A nonprofit serving the tri-county area to help increase access to mental and behavioral health programs in high-poverty schools by partnering with them to bring in school-based therapy and after-school enrichment programs that enhance student well-being.
To support this mission, Empower Charleston invested $100,000 in Charleston Hope from 2023-2024, driving significant growth and impact. Most notably, Charleston Hope’s school-based counseling programs expanded from 29 students receiving 348 hours of therapy in 2022 to 70 students receiving 840 hours of therapy in 2024.
Empower Charleston Lead Partner, Sarah Castle, played a key role in Charleston Hope’s growth by providing strategic planning expertise and leadership coaching. Working closely with Founder & Executive Director, Emily Kerr, she helped develop a three-year strategic plan, refine the organization’s mission and vision, and strengthen board leadership by recruiting new members with aligned experience. This support provided Charleston Hope with the structure and foundation needed to scale its impact.
To support this mission, Empower Charleston invested $100,000 in Charleston Hope from 2023-2024, driving significant growth and impact. Most notably, Charleston Hope’s school-based counseling programs expanded from 29 students receiving 348 hours of therapy in 2022 to 70 students receiving 840 hours of therapy in 2024.
Empower Charleston Lead Partner, Sarah Castle, played a key role in Charleston Hope’s growth by providing strategic planning expertise and leadership coaching. Working closely with Founder & Executive Director, Emily Kerr, she helped develop a three-year strategic plan, refine the organization’s mission and vision, and strengthen board leadership by recruiting new members with aligned experience. This support provided Charleston Hope with the structure and foundation needed to scale its impact.
Over the two-year investment period, Charleston Hope saw a revenue increase of $92,000, nearly doubling its budget, expanded to a new school in North Charleston, hired additional staff including a dedicated Program Director, and implemented a customized database to streamline operations and improve staff efficiency. In addition, Charleston Hope established six new Master’s Program partnerships, making Charleston Hope a leading graduate-level internship site for future mental health professionals.
Recognizing its outstanding work in the community, Charleston Hope was honored as the 2025 Nonprofit of the Year by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.
“The funding and partnership from Empower Charleston enabled us to make impactful program improvements based on stakeholder feedback, ensuring high-quality and responsive mental health services for students.”
— Emily Kerr, Founder & Executive Director
A nonprofit Financial Training Center in North Charleston providing financial education and training to the local community, offering money management programs, small business training for minority- and women-owned businesses, and housing counseling, to empower individuals and families to achieve financial stability and success.
To support this mission, Empower Charleston invested $80,000 in Increasing H.O.P.E. from 2023-2024, driving key improvements in marketing, fundraising, and board development. Empower Charleston Lead Partner, John Read, worked closely with Founder & Executive Director Dorothea Bernique, providing expertise in strategic planning and board governance to strengthen the organization’s capacity and long-term sustainability.
During the two-year investment period, Increasing H.O.P.E. launched a new website, expanding access to online, self-paced financial education for individuals, groups, and businesses. Implementation of the organization’s strategic marketing campaign, “Alice Meets Hope,” combined with targeted social media outreach significantly boosted engagement, particularly among women, adding 50 new female contacts and leading to higher donations and increased client class registrations. Fundraising efforts saw major success, with 27 new donors and a $50,000 major gift, as well as increased attendance at special events and the most successful Giving Tuesday to date.
In addition, improvements were made to board recruitment and training which resulted in the addition of two new board members and 2024 board self-evaluations showed a significant increase in overall board satisfaction. Increasing H.O.P.E. will continue to focus on building a high-functioning governing board to support the organization’s next stage of growth.
Recognizing its transformative impact in the community, Increasing H.O.P.E. was honored as the 2024 Nonprofit of the Year by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.
“As the Executive Director of Increasing H.O.P.E., I’m extremely grateful to have been selected for the support of the Charleston Empower Grant. It helped us address capacity-building issues that included fundraising and marketing. This increased our donor base, increased donations, and secured a major donation of $50,000.”
— Dorothea Bernique, Founder & Executive Director
A nonprofit that provides life-affirming and life-saving programs for LGBTQ+ young people by cultivating statewide programs and community initiatives for South Carolina’s young people up to the age of 24, focused on leadership development and social support, health and wellness, and advocacy.
To support this mission, Empower Charleston invested $60,000 in We Are Family from 2023-2024, helping drive the expansion of the Mental Health Assistance Program – the organization’s top priority. This investment has allowed We Are Family to expand access to mental health resources, restructure operations for future growth, and amplify its impact across South Carolina.
Empower Charleston Lead Partner, David Kimm, worked closely with Executive Director Domenico Ruggerio, providing leadership and expertise in strategic planning and organizational development to expand capacity and ensure long-term sustainability.
During the two-year investment period, We Are Family underwent a strategic organizational restructuring to meet current needs and support future growth. A comprehensive review of job roles and responsibilities led to key adjustments, including expansion of its team to nine staff members. Additionally, We Are Family secured a second leased space to serve as an LGBTQ+ youth community center, offering a dedicated location for programming and therapeutic services.
The expansion of the Mental Health Assistance Program has been a critical achievement, allowing We Are Family to increase therapeutic capacity and reach more youth in need. In 2024, the organization provided 1,768 hours of free therapy to 123 LGBTQ+ youth, bringing the total to 3,826 therapy hours for 286 youth since the program’s launch. Beyond one-on-one counseling, We Are Family expanded its group mental health programming in 2024, with 233 youth participating in social support groups and 126 youth participating in therapeutic groups.
“Since expansion of the Mental Health Assistance Program was our major focus for the year, and the primary basis for Empower Charleston’s investment, our 2024 goals were focused on that endeavor. We feel so grateful to be part of the Empower Charleston network, and appreciate the investment and partnership in our work for the last two years.” -Domenico Ruggerio, Executive Director
a nonprofit in North Charleston, builds leaders, establishes quality housing, and promotes economic development. The organization hosts a variety of programs for young people – from Youth Leadership Academy to financial literacy classes – that help strengthen communities.
In support of this mission, Empower Charleston (formerly Social Venture Partners) invested in Metanoia from 2013-2014 and again from 2016-2017 — for a total investment of $135,000.
According to Metanoia leaders, Empower Charleston’s greatest impact was with its youth-serving programs that inspired them to take leadership roles in their community.
Empower Charleston helped develop and implement an original entrepreneurship curriculum that targeted the youngest of Metanoia’s Civic Leaders from sixth through 12th grade.
The curriculum allowed students to progressively develop a deeper understanding of how small businesses work while simultaneously fostering an interest in entrepreneurship. Partners ran weekly, individualized sessions for the students.
For students at the next stage of the Youth Leadership pipeline, Empower Charleston helped inspire the creation of the Metanoia Fellows Program, which allowed Metanoia to train leaders in community organization, transformational leadership, fundraising and organizational development.
In addition to more than 200 hours of intellectual capital invested in these programs, Empower Charleston provided financial capital that helped Metanoia move into a new Youth Entrepreneurship and Volunteer Center.
benefited in many significant ways through its work with Empower Charleston (formerly Social Venture Partners). The nonprofit works throughout the Tri-County region to help children become lifelong readers. It empowers communities to provide individualized instruction with measurable results.
Over a three-year engagement from 2016 to 2018, Empower Charleston invested $150,000 in Reading Partners and worked to help build its internal staff capacity to allow for organizational growth.
Empower Charleston also helped develop and guide the implementation of a Resource Development Plan that included Board development, a strategic growth plan, as well as a tutor recruitment and retention plan.
Over the three-year period, Reading Partners saw an increase in reading centers, students served, tutors, Board involvement, and more. On top of these achievements, the organization saw a revenue increase of more than $600,000 across Empower Charleston’s investment period.
was an early investee of Empower Charleston (formerly Social Venture Partners), receiving $100,000 over a two-year period from 2014 to 2015.
SCCLF is a Community Development Financial Institution that provides equitable access to capital and financing for projects that build stronger South Carolina communities — with a focus on people of color, women, low-income individuals, and those in rural communities.
Originally, the funding was set for a three-year period, but Empower Charleston and SCCLF achieved its goals within two, accelerating the financial investment.
Over the two years, Partners worked with the organization on several projects — from communications to internal development and strategic planning for SC Community Development Tax Credit Legislation.
Perhaps Empower Charleston’s most significant contribution was to leverage its initial investment in SCCLF along with Empower Charleston’s reputational capital in the community to help SCCLF raise more than $2 million in 2014.
