SC State Housing Teams with Children’s Garden to Make Holidays Brighter for Children in Need

January 4, 2013

COLUMBIA, SC – January 4, 2013 – Ninety-two homeless and very needychildren in the midlands had a happier holiday season thanks to theChildren’s Garden/Vital Connections of the Midlands (VCM) and employeesof the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority(SC State Housing).
 
VCM is a non-profit organization created bythe United Way of the Midlands to address the lack of quality child carein at-risk neighborhoods. VCM has three centers in the Columbia areathat are accredited by the National Association for the Education ofYoung Children – the Children’s Garden is one of them. It is one of onlytwo centers in South Carolina that’s primary mission is to servehomeless children and their families.
 
Over the last three years,SC State Housing employees have chosen to support the Children’s Gardenby providing gifts and essentials for children that attend thefacility. SC State Housing employees picked children’s names from theagency’s “Angel Tree” and purchased special gifts for the children.Along with individual gifts, SC State Housing employees also providedsupplies for the shelter.
 
The gifts were presented to VCM at SCState Housing’s annual holiday luncheon. VCM also gave a presentationat the luncheon to spread the word about the important work they do.
 
“Eachyear, SC State Housing employees open their hearts to the children ofthe midlands who are struggling with poverty and homelessness,” saidValarie M. Williams, Executive Director of SC State Housing. “This is aheartfelt extension of our mission, and everyone at the agency has madethis giving event a big part of their holiday tradition. The partnershipdefinitely makes sense.”
 
The missions of SC State Housing andVCM are very similar. This is a perfect partnership that shows acommitment to helping the ones that need it the most.
 

About Vital Connections of the Midlands
Thenon-profit Vital Connections of the Midlands runs three centers in theColumbia area – the Children’s Garden, Tender Years and Arthurtown – allof which offer quality early child care and education, and provideparent education experiences that promote the children’s well-being andschool readiness skills. The agency serves over 250 individuals in theColumbia area each year.