an instant. It came unexpectedly and it came quickly.

Back in the late 1990’s, I had a call from the mayor of Ravenel, South Carolina. Ravenel is a small town about 15 miles south of Charleston on Highway 17, also known as Savannah Highway. There is not much to see in Ravenel and most people see it by passing through it on their way to Charleston. The mayor told me about a lady named Claudia Bing who ran a small nonprofit called Caregivers for Individuals with Disabilities and she thought I should visit Ms. Bing to learn more about her work.

I had to be in Charleston the next week so I made arrangements to travel to Ravenel. I did not know what to expect and I wondered if this was going to be a worthwhile trip. The directions I was given was to go to Ravenel and look for the fireworks store in the middle of town on Highway 17, then drive behind the fireworks store to a double-wide mobile home. That is where I would find Ms. Bing. I followed the directions and sure enough I found the location.

It was a modest standard double-wide. As I parked and walked up to the house, I noticed a wheelchair ramp and a van with a lift. I also saw a couple of oxygen tanks on the wooden porch at the entrance. I knocked on the door and Ms. Bing greeted me.

Ms. Bing is a soft spoken older African-American lady and she welcomed me into her home. The first thing I saw was a younger white female in a wheelchair. I then saw another young man also in a wheelchair who was severely handicapped. There was another young adult in a hospital bed and he was very ill. I did not know what to think. I asked Ms. Bing, “What do you do here and what is your ministry?”

Ms. Bing replied, “I care for dying children. These are children that nobody else wants because they have terminal illnesses and have fallen through the foster care system, orphanages, etc. They have no family that wants them.”

I was speechless. Ms. Bing then took me by the hand and led me to her living room where there was a large framed picture collage. It had about 30 pictures in it. She said, “These are my children that I cared for that have passed on.” She began to name them one by one. “This was Cynthia; she was with me for 14 months and died of leukemia. This is Jason; he was with me for three years and died of brain cancer. This was Lawrence; he was with me for two years and died of cystic fibrosis.” She went through each picture one by one and told me their story.

I was beyond overwhelmed by this point. I asked Ms. Bing, “Why do you do this? Isn’t the pain of dealing with a child who is terminally ill a terrible thing and here you are by yourself carrying this heavy load? Tell me why?”

I will never forget her words. Ms. Bing looked me straight in the eye and said, “This is not hard at all. This is my calling. God has given me a gift and I am using it to my full ability. I don’t have a lot of money or material things but I do have a lot of love and I give it each and every day.” She went on to say, “my mission is to love these children and make them feel loved and when it is their time to pass, I will hand each one of them off to God and they will have been loved, valued, blessed and cared for. That is what I do.”

I left Claudia Bing’s home that day a different person. She had just taught me some of the most valuable lessons in life in a single hour. It was real clear and real simple to me. Claudia Bing was one of the richest people I had ever met and for all the right reasons. She received a grant from the Foundation and that is the one grant that changed my life the most.

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

Now What?

A plant near my hometown closed today. Nearly 700 jobs lost in an instant. The plant had been operating in the community for over 50 years. Now it is gone forever. What does it do to that community of 3,000 people? It does everything to it and none of it is good. The repercussions will include store closings, home foreclosures, default on personal loans, long unemployment lines and an overall community that will be devastated beyond recognition. Worse than that, this is just one community in one small state. If you multiply this situation times 1,000 then you get a better picture of what is happening.

We are in deep trouble in this country and it is not getting better in the foreseeable future. Can the government resolve our problems with stimulus money? It may help some, but it will not fix the problems we have. We are now witnessing the consequences of systemic problems that have been going on for years. A propped up financial system, poor loan practices, far too much debt to capital ratio and we are spending money we never had - both as individuals and as a country. We are the “want” generation and not the “need” generation and it is all tumbling down right in our proverbial laps.

Now what? I can tell you one thing; it is a pretty helpless feeling out there. People’s retirement funds have gone down the drain. Homeowners have lost value in their homes by the thousands. Jobs are dropping by the way side at a rate of more than 100,000 per week and state and local governments and school systems are on the brink of bankruptcy.

My advice is to protect your own families and finances as best you can while reaching out to others. There are a lot of people hurting and we have to help.

I was stopped at a gas station in Charlotte this week and a man came up to me and explained he was trying to get home to Asheville and did not have any money to put in his gas tank. He had a clunker car pulled up to the pumps, and he showed me the dollar in change he had. I went inside told the cashier to set his pump for $5 worth of gas and he added his money for a total of $6. It wasn’t much, but it got him on his way.

Help when you can. You may be feeling pain, but there are always others that are suffering more than we are.

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

Mission Impossible?

The clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve. For a lot of people it is a time of celebration; it is a time for champagne, confetti and Dick Clark. However, there is another reality to the beginning of the new year. It is a tough time for many nonprofit and faith-based organizations trying to raise money and to regroup. It is a time of anxiousness and feelings of fear and distress with so many unanswered questions about the coming year. What do we do? Where do we go to raise money? How can we fulfill or mission? How can we keep our doors open and pay our staff? Where do we start?

Yes, January 1, 2009, did represent the start of a new year which also means the fund-raising budget has been rolled back to zero. It is now a clean slate with all new goals and expectations. The anxiety we feel is understandable. We have just come off the worst financial year in our lifetime. The Dow Jones average was down 36% and NASDAQ 40% and both indicators are down from that number so far this year. People by the hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs, lost their homes, lost savings and lost retirement income. We have borrowed our way into a financial quagmire and each and every one of us is affected by it - either personally or professionally.

It is pretty easy to feel hopelessness. It is pretty easy to feel uneasy and it is pretty clear that 2009 is going to be more than difficult, thus the topic and title of this blog: Mission Impossible. These two words should really have a question mark behind it as the two words really need to ask the question, “Mission Impossible?” This can have more than one meaning. Is carrying out our mission impossible under the current economic conditions? Or is the mission to raise the necessary funds to sustain our organization through tough times impossible? Both are important and both are difficult questions to answer.

In my opinion, it depends. It depends on a lot of factors. It depends on a certain amount of luck and it depends on a whole lot of creativity, ingenuity and sweat equity on the part of nonprofits. It is also the time for self evaluation and organization evaluation. You must ask yourselves some tough questions; what happens if my organization goes away today or tomorrow? Nobody wants to consider these questions, but we must.

First let’s think about it another way. Don’t you think that now is the time to call in all your favors? Now is the time to have a plan that is different than previous plans and techniques. Now is the time to take a different path and strategy than ever taken before. You may think that this is all well and good, but what exactly does that mean? I’ll tell you what it means to me in the form of a question: “What if?”

What if?
What if philanthropy ramped up full force and advocated for federal assistance for our nonprofit organizations as part of the economic stimulus package currently being considered? It seems likely; every group has been considered (financial institutions, small businesses, the automotive industry, and manufacturing). Why don’t we really push for the nonprofit sector? What if we pull out all the stops to contact every member of congress, the new presidential team and anyone else that can help? I believe the time is now to include nonprofit organizations in the stimulus package. We have unprecedented volume of requests for assistance during these times.

The Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009 is broad and is intended to jumpstart the economy. We must also insure that in addition to helping with emergency food and shelter, community services and community development, we make finds available for nonprofits to get emergency bridge loans to stay afloat or to deal with severe cash flow problems. We just spent $350 billion on the financial sector and we are not sure where it went. Now, let’s spend $15 billion on the nonprofit sector and save services that need to continue now more than ever and save those important nonprofit jobs. Action is now needed.

What if?
What if you reached every person who has ever given to your organization since its inception and asked then to give again this year and give a little more?

What if?
What if we were able to mobilize a new group of givers who have never been asked but can give some funds at some level?

What if? What if community service becomes the hallmark of this country and this state, and we are able to energize a whole new cadre of volunteers to give time, talent and even money to your cause?

What if?
What if each board member gave two or three of four times more than they have given before and 100% of your board members gave something and they ask 10 of their friends to give something?

What if?
What if somebody who has been touched by your organization knows somebody of wealth and they are enthralled by the passion and enthusiasm of this person that they chose to give a large gift knowing the circumstances your organization faces at this point in time?

What if?
What if somebody who knows your organization organizes a golf tournament, bowling event, gala, town’s largest garage sale or something else to benefit your organization?

What if?
What if the Civitans, Rotarians, Kiwanis, Masons, Elks, Lions, Moose, Optimist Clubs, church youth groups, senior groups and every other organization considered helping your organization in some small way?

What if? What if the local bank, insurance company, doctor, lawyer, local business or business person gave something, anything during these times?

What if?
What if the local printer donated one order or the office supply company donated one box of paper and the other vendors each of us work with gave something?

What if? What if somebody’s grandmother or another person passes away after a long and fruitful life and left just a portion of their estate to your organization?

What if?
What if you partnered with an organization you have previously viewed as your competitor and your partnership saves money and delivers services in a more efficient manner?

What if?
What if the only way your services can continue at all is to merge with another organization with a like mission and similar purpose?

What if?
And what if the ultimate answer is, we just can’t make it?

I am saying try everything you can now and don’t give up. But you must do things differently and think differently. Tighten your belt. Yes, prepare for difficult times. Yes, do more with less. And yes, be willing to make more sacrifices than you care to think about.

There are hundreds of opportunities and thousands of ways to involve people who can give, get, work or support. It is the fundamental principle we have always operated under during good times and bad times in the nonprofit sector. It is the same principle we must operate under today only with more passion, perseverance, gusto and every other emotion we can muster. There are nearly 335 days left in 2009. Don’t waste one of them. Don’t waste an hour and don’t waste a minute.

Make a plan. Be creative. Be willing to take a different approach. Don’t be afraid to ask people you have never asked before to help. Don’t be afraid to go back to those who have helped in the past and ask for more help. And do it with every singe ounce of passion and God-given ability you have.

You see, the mission is not impossible at all. The opportunities are there. You just have to make what seems impossible – possible. In his book “The Soul of Politics,” Jim Wallace writes, “Hope unbelieved is considered nonsense. But hope believed is history in the process of being changed.”

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

Lessons Learned from Dad

It has been one year since my dad passed away. He was ill for a long time and, in many ways, his passing was a blessing. I have had a lot of time to think about him over the last year. The time has been filled with both happy and sad reflections. My dad taught me a lot and he often taught me things without actually trying to teach me. It was his actions that provided the lessons. As I reflect back, I want to share a few his saying and lessons. Some you may have heard before and some may be new.

1. “Hard work never hurt anybody.”
Interpretation: Get out of bed and do what it takes to get the job done each day

2. “If you could buy him for what he is worth and sell him for what he thinks he’s worth, you would make a fortune.”
Interpretation: The guy has a pretty big ego.

3. “That house is a fooler.”
Interpretation: The house looks a lot bigger than it really is and don’t be fooled by its façade. It can also apply to other situations in life.

4. “Religion doesn’t only occur on Sundays.”
Interpretation: Live your lives every day just like you do on Sundays.

5. “It doesn’t cost a single penny to be kind to somebody.”
Interpretation: Be nice to everyone and do it every chance you get.

6. “He’s a slow thinker.”
Interpretation: Observation of a driver in front of him who can’t decide where to go.

7. “If it’s not broken, then don’t fix it.”
Interpretation: Leave it alone if it is working well.

8. “His word is his bond.”
Interpretation: You don’t need a fancy contract to have an agreement. If you trust someone, what they say to you is all you need.

9. “Don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill.”
Interpretation: don’t over react to things. Don’t make a small issue into a big issue by how you deal with it.

10. “I want to be able to sleep at night.”
Interpretation: The decisions we make in life are ones we should make honestly and sincerely and not have to worry about later.

11. “That is about as strong as a wet paper bag.”
Interpretation: Whatever you are doing, don’t count on it being successful for long.

12. “Fight until the bitter end.”
Interpretation: Never give up. No matter how difficult or how many times you get knocked down, get back up and try again.

Dad was true to his word. He never gave up. He lived an honest and hard working life. He practiced what he preached and his word was his bond. He was a great role model.

Tom Keith is the President of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

New Year’s Wishes For 2009

It is the dawn of a new year and 2009 will be a whole lot different in many ways. Our country is filled with mixed emotions. There is a lot of pessimism about the economy and there is significant optimism about a change in leadership. There are many New Year’s wishes to be offered. Here are a few that I would like to share with you. I wish for:

• Jobs and opportunity for every person who wants one.

• A steadily improving economy that will bring people out of the panic mode.

• A country full of people who are more willing than ever to give back to their fellow man. After all, I believe we are a society of humanitarians.

• The realization that we buy far more than we need and if we could re-direct some of that self indulgence to help others less fortunate, we would be better served (my self included).

• Living for and enjoying today and not worrying so much about tomorrow or what we did or did not do yesterday.

• Exercise and breathe fresh air. It makes you feel better.

• Do something you have never done before in your life. Encounter a new experience this year.

• Make someone feel better by renewing an old friendship, calling someone when they are sick or just saying something kind to somebody. It does not cost a thing.

• Have a positive attitude every day.

• Do something fun every day and laugh.

• Give freely of your time, talent and resources. Your extra change can make a difference you would not believe.

• Take a road you have never taken before. It might provide you with a different perspective on things.

It is my hope that each and every one of you has a magnificent and prosperous 2009. So don’t follow the old adage of wait until next year because next year is this year and the time is now to make the most of it.

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.

Ten Years of Fatherhood

It is hard to believe that it has been ten years since the beginning of the Fatherhood Initiative by the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. Back in December of 1998, little was being done around this issue, but the need was great.

The plight of low-income fathers in South Carolina has been an overwhelming problem in many different ways. It is pervasive throughout the state in both rural and urban areas. From the onset, one of the biggest challenges was earning the trust of fathers. Their sense of hopelessness and despair and the magnitude of their problems were almost too big to handle. However, one by one, thousands of fathers have come forward and participated in a fatherhood program. They have learned how to deal with anger management issues, how to find a job, how to deal with legal problems and how to be more responsible fathers and contributing members of society.

While there hasn’t been a 100% success rate, there have been a huge number of accomplishments. It has not only contributed in a positive fashion to our economy, but has also reduced the traffic in our courts and jails. These programs are far from perfect and some fathers just can’t get things turned around, but many of them do, and these fathers make the Initiative worthwhile.

The exciting and rewarding part of all of this is that thousands of children now have an active father in their lives. Dads are there for their kids at school events, sporting events, church activities and, of course, birthdays. Living in poverty is bad enough but living in poverty without your father or without your children is much worse. So, congratulations to everyone involved in ten years of success with the Fatherhood Initiative in South Carolina. The journey has been complex but the rewards have been great.

Tom Keith is the executive director of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina.