ABOUT
PEE DEE COALITION

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. The coalition is one of the 16 rape crisis centers and 13 domestic violence organizations in the state. 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 a batterer’s program, Alternatives to Violence.

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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.