It started as a way to help South Carolina hurricane victims overcome the devastation caused by Hurricane Hugo — and in the last 35 years, East Cooper Community Outreach in Mount Pleasant has become one of Lowcountry’s trusted and long-standing resources for needs ranging from food and medicine to simple health and well-being.
“Those needs are much more pressing in this part of our state than you might think,” said Stephanie Kelley, ECCO’s executive director since 2017. “We do live in an affluent area, but we’re helping more people here than ever before just to survive every day.”
In the past year alone, ECCO served 1,739 households comprised of 3,233 people – an increase of 381 additional family members from the previous year.
Kelley said that while food is the number one reason people come to ECCO, financial assistance is a close second, as the average annual income of ECCO’s clients in 2023 was only $17,140.
“Of all the people we help, 36% of them make no more than the federal poverty level,” Kelley said. “And 22% of them have zero income.”
Clients are primarily Black (63%), women (74%), and over the age of 55 (51%).
Kelley pointed out that in too many instances, she finds either single-mother households, or grandparents caring for parentless grandchildren.
“Single-parent households make up one-third of the total number of families that we serve,” she said. “We currently have 400 ECCO-assisted households with at least one child, and in November 2023 alone, we saw a 26% increase in the number of orders placed at our food pantry.”
In addition to the constant need for food, ECCO’s services have grown over the years to now include:
• Medical Health. After seeing that many of its clients were forced to neglect simple medical care and treatment, ECCO formed its own Partners in Healthcare Medical Clinic in 2014. Along with the student-run CARES Clinic, ECCO partners not only provide regular primary care to all clients, but also a number of other services that involve patient education, women’s health, laboratory and diagnostic testing, a prescription assistance program at either reduced or no cost, and patient support for health complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
• Financial Assistance. In FY2023, ECCO paid 414 bills directly to a rental agency, mortgage holder, or utility company on behalf of 405 local families. The total investment was over $447,000.
• Dental Health. ECCO created its first dental clinic in 1990 for all clients. Through partnerships with MUSC College of Dental Medicine and Trident Technical College of Dental Hygiene, clients receive preventive and restorative care, as well as extractions.
“Last year, we provided more than $300,000 worth of dental care to nearly 340 neighbors,” Kelley said. “And 100% of every dollar donated to ECCO goes directly to the organization’s impact.”
All of which is a far cry from how and why ECCO began.
In the wake of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, Monsignor James A. Carter and his colleague Sister de Lourdes of Christ Our King Catholic Church, saw that the damage was much greater in impoverished communities than other areas.
“This alerted them to the need for a future sustained outreach to the poverty-stricken areas of our community,” Kelley said.
ECCO’s first shoestring budget amounted to $252,460 — less than the total amount paid out in dental care to families in 2023 alone.
Now its annual budget is $2.6 million — with money coming primarily from community donations, grants, and foundations.
Weekly relief efforts are reinforced by the support of more than 200 volunteers who work in the medical and dental clinics, the front desk, the food pantry, and the clothing closet.
“Interestingly, it was only in 2006 that we had grown to the point of being able to hire a fourth paid employee,” Kelley said. “Now we are at 21 paid staff members and four contract employees.”
And that growth shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.
Consider the real-life recent example of Beth, a 43-year-old, divorced, Caucasian single mother of three teenage girls. Beth was facing several health issues and accumulating a lot of medical debt. An unexpected major car repair left her unable to get to work. A friend referred her to ECCO. Beth was not only approved for financial assistance to pay for her rent so she could pay for her car repair, but also for food and medical assistance. After placing her first food order, Beth sent an email that read:
“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for my family! I actually did the online shopping yesterday and stopped by on my way home from work to pick up the groceries. My kids were ecstatic. I’m not kidding, my 16-year-old said, ‘I feel like crying.’ You all made our month, we are just so grateful for you guys and what you do.”
ECCO is now recognized as the Lowcountry’s best nonprofit.
“We are honored because there are a lot of amazing organizations in our area doing good work,” Kelley said. “People trust us to use the donations they give us to make our community stronger. It also means that our neighbors who need help trust us to understand the challenges they are facing. And every day, we try our best to live up to that trust.”
By L. C Leach III
