In North Charleston, there is a historically Black community known as the Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood. Often referred to as the “Neck” of the Charleston region, the area carries deep historical roots connected to formerly enslaved people who settled there following the Civil War and Emancipation.

For generations, descendants shaped the neighborhoods, industries, and schools that defined the community. Yet despite the strength of those roots, residents also faced decades of disinvestment and significant barriers to economic mobility. By 2000, South Carolina Census data showed that the Chicora-Cherokee community had one of the highest concentrations of childhood poverty in the state.

In 2002, Ministers Evelyn Oliveira and Bill Stanfield founded Metanoia, a nonprofit organization, to help change that trajectory.

Photo Source: https://www.metanoiasc.org/youth-leadership

Metanoia is a Community Development Corporation rooted in neighborhood leadership and in goals identified by North Charleston residents themselves: safe and nurturing spaces for children, quality, affordable housing, and the economic re-energizing of historically disinvested neighborhoods.

Homeownership remains a central part of Metanoia’s work. However, as the Charleston region continues to grow, rising home prices and limited inventory have made it increasingly difficult for longtime residents and first-time homebuyers to remain in the community.

Metanoia partners with donors and community organizations to develop and build quality homes that are sold to buyers earning 80 percent or less of the area median income (AMI), many purchasing for the first time. To preserve affordability for future generations, these homes include restrictive covenants designed to protect the public and philanthropic investment over time.

Put simply, Metanoia ensures that community members can buy quality homes at a price they can afford and works to keep them that way for decades to come.

Following the success of more than 20 homes developed across North Charleston neighborhoods, the organization launched a new initiative in the Accabee Neighborhood to build seven additional single-family homes.

Metanoia needed a construction loan to complete the development, which was otherwise fully funded. While exploring traditional financing, longtime supporters identified an opportunity to partner with Abundance Capital instead. With philanthropically sourced capital, Abundance could provide a more flexible structure and a significantly lower interest rate.

What began with one new Abundance Angel quickly grew into a broader collaborative effort across the Charleston community. Ultimately, 15 donors came together to facilitate a total investment of $1 million, the largest collaborative investment in Abundance Capital’s history at the time.

Inspiration to Do More Good Grows

Several of the Charleston-based Angels involved were already looking toward what could come next. They enjoyed working together so much that they decided to form a fund to do these kinds of loans and investments regularly. The newly minted Lowcountry Impact Fund, hosted by Abundance, will pursue similar investment opportunities in the region using their donor-advised funds.

In many ways, the collaboration associated with this project reflected a belief that has long guided Metanoia’s work. As quoted in the organization’s 2024 impact report: “true change–metanoia–grows best when it is rooted in what’s already here.”