CHARLESTON, SC — HALOS, an organization whose mission is to provide support and advocacy to abused and neglected children and their kinship caregivers, has collaborated with the SC Department of Social Services (DSS) to create the first-ever statewide online resource for South Carolina’s kinship families.
KinshipSC.org seeks to promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of children that live in kinship care. The website offers community, state, and national resources for caregivers including connecting website visitors to legal assistance, housing support, and financial assistance.
Kinship care is a temporary or permanent arrangement in which a relative or any non-relative adult who has a long-standing relationship or bond with the child and/or family has taken over the full-time, substitute care of a child whose parents are unable or unwilling to do so. Currently, more than 69,000 children in South Carolina live with a kinship caregiver, many of them grandparents. Caregivers often take children into care during a crisis or with little notice so it is critical they have the support they need to meet the child’s physical, social and emotional needs.
“We are excited to launch this new website, a first in South Carolina!” said Kim Clifton, HALOS Executive Director. “HALOS has worked with caregivers in the Charleston area and regularly receives calls from organizations and caregivers across the state looking for assistance. With the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more caregivers are turning to virtual help and this is one more way to reach families where they are.”
In addition to the website, KinshipSC.org has launched a toll-free number for caregivers looking to connect with services and programs. Staffed by HALOS, caregivers can reach a live person that can provide information and answer questions during regular business hours (Monday – Friday from 8:30am -5:30 pm) at 1-854-444-3716.
“Kinship caregivers play a very vital role in the child well-being system, said DSS Director Michael Leach. “Every day we work with family members who have stepped up, whether temporary or permanent, to be lifesaving support for a child or youth they love. This website will allow us to ensure South Carolina’s caregivers have the support they need to care for our state’s children.”
####
About HALOS
HALOS was the first organization to provide comprehensive services to kinship families in South Carolina. For every 1 child placed in foster care, 19 children are placed with grandparents, relatives or family friends outside of the formal child welfare system. HALOS is here to provide these kinship caregivers the support they need to help the children in their care thrive. To learn more, visit www.charlestonhalos.org.
We are so proud to announce that on March 14, the wonderful WCBD on-air personality Carolyn Murray has launched her new podcast “Let’s Talk”
Details
The vision of the podcast is to help people tell their stories without being restricted to a 1-minute news report. I’m so excited to finally be able to enjoy conversations with you and to listen to you talk.
On the first episode of ‘Let’s Talk’ you will hear Kristin Graziano, the first woman elected sheriff of the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office. She talks about her sister being kidnapped, living in housing projects, and apologizing for racial profiling at the CCSO. It’s an eye-opening interview.
And because this has been a difficult time for us, I’m hopeful that we’ll have fun too! ‘Let’s Talk’ will bring a bit of light and laughter into your day. Like the episode with Glennie Davis who has worked at the Medical University of South Carolina for 48 years. She has some stories to tell!
‘Let’s Talk’ on Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts beginning Sunday, March 14th
Charleston, S.C. – Suzie Webster launches a new book, Holy City Heartbreak. The story takes place in Charleston, S.C. and is the 4th in a series all set in the city. This story follows two brothers, Austin and Noah in their pursuit of the same girl, former model, Lily Waters.
More About Holy City Heartbreak
Austin is damaged by his time in Afghanistan and Noah has loved Lily his entire life but her heart is drawn to Austin. Learn how the three navigate these difficult feelings all while enjoying the beautiful backdrop Charleston offers.
More about Lowcountry Liasons
The South has never been steamier as Luke, Charlie and their group of friends pursue their dreams by day and awaken their passions at night in the beautiful scenic city of Charleston, South Carolina. Each book is a stand-alone romance about two of these friends, but the supporting players continue to pop up and add to the good times throughout the series.
About Suzie
Why did Suzie Webster start writing romance novels at age forty-nine? To Inspire women to realize that they are the owners of their life and it is possible at any age to turn their story into a journey filled with laughter, steamy romance and adventure just like their favorite book. Throughout her many careers from Northern Virginia to Charleston, Suzie has always loved mentoring and supporting other women who are trying to live the life they want and deserve. She has loved writing since childhood and weaving stories is another way to share the message that love always wins. She is supported in her own journey by her very patient and tolerant husband Drew, who is always the inspiration for her sexy leading men and her three daughters, Ryleigh, Katie and Reese, who never fail to keep her on her toes and put her in her place. When she’s not traveling (her favorite hobby), she can be found curled up with a good book and a tasty cocktail, preferably tequila.
State Request Approved by Federal Partners will Allow Additional Nursing Home Visitation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina has received federal approval to update visitation guidelines for nursing homes and community residential care facilities, announced the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and Governor Henry McMaster. These updated guidelines require facilities to use DHEC’s percent positive by county data to help determine their visitation status. This update will result in more facilities who were previously restricting visitation based solely on a county’s percent positive rate greater than 10 percent allowing in-person, indoor visitation.
As of today, any facility that meets the following standards must allow in-person, indoor visitation:
• a less than or equal to 10 percent positivity rate in the county in which the facility is located, using DHEC’s data, and • no COVID-19 cases among staff and/or residents in the past 14 days, and • maintained CMS’ core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention
Prior to the change in guidelines, 177 facilities were not allowing visitation. Of those, 43 facilities specifically cited county percentage positive as the reason and are in one of the 40 counties that now have a percentage positive of 10 percent or less should be able to open to visitation if they otherwise meet the criteria above.
“Too many South Carolinians have been prohibited from visiting their loved ones in long term care facilities because of overburdensome federal guidelines,” said Gov. Henry McMaster. “Prioritizing the physical health and safety of our most vulnerable citizens is critically important, but we must also protect their mental and emotional health. These updated guidelines represent important progress and will result in many facilities opening for visitation, but there’s more work to be done and we will continue pushing federal agencies to allow expanded visitation.”
Vaccinations of Long-term Care Residents and Staff As of today, 100 percent (193 out of 193) of the state’s nursing homes have had their first COVID-19 vaccination clinic completed and 86 percent (166 of 193) have had their second clinic completed, with additional clinics scheduled. A total of 98 percent (485 of 495) of the state’s community residential care facilities have had their first vaccination clinic completed and 86 percent (424 of 495) have had their second clinic completed, with additional clinics scheduled.
In total, more than 61,500 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given to our state’s roughly 40,000 long-term care facility residents, and more than 36,700 doses have been given to the approximately 40,000 workers who care for them.
“When COVID-19 first spread across the country, long-term care facilities were devastated as the virus took its toll on nursing home residents who were among the most vulnerable to the virus,” said Dr. Edward Simmer, DHEC Director. “In South Carolina, efforts had been underway to prepare long-term care facilities for the arrival of the virus, and DHEC has worked with facilities to help implement disease prevention protocols. Still, we lost many loved ones to this deadly virus. That’s why we prioritized nursing home residents among the first to be vaccinated, and after a massive statewide effort, nearly all long-term care facility residents in the state now have had the opportunity to get their life-saving shots.”
“Allowing visitation to the greatest degree possible consistent with safety for residents, staff, and visitors, is extremely important to residents’ mental and physical health and also for their families,” said Simmer. “The updated guidelines will help ensure as many residents as possible can have safe, in-person contact with family and friends.”
DHEC’s Percent Positive by County Data Until today, visitation guidelines for outdoor and indoor visitation at nursing homes and community residential care facilities (commonly referred to as assisted living facilities) have been based on percent positive data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). However, the data that CMS/U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) receives is based on several different data sources used to calculate percent positives. Today’s updated guidelines direct South Carolina’s long-term care facilities to instead use DHEC’s percent positive by county data.
DHEC uses the tests-over-tests method for calculating percent positive, which is the same method used by the CDC. Therefore, the state-generated percent positive data is appropriate to use for determining visitation.
The county positivity rate is based on an average of the past 14 days and the report is updated on the DHEC’s website weekly, on Thursdays at 1 p.m. Additional details about the updated guidelines requiring facilities to use DHEC’s percent positive by county data include:
• The county positivity rate must be greater than 10 percent in order for facilities to use this reason for not allowing indoor visitation. • These guidelines replace the previous use of CMS data to determine visitation status for purposes of indoor visitation. • As of the most recent data, 40 of 46 counties have positivity rates that are less than or equal to 10 percent. This means the current county positivity rate shouldn’t affect visitation except for the six counties (Allendale, Barnwell, Chesterfield, Lancaster, McCormick, and York) with rates higher than 10 percent. • Trends in county percent positivity rates can go up or down from one report to the next. This means, a facility’s visitation status could change from one week to the next, based on the data. • DHEC will continue to provide weekly updates on the current visitation status for all nursing home and congregate care residential facilities in the state, online here.
Facilities with limited visitation because their county’s percent positive rate exceeds 10 percent should still encourage safe indoor visitation during compassionate care situations. Compassionate care situations aren’t limited to end-of-life situations; other examples include when a resident’s physical or mental health is declining, if a resident is grieving the passing of a loved one, if a resident needs encouragement with eating or drinking, or when a new resident is struggling with transition. These examples are not a complete list and facilities should allow compassionate care visits on a case-by-case basis.
Facilities should also continue to allow outdoor visitation, virtual visits, and window visits consistent with DHEC’s guidelines. The public is strongly encouraged to contact the nursing home or assisted living facility to confirm their visitation status and policies and procedures prior to planning to visit a loved one.
For the latest information about nursing homes and extended care facilities impacted by COVID-19, including cases and deaths, visitation status, and county percent positivity rates, click here. For the latest COVID-19 information in South Carolina, click here.
WalletHub and Financial Writer Adam McCann have released their findings on the Happiest Cities in the America. This year, our friendly Charleston, South Carolina came in at #18.
Below are the methodology and list of the top 75
Methodology
In order to determine the happiest cities in America, WalletHub compared 182 of the largest cities — including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state — across three key dimensions: 1) Emotional & Physical Well-Being, 2) Income & Employment and 3) Community & Environment.
We evaluated these categories using 31 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing maximum happiness. Data for metrics marked with an asterisk (*) were available only at the state level.
We then determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
Our analysis draws upon the findings of the following research, each of which has indicated a correlation between our data and happiness:
Happy People Live Longer: Subjective Well-Being Contributes to Health and Longevity (Chan and Diener, 2010)
Happiness from Ordinary and Extraordinary Experiences (Bhattacharjee and Mogilner, 2014)
Sports Participation and Happiness: Evidence from U.S. Micro Data (Huang and Humphreys, 2010)
Unhappy Cities (Glaeser, et al., 2014)
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gallup-Sharecare, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Feeding America, Chmura Economics & Analytics, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, The Trust for Public Land, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Glassdoor.com, Indeed, The New York Times and WalletHub research.
The focus and theme of the workshop are Storytelling. The concept is to help students to tap into their imagination, creativity, and spontaneity to tell a story through various visual mediums, i.e.: theatre, tv, film, and dance. We want to encourage spontaneity, simplicity, and fun in a relaxed and positive, yet structured and educational environment.
Students will learn a variety of courses including: o Improv and Devising Theatre
o Script analysis/Story structure
o Monologue work
o On-camera work
o Playwriting/Screenwriting
o Cinematography and Filmmaking
o Storytelling through movement/Dance
There will be no classes held on Saturday, April 3, to observe Easter weekend. The final class will be extended by two hours on Saturday, April 24 (10a – 2p).
Due to COVID restrictions and safety measures, the workshop is limited to 20 students. All students and faculty will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing. Mask breaks will be taken after 45 minutes of instruction, allowing time for air changeover and sanitization.
*As an added safety precaution, CACC will disinfect using a ULV Disinfection fogger before, between, and after each class with VIREX All-Purpose Disinfectant (killing 99.9% of all microorganisms, germs, and viruses).
Below you will find 4k walking videos of Charleston, South Carolina and hopefully more areas as I travel. All videos will have only ambient sounds, no commentary so you can feel as if you are here walking around yourself. Any tips or feedback is greatly appreciated.
Enjoy these journey’s through Charleston from the eyes of Tyler
How would you like to sip wine on a Friday night and hang out with a sloth?
How about the most unique Bachelorette or Bachelor party?
Think about the perfect family outing; walking an anteater and taking selfies with an adorable sloth.
Just outside of Charleston on beautiful Johns Island, Sidney Jameson Copperpot (Sloth), Samantha (Anteater), Piggy the Kinkjou (Honey Bear), Fred and Wilma the Tortoise’s, Pork Chop (Flemish Giant Rabbit), and Huckleberry and Princess Consuela (Possums) are waiting to be your new friends.
They are all residents of Charleston Sloths and Exotics located at 3129 River Rd, Johns Island, SC 29455.
Samantha searching for antsJust hanging aroundPrincess ConsuelaSamantha the AnteaterSidney the SlothFred and Pork ChopPiggy the Kinkjou Sidney Jameson Copperpot
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Fort Sumter Tours and SpiritLine Cruises have partnered with Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant to offer Charleston area visitors a new way to experience Charleston history on land and water.
Guests may choose a combo tour to visit both Boone Hall Plantation and Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter Tours is the authorized concessioner to the National Park Service and the only tour allowed to dock at Fort Sumter, a unit of the National Park Service. Enjoy a cruise in the Charleston harbor on your way to Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Fort Sumter Tours departs from Patriots Point, 40 Patriots Point Road in Mount Pleasant and from Fort Sumter Visitor and Education Center, 340 Concord St. in downtown Charleston.
As part of the tour package, guests also get access to Boone Hall where they can walk the blooming gardens, learn about Gullah culture and tour a historic mansion. Boone Hall, founded in 1681, is a top tourist attraction in the Charleston area and America’s most-photographed plantation. Boone Hall is located at 1235 Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant.
A second tour option, Boone Hall & SpiritLine Cruises Charleston Harbor Tour, combines a live narration tour of the Charleston Harbor and the opportunity to explore Boone Hall, one of America’s oldest working farms.
The Charleston Harbor Tour by SpiritLine Cruises departs twice daily at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. from Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant. A certified City of Charleston tour guide shares engaging tales of Charleston’s history during the 90-minute tour. Visitors will enjoy seeing more than 75 points of interest along the way, including the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, Castle Pinckney and Fort Sumter.
“We are happy to offer visitors the opportunity to see so much of Charleston’s unique history and culture in these convenient and cost-saving tour options,” said Ian Harris, director of sales and marketing for SpiritLine Cruises. “We’re honored to partner with Boone Hall to give visitors a true taste of Charleston history and Southern hospitality.”
All attractions are following COVID-19 safety guidelines and protocols. For both Fort Sumter Tours and SpirtLine Cruises capacity is limited, and guests are encouraged to make reservations early. In addition, masks are required on all boat tours per a federal ordinance requiring face masks to be worn on public transportation to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
SpiritLine offers daily harbor tours, evening public dinner cruises and private charters. In addition to harbor tours and special events, in 1961 the Campsen family of Charleston founded Fort Sumter Tours to provide daily excursions to the Fort Sumter National Historic Park. For more information, visit spiritlinecruises.com.
photos credit: Fort Sumter and Boone Hall Plantation
by 
