Pee Dee Coalition opens Darlington location
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Domestic violence is a huge problem in South Carolina. For the last thirty year the Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic And Sexual Assault has worked hard to make sure that victims have the assistance and resources that they need. Recently the organization held a ribbon cutting for a new building in Darlington.
Pamela Prince, the Darlington County Coordinator and Advocate for Pee Dee Coalition, said that she and her staff were thrilled to have a physical presence in Darlington again.
“We haven’t had a building in Darlington for about five year,” Prince said. “The old building we had just wasn’t in a good location. When it comes to offering services, location has a lot to do with it. You want to make sure that it is a suitable location for clients to come in and out of.”
Staff and volunteers have worked to make sure that even though there wasn’t a building in Darlington that victims still had someone in their corner.
“Even though we haven’t had a location in Darlington, we have still been here providing services so if that meant that we had to go to the police department that is what we have been doing,” Prince said. “Having a location in Darlington means that for a lot of people who don’t have the transportation, we will still be accessible to them; they don’t have to go all the way to Hartsville or Florence.”
Services provided at the new building will include group and individual counseling.
“We will have a counselor who comes in on a part-time basis,” Prince said. “The counselor we have will be specifically for Darlington County and she will be doing support groups there as well as individual counseling. We will have a full-time victim advocate there and she is already in place. I will be there a few times a week as well. We want our presence to be known.”
Victim services will extend even outside the new building, which is also helped by the new location.
“Even when it comes to court accompaniments, we will be right there in the city,” Prince said. “This will make a huge difference when it comes to victim services, especially in that moment of crises. We want to be able to provide all of the services that victims will need. Sometimes when you are in that moment you need somebody right then, you need someone right there and you don’t want to have to travel. Being in Darlington is a huge accomplishment for us because we can provide everything they need right on the spot, even things like getting an order of protection; we are right across the street from courthouse.”
Prince recently celebrated 10 years with the Pee Dee Coalition and said that the work she and other staff members and volunteers to is important and significant to them.
“You have to have a passion when you do this kind of work,” Prince said. “I love to be able to serve our people and to help those who may not have another alternative or who may not think that there is another alternative available. To be able to give them hope in the most dire situations is really meaningful.”
Anyone who is in need of the resources of the Pee Dee Coalition should visit peedeecoalition.org or call toll free 1-800-273-1820.
