Black History Month: Nicholtown native Chandra Dillard’s 20+ years of public service

Furman celebrates Black History Month
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Furman Director of Community Relations Chandra Dillard is working to shore up affordable housing in Greenville and beyond with a hammer in one hand and a pen in the other. As State Representative for District 23 and with the 125th General Assembly in full swing, she said, “Every session, I’ve been able to get bills passed that give housing authorities and their partners tax credits or tax exemptions, if they team together on affordable housing. When we see what other communities do, we work at the state level to make it happen. It takes for-profit, non-profit, state government, all of us deliberately collaborating on this issue.” Dillard’s comments appear in Greenville Journal’s coverage of Black History Month.

The article includes her efforts to preserve her legacy homestead in Nicholtown, on land that was formerly part of a plantation. Commenting on the importance of collaborations for getting things done, she said, “We’ve put 350 people back into the community. Habitat just put up its 400th home. I’ve supported bills that have been part of inclusionary zoning. That’s an important tool in the toolbox.”

Two videos are embedded in the piece. In the first, Dillard speaks about her passion for affordable housing “before it was cool,” and her longstanding record of service toward equitable housing access. In the second video, several friends and associates comment on her behalf as an inductee to the 2022 Greenville County Schools Hall of Fame. Her 10-year plight to restore the Hampton Avenue Pedestrian Bridge is highlighted.