Supporters of My Community’s Keeper assisted a new nonprofit founder, Keith Smalls, and his fledgling nonprofit in the process of professionalizing while interest in programming is growing. Our group assisted in strategic planning to identify areas of immediate need, including volunteer and staff orientation and creating a grant writing toolkit. With moving forward, the organization is ready to submit a funding application and use shared templates to orient new staff and volunteers. This will help Keith Smalls, founder of My Community’s Keeper, sustain the new organization.  

He created the Charleston-based nonprofit with a deep desire to improve communities in the Lowcountry. His expertise comes from a place of deep knowledge of which he speaks. After getting arrested at the age of 21, Keith spent 19 of the next 21 years of his life in the Department of Corrections. While serving time, Keith worked as a teacher’s assistant and mentored youthful offenders. One year after release, Mr. Smalls’ only son was a casualty of gun violence in North Charleston’s Dorchester-Waylyn neighborhood at the age of 17. This act of violence motivated him to make a lasting impact beginning with Basketball after Dark, a partnership and program he developed with the North Charleston Police Department. The initial program and network of support have grown significantly.

Learn more about their work at mycommunityskeepermentorgroup.com