Laurens County is in the Upstate Region of South Carolina and is located about 45 minutes from downtown Greenville, SC. There are approximately 100 children experiencing foster care in Laurens County.
Within the first six months of launching Lily Pad in 2022, we had hoped to install a new comfortable, child centered room in Laurens County. There were plans already in the works for their office to move buildings, so we waited patiently but we didn’t sit still. With the help of a superhero toy drive and repurposed items from another Lily Pad room, we made sure the office had some comfort and function for the kids who needed it most.
Owings Presbyterian Church, a local church in Laurens County, held a craft fair and raised more than$1,500 toward the Lily Pad in their county.
However, as often happens, plans for moving buildings were delayed and time continued to pass. But still, the requests for support from the dedicated staff at Laurens DSS kept coming. Thanks to the funds from Owings Presbyterian and a growing collection of new and repurposed items we decided to move items into their existing room to have a more welcoming space.
As moving delays continued year after year, we made the call to complete the installation and paint and finish out the Lily Pad room and a separate visitation room, and when the new building is ready we’ll be there to transfer the items to the new space.
Then, Parkside Pediatrics in Greer reached out asking if we had any volunteer opportunities for 19 members of their staff to help with. We knew this was our chance so we took it and completed the two rooms in Laurens County DSS. The children there deserve a space made just for them - a place that meets their physical and emotional needs while they’re experiencing foster care.
