WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Faith-based alternative school has big plans for growth
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ALCOLU, SC (WIS) - One Clarendon County school is rallying to raise money, saying they need $50,000 to stay open. It's in a town with a plan to revamp more than just the school.
People used to push paper in Alcolu's old Georgia-Pacific office, but Bishop D.L. Johnson and his organization turned the building into a learning center for at-risk youth, a place to push hope.
"Our intention was to draw their mind away from it by creating a bright, beautiful atmosphere," Johnson.
The alternative school, known as the Mother Geneva Johnson Academy, caters to students who have had problems in public schools and at home.
The four-year-old Academy has already sent several students to USC. Have Faith is now trying to continue that success by raising money to bring the building into compliance with Clarendon County fire safety standards.
"We have to you know, replace doors and get a new system in the hallway," said Johnson. "That's why we're trying to raise the money to do that."
But the school's needs are just part of a much larger plan designed to inject new life into a community that's been lagging behind for many years.
"We want to have cabins all the way around," says Johnson. "There are big lakes of water off the back part of this where we have fishing and row-boating.
The non-profit has bought a huge swath of land along Highway 521 and near I-95.
Johnson and his followers are working to develop infrastructure for homes and businesses, residential care, recreational use and even a movie theater.
They've built a model home, and they've turned a dilapidated shed into a multi-purpose town center also known as the Lighthouse.
"You're going to look at this within the year, and you're going to see this being done within the year," says Johnson.
Bishop Johnson's organization won't have to depend on faith alone in order to get the ball rolling on those ambitious plans.
The USDA just awarded the group two rural business enterprise grants totaling $350,000.
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