Lowcountry Youth Services Awarded $40,000 Grant for Youth Empowerment Programs

Lowcountry Youth Services Receives $40,000 Grant from Power:Ed

CHARLESTON, SC – Lowcountry Youth Services (LYS) has garnered a significant investment in their mission to empower youth across the tri-county area. The non-profit organization recently obtained a $40,000 grant from Power:Ed, the philanthropic branch of SC Student Loan Corporation, to flourish their youth mentoring and development programs.

This grant will fund staffing, program advantages, and group outings for middle and high school students in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester Counties. The youth will acquire crucial skills and mentoring assistance needed to excel in every aspect of their lives, emphasizing values like accountability, community, consistency, diversity, empowerment, integrity, and success commitment.

Augmenting Youth Development Efforts

Since 2009, LYS has been dedicated to offering top-notch youth development programs in the tri-county area. Despite limited resources, they have achieved substantial strides in their mission. This new partnership with Power:Ed will allow LYS to not only retain their valuable services but also broaden their programs to reach more youth.

LYS’s programs, which include Distinguished Gentlemen’s Club, Queens’ Being, Girls on the Rise, and Young Men Rise, aim to create a positive and supportive learning environment, instilling necessary life skills, leadership, responsibility, and decision-making. They engage youth and foster a beneficial learning setting.

Driving Positive Outcomes

Power:Ed Executive Director, Claire Gibbons expressed her pleasure in supporting LYS’s efforts in helping more area youth reach their full potential. The ultimate goal is to impart positive outcomes such as improved family relationships, an increase in high school graduations, and higher college enrollment rates, especially for boys and girls of color.

In the fiscal year 2023-24, Power:Ed is slated to award $1,000,000 in grants to South Carolina education and career readiness organizations. Including this grant to LYS, the organization has awarded five grants totaling $185,000 within this third quarter. The next grant funding deadline is announced as April 1, 2024.

About Lowcountry Youth Services

Lowcountry Youth Services is a non-profit organization, established in 2009, which focuses on the development and empowerment of young individuals. Through mentorship initiatives and community workshops, LYS has served over 1,100 young people in the tri-county area since 2017 via in-school and community-based programming, all designed to help them achieve their full potential.

About Power:Ed

Launched in 2019, Power:Ed is the philanthropy of SC Student Loan, its mission is to create opportunities for South Carolina’s youth and adults. It accomplishes this by supporting low-income, minority, and first-generation students, improving access to college and degree completion, and creating pathways to quality workforce opportunities.