Agente Hipotecario in Moncks Corner, SC

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCIV) — One Berkeley County couple's effort to change lives is growing. Cliff and Katrina Booker have spent the past 10 years helping out in the foster parent system.

They created the non-profit Angel Wings Foundation Incorporated and have now moved to a bigger and less rural location on Main Street in Moncks Corner.

Cliff said, "It's all about access. So, when they say 'location, location, location,' location means a lot a lot when it comes to access."

The Bookers said through their efforts and the help of others, hundreds of children have been helped.

READ MORE | "Berkeley County Coroner addresses rise in pedestrian fatalities"

"They said it was hard for them to place young ladies into foster care. So, we said 'if that's the case then that's what we're going to focus on.'"Cliff said. "So I started with foster caring, and elevating and elevating, created a network with other foster families and we said we could host it ourselves and do something about it."

The Main Street location is a 2,400 square foot home that'll house a maximum of 10 young ladies at a time. Cliff and Katrina hope the home will be filled with love, faith and the tools for the foster children to better their lives.

"And that's what I want to share with the kids. that opportunity just to say that 'you're not what your situation are, there are things that are greater inside of you that'll help you over-come those things,'" he said.

The family has self-financed a lot of their mission, but said continued community support through prayer and donations will be helpful.

READ MORE | "Berkeley County to host first of three job fairs on September 4"

"90% of it, me and my wife we used our retirement fund, and our retirement, we're all in. we put everything that we had into this and the community has come out, we have fundraising," he added.

The first foster children in the new home are expected to arrive in the coming months.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - A Berkeley County foster care organization is helping children in the foster system as they face many challenges during the home placement process.

The Angel Wings Foundation Incorporated expanded to better support young girls in the foster care system. The organization recently received licensing to house up to 10 children overnight at their facility at 121 East Main Street in Moncks Corner.

The care group is opening their doors to the public for an open house at the facility on Wednesday. Visitors can join leaders from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The goal of the expansion is to provide a home-like environment for young girls between the ages of 12 to 21 as they transition between foster homes. Foundation leaders say this work gives more children access to their network of families and resources such as mentorship and counseling.

The South Carolina Department of Social Services reports 406 children in the foster care system across the Tri-County areas. Girls make up 43% of those numbers with 176 in the system.

The federal collaboration Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs states young people in the care system face many disruptive events as they head into adulthood. They face issues such as multiple home placements, neglect and lack of continuity of education which impacts social and emotional development.

Foundation leaders say children and foster families can be an unfit match which leaves children going to multiple homes. Booker says they saw the need for support with girls in their home. Now that goal continues with the expansion.

“A lot of young ladies, when they reach that development stage a lot of foster parents choose not to deal with them for personal reasons or for whatever reasons so we started taking them in,” Booker says. “That’s what became our go-to, like, ‘Hey if she can’t make it over there, we’ll take her over here.”

Booker says this work is only one phase in the group’s game plan. A similar facility for boys is in the works for the next four years.

Organization founders Clifton Booker and his wife Katrena Booker started opening their homes to young girls 10 years ago. Booker experienced the foster care system at a young age where he entered multiple placement homes. His background in foster care and finding a supportive adult inspired the facility’s family-like environment. Booker aims to share the sentiment with children.

“Foster care is not who you are, its just something a part of you but it can be something you can turn into greatness,” Booker says. “That’s what I believe is what we’re doing right now.”

Another goal for the organization is transitional living for children that age out of the care system at 18. The federal collaboration interagency states children who age out of the system with support from caring adults face issues such as unstable housing, justice system involvement along with lack of education and employment. Children receiving stable support and access to resources improve outcomes in their adult lives.

This work is to continue support including apartment housing as long as the youth maintains education in college or university, trade skills or military services.

“Whenever they go to college and spring break happens, rather than them looking around and saying ‘Okay I’m in school now, school is on break, where do I go?’. We’re here,” Booker says. “You come to us. Angel Wings was not just because you turned 18. Once you turn 18, you’re with us…just like if you was like my biological child. Just because you turned 18 and you go to college…come on home.”

Group leaders are looking for volunteers and to fill positions to grow their facility. You can visit their website or contact 843-719-1074.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Updated: Aug. 22, 2024 at 5:03 PM PDT

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - A construction group has been chosen by the Town of Moncks Corner to build an all-inclusive playground.

A large piece of land in the town’s recreation complex adjacent to one of the baseball fields will soon be the home to a playground for kids and adults of all abilities.

“We are a big hub for recreation,” Mayor Thomas Hamilton Jr. said. “So, I think it says a lot that our town is invested in recreation. We want our citizens to have somewhere really beautiful and safe to come and enjoy themselves.”

The total cost for this project is right at $3.9 million. $1 million of that came from a grant last year, and the rest is coming from American Rescue Pan Act funds and the town itself.

Hamilton says the final price point put them $900,000 over budget from what they had originally planned, but they want this done right and have money in an account for projects like this one they can pull from. He says town officials past and present are passionate about this playground and want it done right.

“We said this project is so important to the Town of Moncks Corner and its residents that we will take the money and do this right,” Hamilton said. “I think that’s a testament of our council to say that we aren’t going to do it halfway, we are going to get it right the first time.”

The current playground equipment near the space will be moved to Lacey Park, but not until the construction for the new one is completed.

“The play structure for the all-inclusive playground is going to allow those in a wheelchair to be able to go up in the play structures and play,” Hamilton said. “The swings will be a combination so that if you’re in a wheelchair you’ll be able to swing. We’re also going to have a zipline.”

One resident who brings her granddaughter to play at the recreation complex often says this project is needed.

“The town is growing so much especially the last several years,” Margaret Hill said. “We have a young population with young kids and I think this is a great improvement for the small town. The little siblings of the kids that are here playing sports need an outlet too.”

Hamilton says they are looking to break ground this fall and are hoping for a July or August completion.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Here’s an up-to-date list of all NFL Players from Berkeley High School in Moncks Corner, SC.

The list includes only those players who have played in an NFL game.

See where it ranks among other schools in the state here.

NFL Players from Berkeley HS

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com

A home at 121 E. Main St. in Moncks Corner is now renovated to help those in undesirable situations. Angel Wings Foundation Inc.’s motto is “Our Heart is Their Home,” and the couple who started it has long been a part of the foster family dynamic.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place Wednesday, Sept. 4, outside the 2,400-square-foot home in downtown Moncks Corner. Minus the balloons and the fanfare from the event, those passing by wouldn’t know the house had such a purpose. The gray-colored home with white trim and a large porch will welcome those marginalized in the foster care system.

Clifton Booker and his wife, Katrina, have been caring for foster children for more than 12 years. Clifton has been a part of the process a little longer, as he was a foster child himself. As he went through the system, he recalled not realizing its effect on him until he began the journey to open Angel Wings.

“I had my moments in foster care it had an impact on my life,” he said. “But it was one of those things that when I went through it, it was in the back of my mind.”

His mother-in-law, whom they lived beside at the time, began fostering children, and everything changed after that as the couple began to spend time with the kids. They then began to foster at their home in Longridge, South Carolina.

“It kind of sparked a fire back because it reminded me of the special foster families that I dealt with,” Clifton said.

The goal of Angel Wings is to offer services to help and empower at-risk youth and provide a safe living environment for underprivileged, at-risk adolescent girls who are often on the periphery of those fostering.

“In the coming months, we will be housing 10 young ladies in this facility,” Katrina said.

The decision to put more effort into teen and adolescent girls came after the couple learned they were often bouncing around from home to home inside the system.

“When we asked them about it, they said it was hard to keep young ladies in foster care, so we decided if that’s the case, then that is what we are going to focus on,” Clifton said. “If there is a need, we are going to try and help.”