Community Times Magazine_2020-04-01

The Community Times Magazine April 2020 -Page 4 By Stacy M. Brown A deep racial divide among whites and blacks continue to exist in South Carolina. Findings from a 2019 Winthrop poll noted a divide in the Palmetto State’s educational system. They concluded while strides have been made toward unity, incidents and rhetoric continue to permeate the fabric of society. The study found that more than half of African Americans in the region reported being victims of discrimination because of their race. It also found that one in eight public schools are now intensely segregated with 90 percent or more minority students. One group is working to make a change. Helping Florence Flourish (HFF) is an organization made up of diverse community leaders who are concerned with building better race relations in the local community. “Helping Florence Flourish began after being introduced to the concept of a gospel city movement spoken of by author Glenn Barth in his book ‘Good Cities,’” said Chris Handley, an HFF team leader and associate pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Florence. “We began a consulting conversation with Barth, and he guided us through a process to engage community leaders. Barth encour- aged us to inquire of a diverse group of leaders from all sectors of our community what they considered to be the biggest issues facing Florence,” Handley noted. A team of 20 fanned out across Florence in the fall of 2015 to conduct a survey. After interviewing 66 community leaders, the team reported their findings in April 2016. The community leaders agreed that four areas of concern were primary: Race, Broken Families, Education, and Homelessness. “Therefore, HFF established four focus groups that attempt to address those issues,” Handley stated. “They are named Racial Bridging; Restoration of Families, Education and Homelessness. Additionally, a City-Wide Prayer Gathering is sponsored monthly by HFF as well as in the aftermath of the October 2018 shooting, a division of HFF was formed that established a community chaplains’ initiative called, ‘Pee Dee Crisis Response,’” he said. The mission has already achieved a measure of success. “We have seen the most success in the “Helping Florence Flourish” Working To Bridge the Deep Racial Divide in Florence and the Pee Dee Chris Handley HFF Continued On Page 5