A Message From Our CEO:

A Year Like No Other...

As our SOS Care fiscal year and 2021 draw to a close, we think it’s important to reflect on the year we’ve had, and understand it - like 2020 – has been like no other year we’ve experienced in our lifetimes.
The SOS Care fiscal year began in November of 2020, after eight months of pandemic pivots. We were optimistic that our kids and adults would continue to adapt to this “new” normal and thankful for the resiliency of our staff, families and supporters as we looked to a better 2021. Summer breaks lead us to believe we might actually gain control of the ever-changing dynamics but that was short-lived, and we once again took proactive steps to continue our work and expand our services where necessary.
What did not disappoint was the constant and true support of you, our donors and benefactors! Your generosity reached a new Day of Giving record. You are helping us make the Health and Wellness Center at Oak Tree Farm a reality, one room at a time, and have shown that the services and programs we provide are an important piece to our SOS Care mission. The Fall season emerged quietly without any fanfare and our fiscal year ended on October 31st, with so much to celebrate and share.

• Oak Tree Farm is a reality! Residents moved in last February and are savoring their independence. We have been awarded a significant grant for Phase II: It’s about to begin and will make way for 47 additional residents.
• Summer camp operated in full swing with a 25% increase in attendees this year.
• Job Skills training continues with over 30 adults employed with our partner businesses.
• SOS Care was awarded the Diversity Award by the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce.
• Our Pre-ETS program which serves transition age individuals (13-21), with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), in preparing for employment, self-sufficiency, and independence has expanded and serves more families from Horry, Georgetown and  Charleston counties.
• Our Charleston Clinic opened officially July 1st and a ribbon cutting is hoped for this holiday season as we put the finishing
  touches on this new addition, and prepare
  to serve even more families.

• The Oak Tree Farm Health and Wellness center plans are almost complete and we plan to have 20% of the building funded in Fall 2021, with 11 rooms and space for
  more growth.
• On Horry County United Way’s Day of Caring in October, over 300 volunteers came to Oak Tree Farm and installed our landscaping plan across the 10-acre property.
• A Rural development grant helped reach the underserved populations in Horry, Georgetown and Williamsburg counties and has laid the groundwork for added clinical services in these more remote communities.
• Bean Dreaming has become a reality! This unique coffee truck experience will provide training opportunities that lead to employment, as well as awareness in the community about diversity.
• I was humbled to be awarded the prestigious Order of the Silver Crescent by Governor McMaster’s office on October 8, 2021. This award is the State of South Carolina’s most prestigious service award, specifically established to recognize a remarkable single achievement or action or an individual’s community service and volunteerism on the
  local level.