Southern Impact Journal

The Grant Wire · October 2026

October arrives with momentum for the Pee Dee Coalition, and this year the funding is already in place

Dillon Mayor Tally McColl signed a proclamation this week marking October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month for the city, honoring the Pee Dee Coalition and its Dillon center staff. Glenda Schleich, a longtime face of the Coalition's Dillon operation, was recognized for 40 years of service, and the evening doubled as a fundraising moment: a golf tournament at the City of Dillon Vivian Johnson Memorial Golf Course, with Perdue Farms as presenting sponsor and 20 teams raising money for the Coalition's work. Law enforcement from Dillon County was recognized for its ongoing partnership with the center.

The awareness month lands at a moment when the Coalition's funding picture is unusually strong. Projects funded under Attorney General Alan Wilson's $29 million victims-services round officially began October 1, and the Pee Dee Coalition took home one of the largest shares in the region, roughly $1.69 million across five grants. That money covers shelter, counseling, advocacy, and crisis response across the Pee Dee, and it arrives as the organization marks four decades of work that began, as McColl noted, in a single room in the Gibson Building.

September was a reminder of the demand: the Coalition served 17 new clients, men and women, in a single month. The Dillon center at 1101 Highway 301 North operates weekdays with a 24-hour crisis line at 1-800-273-1820.

For a nonprofit that has historically paired big federal grants with community-level fundraising, the pairing is the story. The VOCA and VAWA dollars give the Coalition runway. The 20 teams on the golf course are what the Dillon staff called their most important resource: the community itself. What to watch now is deployment. The Coalition has to stand up the services those five grants pay for while keeping the local donor base engaged through events like this one, and the September intake numbers suggest there will be no shortage of need to meet.

The Grant Wire · October 2026

$29M in victims-services grants: the pipeline reopens

Federal money is flowing back into South Carolina's victim-services pipeline. Attorney General Alan Wilson announced more than $29 million in grants to nonprofits, sheriffs' offices, police departments, solicitor's offices, and state agencies, with funded projects underway as of October 1. The awards were rolled out across three regional press conferences September 23 through 30, and approved earlier this year by the S.C. Public Safety Coordinating Council.

The funding comes from four sources: VOCA (69%), SAVS (19%), VAWA (9%), and SVAP (3%). About 78 percent is federal money. VOCA, the largest share, is drawn from the federal Crime Victims Fund, which is financed by criminal fines and penalties rather than taxpayer dollars. VAWA is congressionally appropriated. Both flow through the U.S. Department of Justice, with the state's Department of Crime Victim Assistance Grants handling distribution.

Between 2018 and 2024, VOCA funding dropped roughly 76 percent, and providers across the state spent years doing more with less. This round marks a turnaround.

Regionally, the Midlands and Pee Dee drew the largest share at more than $12.4M, followed by the Lowcountry at $9.2M+ and the Upstate at $7,457,394. The largest single awards went to established providers: Project R.E.S.T. in Spartanburg ($955,791), Safe Harbor in Greenville ($869,512), and Hopeful Horizons in Beaufort ($1.2M+), which serves 1,300 to 1,400 survivors a year.

Pee Dee wins confirmed so far:

· Family Justice Center of Georgetown and Horry Counties: $267,306 (up from $234,479 last cycle)

· Horry County organizations took 10 grants and Georgetown County took 2 in the Lowcountry round

· The $12.4M Midlands and Pee Dee regional recipient list has not been published yet

Last cycle's Pee Dee recipients show what the money funds in practice: the Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault held about $1.69M across shelter operations, a 24-hour crisis line, and child abuse assessment; CARE House of the Pee Dee received $368,346 for children's victim services; and McLeod's forensic nurse examiner program received a combined $251,907 across VOCA and VAWA.

Two things to keep an eye on: whether the Midlands/Pee Dee recipient list gets published, and how quickly newly funded organizations stand up the compliance and reporting these grants require. VOCA grants are reimbursement-based and audit-heavy, and winners who fall behind on reporting risk their next cycle.

The Grant Wire · September 2026

The $328 billion sleeping giant: why Southern nonprofits can't afford to ignore DAFs

Donor-advised funds hold $327.87 billion, pay out roughly three times the rate private foundations do, and send nearly two-thirds of their grants out unrestricted — with no application to file.

September 2026 · Field Report

From Checks to Systems: How Pee Dee Philanthropy Is Changing

Local foundations are betting on infrastructure, workforce pipelines, and cross-sector collaboration — but rural philanthropy remains undercapitalized relative to need.

The Grant Wire · July 2026

The latest from the Wire: three funders worth your July

A $50M unrestricted AI fund, a youth-led challenge grant, and $10B moving through state rural health offices — plus the bigger pattern behind all three.

The Grant Wire · July 2026

The arts money that isn't only for artists

A food pantry with a summer reading program can win arts money. A senior-services nonprofit can win money from the electric company. What is actually open right now.

The Civic Record · July 18, 2025

The state took over Marlboro County's schools

A state-of-education emergency, a dissolved local board, $3.5M in undocumented federal spending — in a county where 28.5% of people live in poverty.