Furman University
PAE-19: Community Sustainability Partnerships

In early 2012, a dedicated group of Furman students initiated the Poinsett Corridor Revitalization Coalition (PCRC), a collaborative venture to revitalize the Poinsett Highway corridor. This corridor runs between Furman University and downtown Greenville, and is thus one of the main thoroughfares in the area. Much of the corridor is considerably run-down, and in response to this problem, the students of the PCRC entered discussions with many city organizations with the goal of establishing a vibrant atmosphere conducive to economic development along the corridor. The PCRC spent the month of March hosting community meetings to gather direct feedback and ideas from residents living in or near the Poinsett District. Meetings were held in the communities of Brutontown (March 1), New Washington (March 8), Poe Mill (March 15), and San Souci (March 22). In total, more than 100 citizens attended the meetings. As a result of these meetings, the PCRC and its partners organized a day of service, which took place on April 11, 2012. The “Poinsett Project,” as it came to be called, was the first move in a multi-year committed relationship between Furman and the city of Greenville. Intended to be an annual project, its long term goals are economic development and the creation of dynamic residential and work space along the Poinsett Corridor. The Poinsett Project involved over 700 faculty, staff, students, and community members working on various projects along the corridor. Participants collected trash and cleared kudzu from various sections of the highway, painted a mural along the walls of a dilapidated building, cleaned an entrance to a residential neighborhood, worked in community gardens, and made improvements to two church playgrounds. PCRC formed many partnerships in Greenville in order to encourage the economic development needed along the corridor. In addition to Furman, the PCRC partners include Greenville County, City of Greenville, Greenville Rec, SCDOT, Greenville County Redevelopment Authority (GCRA), Trees Greenville, Arbor Engineering, Chick-fil-A Cherrydale, Duke Energy, McCall Capital, M.S. Shore Company, and Stone and Associates.

An additional program: LiveWell Greenville is a coalition of community organizations to make the healthy choice the easy choice for residents of Greenville county. At its core, LiveWell Greenville seeks to create a sustainable community. Several Furman faculty, staff and students have engaged with LiveWell Greenville: Dr. Alicia Powers, Assistant Professor of Health Sciences leads the evaluation team for all of LiveWell's efforts and, along with 6 students at any given time, is conducting the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS) on Greenville County, which will indicate the areas of Greenville that are food deserts. This data does not currently exist. Dr. Carmel Price, post-doctoral teaching fellow for Environmental Sociology, is leading the evaluation effort of the "at worship" workgroup. Katherine Kransteuber, Program Coordinator of the Shi Center for Sustainability, facilitiates the "Access to Healthy Foods" workgroup, which is a partnership of over a dozen community organizations committed to increasing access to foods that are healthy and affordable to all residents of Greenville county.