The Center provides services to a six-county area along the coast of South Carolina in a geographic and cultural region called the Lowcountry. According to the South Carolina Budget and Control Board's Office of Research and Statistics, in 2008, our service area had a population of 894,671, which is 20% of the 4,479,800 population of South Carolina. Our service area population is 69% White and 31% Black and Other.

According to the 2000 Census, 11% of the families in the Center's service area live below the poverty level. This number is deceptive; there are 25% of Black families living below the poverty level in comparison to 5% of the Whites. Although 73% of this population resides within urban areas, every county except Charleston County has more than 27% of their population residing in rural areas (e.g., 45% of Georgetown County's residents live in rural areas and 74% of those in Colleton County).

Today, South Carolina's coastal areas are no longer isolated or abandoned. Rather, with current trends of southern migration and economic growth spurred by the state's burgeoning tourism industry, the coastal areas have been the target of expansive commercial and resort development. Throughout the South, land loss among African Americans has reached alarming rates. This problem is exacerbated in coastal communities undergoing commercial and resort development.

There are unique challenges in the Lowcountry where equitable growth must accommodate both urban redevelopment and sprawl into rural areas. Suburban sprawl has increased development pressures in rural areas. Further complicating land issues in the area are the selling off of major tracts of rural land by large corporations to create business and residential developments. These major developments, which are adjacent to communities of African Americans, exacerbate land ownership conditions for these rural Africa American land owners. An undetermined amount of prime rural parcels of land are held as heirs' property among African Americans. Information obtained from the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments reveals that there is at least 14,000 acres of heirs' property in the rural areas of Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. These vulnerable lands are often targets for development through the operation of partition sales. Moreover, as heirs' property owners seek agreements to divide property among their families, they may face planning challenges with regard to water and sewer infrastructure and development restrictions. Learn more about our service area.