The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina was invited to address City Year’s Young Heroes program on the topic of poverty.

City Year is a nonprofit organization that unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, giving them the skills and opportunities to change the world, and is a former grantee of the Foundation. The Young Heroes program is a Saturday leadership development and community service program for middle school students. Participants learn about the social issues in their community and then work together to solve those problems through hands-on community service.

Stephanie Cooper-Lewter, senior director of research and evaluation, introduced the issue of poverty and its root causes with 45 Young Heroes members at Bethel A.M.E. Educational Center in Columbia. Cooper-Lewter also explained the Foundation’s mission and vision, and how the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina works to address poverty through initiatives, grantmaking, education, capacity building, advocacy and measuring the outcomes of these efforts. The students participated in several critical thinking exercises, including discussing the impact of poverty on their community or someone they know.

One young hero shared, “my friend is going through poverty. She has a home but she must rely on school food and is hungry on weekends. She cannot do a lot of school projects that require money.” Another young hero shared that the impact of poverty someone they knew caused a loss of “trust and self-esteem.”

The young leaders were asked to share their input on the strengths of their community and their vision for the community if poverty no longer existed. Suggestions for change included cleaning up neighborhoods so people don’t judge families experiencing poverty, adding more community centers, making education affordable, providing more housing and ensuring less violence in the community.

The presentation wrapped up with the young heroes brainstorming ways they could make a difference as young leaders. Ideas included helping others, volunteering at nonprofit organizations, educating others about the impact of poverty and organizing a community-service project at their school or in their neighborhood. All of the students plan to attend college and were encouraged to think about working for a nonprofit or in philanthropy when they were older.

At the conclusion one participant said, “Thank you. Your Foundation helps.”