NEWS BRIEFS: May 8 telethon to help homeless hurt in pandemic

Staff reports  |  Charlton Singleton, Shovels & Rope, Manny Houston, Lee Barbour, Kanika Moore and other artists will perform May 8 at a telethon to pay for services that benefit people transitioning out of homelessness.  The event will run on a variety of local media outlets.

The Homeless to Hope Benefit Telethon starts at noon May 8 and will operate until 8 p.m. It will raise money to benefit the Homeless to Hope Fund.  Donations from the event, hosted by the Mayor’s Commission on Homelessness and Affordable Housing, will go to the Navigation Center, a resource center for people experiencing homelessness.

The Homeless to Hope Fund began life in 2016 to assist homeless individuals and families throughout Charleston, Summerville, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant.  In 2018, the Homeless to Hope Benefit Concert began as a way to raise support for the foundation every year. While a traditional benefit concert was originally planned for 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the concert to different avenues.

God’s Hot Dog Ministry, a free service that provides warm meals to the homeless, and Hope to Home Furniture Resource, a furniture provider for individuals that have recently secured a place to live, will be honored with the 2020 Homeless to Hope Award.

An estimated 4,172 people are homeless in South Carolina, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness reported in 2019. Over 12,000 students experienced homelessness over the course of the 2017-218 school year.

In other recent news:

Marketing help.  A weekly marketing roundtable will debut online at noon Wednesday, writes Cheryl Smithem, founder and CEO of Charleston PR & Design.  “We see this as a way to give back to local and regional businesses who have really taken an economic hit,” she said.  “Our goal is to share our marketing insights and advice — without cost — during a round table event. We hope business owners will join in to get answers to their questions about email marketing, website content and marketing, social media or marketing collateral. We’re open to any marketing questions and we look forward to learning from owners who have success stories about how they have pivoted. When we collaborate, we strengthen the whole community.” Register online here.

Home fire safety.  The Charleston Fire Department is offering a Virtual Home Fire Safety assessment to allow you to discuss fire safety and improvements to your home.  To schedule an appointment, send an email to:  cfd@charleston-sc.gov.

Online theatre classes.  Charleston Stage’s professional resident acting company will offer TheatreSchool classes May 4 to May 21 online.  “Students can now learn the magic of theatre in the comforts of their homes all while streaming live from our West Ashley Theatre Center,” the organization said.  Tuition is $75.  Click here to learn more.

Learning from the past.  Statehouse Report correspondent Lindsay Street spoke with diverse voices from across the state to offer a compelling story Friday that shared how we can learn from the past to build resiliency in our future. “We’re living in a time, unfortunately, that is trying and putting to the test the fairness, the equity of all of our systems,” said Bernie Mazyck of Summerville, who serves as CEO of S.C. Association for Community Economic Development. “It should give everyone, up and down the social strata, give all of us a moment to pause and look at what we currently have, to reflect upon it and say, ‘Something’s wrong here, we need to rethink some things.’”

• Read vignettes from 10 conversations about rebuilding South Carolina

Public schools closed through spring semester. McMaster announced Wednesday that public schools will be closed through the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. To see how public school teachers have adapted to classes online, read this story from the Charleston City Paper.

High number of marijuana arrests in S.C. As the state legislature has stumbled to legalize medical marijuana or decriminalize recreational marijuana, South Carolina has become a hot spot for racially disparate arrests for possession. Read the full story here. 

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