ABOUT
PEE DEE COALITION
24-Hour Crisis Lines
Toll-Free 1-800-273-1820
Local – 1-843-669-4600
Mission
Pee Dee Coalition is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the reduction of sexual assault, family violence, and child abuse and to the needs of victims.
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Philosophy
It is the belief of the Pee Dee Coalition that the reduction of family violence, sexual assault, and child abuse is a community issue and concerns the total community—not only women—not only service providers—but all who value the basic human desire to be free from physical threat and harm.
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Vision
Through the efforts of Pee Dee Coalition in its entirety, the region will be a safer, more compassionate community
HISTORY.
In the winter and spring of 1986, the Lake City area of Florence County encountered a series of rapes and random attacks on the community’s citizens. The image of a small and safe hometown was transformed; no longer did the residents feel safe. No longer were neighbors comfortable visiting one another, chatting over the fence, or walking around in the evenings. People were fearful, and many lost the ability to feel safe in their own homes.
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It was out of this crisis that Pee Dee Coalition was born. In July of that year, a meeting was held at First Presbyterian Church in Florence where the first board was organized and elected a president. Members determined that the Coalition would address all three victim issues (family violence, child abuse, and sexual assault) and would initially serve three counties – Florence, Darlington, and Marion.
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From this humble beginning, the Pee Dee Coalition blossomed as a leader in the crime victim services arena in South Carolina. Included in our victim services we operate a multidisciplinary child advocacy center and a comprehensive child abuse prevention program as a part of our programming. Additionally, we have a family violence program that includes prevention efforts by offering an offender-intervention program, Alternatives to Violence and Caring Dads™.
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The Coalition now works in eight counties: Florence, Darlington, Marion, Dillon, Chesterfield, Marlboro, Williamsburg, and, most recently, Sumter. For 37 years now, the Coalition has provided services for thousands of victims and survivors in the Pee Dee Region.
COUNTIES WE SERVE
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