PICKENS COUNTY — Local leaders, social service agencies and community members gathered at Tri-County Technical College in Easley on April 5 for the 6th Annual Partners for Prevention Meeting: “A Time of Education, Encouragement and Empowerment.”
Guest speaker, Naomi Lett, president and CEO of United Way Association of South Carolina, shared her powerful story of adversity and resilience and presented a call to action.
“People will become what they believe so help them change what they believe,” she said.
Lett challenges communities to not just focus on providing external resources for vulnerable children and families, but to help them change what they believe about themselves on the inside. She shared the story of a first-grade teacher who valued her and believed in her, which helped change the narrative of her own life.
Reps. Gary Clary and Neal Collins presented a Legislative Resolution Honorary Award to Pickens County First Steps. As a champion for children, First Steps is a local non-profit agency that supports children and families and seeks to create a culture of readiness so that children enter school on track and ready to learn, they said.
Guests closed the event by planting pinwheels at the entrance to Tri-County Technical College — but you’ve likely seen them springing up at various locations throughout the area.
Pinwheels are the national symbol for Child Abuse Prevention, serving as a reminder of the happy, healthy childhoods all children deserve.
Organizers said this event helps to inaugurate Child Abuse Prevention Month in Pickens County as part of a national awareness campaign held every April.
