Columbia’s ‘4 Block’ Promise initiative to build safer, connected communities

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia has announced a new initiative to expand its footprint while creating opportunities to increase engagement and community connections in struggling areas. The plan is to do this block by block–literally.

“We are going to partner with our community leaders. We are going to partner with our neighborhood associations. We will make differences in our communities through this initiative,” said Trevon Fordham, the director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement in Columbia.

Columbia officials said it plans to keep the ‘4 Block’ Promise, an initiative to create opportunities, connections, and engagement in the city’s most needy areas through faith-based partners. Program partners will host community events, provide volunteer opportunities, and collaborate on other safety and engagement efforts.

“Usually, individuals go in and out our place of worship, two, three, or four or more times a week,” Fordham said. “They get refilled. They get recharged. They get to fellowship. They get to interact with other congregants, other people, in their place of worship. Those are individuals that we may not see at a city council meeting or that we may not see as we, the city,  interact with every day. That’s why this initiative was so important — the connection to tap into individuals that we may not come across that come through our places of worship almost every day.”

According to the City of Columbia, there are 1,300 religious institutions across the city, each with the opportunity to become a partner in this project. However, the city says it will focus on areas with the highest violence first, with partners providing outreach within four blocks of their houses of worship.

“When we know collaborating is working: Crime, violent crimes down. Shootings down. Auto break-ins are down. Why? Technology, training and collaboration — the things that are happening now,” Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann said. “This is just going to enhance because now we know people, places and behavior, right? We know where that is today. Now, we got to work on the preventative.”

Five churches have already joined the initiative and will work to provide a space for community members to connect. Gill Creek Baptist Church is one of them. Others include Eau Claire Baptist Church, Temple Zion Baptist Church, and Reformation Lutheran Church.

“When I think about faith-based initiatives, I think about all the churches coming together, working towards a common cause because we all have some of the same issues, particularly when we look at our communities in and where we serve,” said James Woodley, the senior pastor at Gill Creek.

Pastor Woodley said community members around the church face issues such as crime, affordable housing, and access to grocery stores.

“My vision, and the church is so behind this: How can we be an imprint in the community in which we live? We do have some parishioners who live in the community, but then we don’t,” he said. “If you ask someone what church is in that community, we want them to say, ‘Oh, Gill Creek’s in that community, and these are some — this is why we know Gill Creek is in that community,’” he said.

Church officials said they’ve conducted community feedings, participated in hurricane relief efforts, and helped community members recover. Participating in this effort will only continue that work.

“We are the hands and feet of the gospel, and it is it has been said in numerous occasions, the best sermon is not heard, but the best sermon is seen. That’s what I want us to be,” Pastor Woodley said.

The city of Columbia says this initiative is still in its planning stages, but over the next twelve weeks, they will meet with faith-based leaders to create their outreach plans.