PENDLETON PLACE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2013 

In 2013, Pendleton Place provided 8,653 days of residential care for 52 children and youth. They helped children cope with trauma by facilitating over 400 hours of on-site therapy and healthcare. Children at Pendleton Place need to visit family, go on recreational outings, to court appointments, sports practice, the dentist and more.  

Pendleton Place hosted 1,708 family phone calls and visits, enjoyed 25 group trips or outings, made 72 trips to the dentist, 28 trips to the optometrist, and performed over 1000 hours of community service. They served 60,523 healthy meals and snacks. All of this was just for the children located at Pendleton Place. 

Pendleton Place has been able to expand our programs to work towards achieving our vision of a community in which children are safe, families are strong, and victims become whole again. They launched the Family and Child Assessment Center and began providing comprehensive assessment services for children and families entering foster care. These assessments, completed through partnerships with Greenville Health System's Children's Hospital and Greenville County DSS, allowed them to provide critical information to DSS and the court system so that children and families receive needed services and can work towards permanency, safety, and well-being.  

The Family Bridges program opened its doors in the summer of 2013, providing the only supervised visitation and safe custody exchange site in the Upstate. Through this program, children are able to establish and maintain positive relationships with their non-custodial parent in a safe and healthy way.

They were able to expand the residential program to include a new community-based initiative; together, these services are now known as the Smith Supportive Services program. Through the community-based initiative, they are able to provide critical after-care services for youth aging out of foster care and targeted case management for at-risk youth and their families.

For more information about Pendleton Place, check out their website. 

Second Nature, a national nonprofit that works to create a healthy, just, and sustainable society by transforming higher education, has announced the finalists for the 2014 Climate Leadership Awards. The awards are in their fifth year. This is an annual, national competition among colleges and universities that are signatories of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

Second Nature has partnered with Planet Forward in a public voting competition featuring the finalists' climate leadership and campus innovations during Earth Month (April 2014). Last year's public voting process garnered around 50,000 votes.

Furman University has been selected as one of four finalists among baccalaureate universities in Second Nature's 2014 Climate Leadership Awards. The annual award recognizes innovative leadership in education for sustainability and the Shi Center for Sustainability, under the leadership of Dr. Angela Halfacre, continues to be a leader in this field. 

Awards Timeline

The awards will feature a public, online voting component. Each of the 20 finalists will produce a video that promotes its specific sustainability efforts. Voting will be open during Earth Month, April 2014. The Second Nature Board will then choose the award winners in late Spring.

For a complete list of award finalists, click here. 

The Spartanburg SBDC, SCORE, Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce, USC Upstate/The George, City of Spartanburg, Wofford, Spartanburg Community College, and the Upstate Workforce Investment Board have partnered in order to bring an eight-session workshop to entrepreneurs who want to expand their existing business and need the skills to make it grow.

NxLevel is the national entrepreneur and small business training program that provides you with the framework and basic skills to develop and grow a small business. Trained facilitators, who are entrepreneurs themselves, will take you through an interactive process to help you evaluate your business concept, set your financial goals, identify your marketing niche and needs, and build your business plan.  

NXLEVEL FOR EXISTING ENTREPRENEURS will be held at THE GEORGE (USC Upstate Business College) located at 160 East St. John Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306 on TUESDAYS, FEBRUARY 11, 2014 through APRIL 1, 2014 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm in Room 270. Parking is available in the City Parking Garage located behind The George.

To reserve a seat for this workshop, please register online at:www.clemson.edu/sbdc

For more information, please contact Beth Smith at the Spartanburg Small Business Development Center via e-mail or by telephone: 864.592.6318.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is seeking comment from the public on a proposed amendment to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) that would increase and add construction funding for improvements to sections of  I-85 in Greenville County and I-526 in Charleston County.   

A copy of the press release announcing that public comment is being sought, the STIP Entry document and project location maps are available for public review and comment until February 12, 2014 here. Spanish Translation (Traducción en Español) is provided on the webpage.

PLEASE NOTE: Information provided, including name and address, is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

TEN AT THE TOP THANKS CONTINUING FUNDING PARTNERS