This year Soteria celebrates 25 years of helping the formerly incarcerated reintegrate back into society after incarceration.
Join Soteria for an evening of storytelling, art, music, and fellowship as we honor the past and future of this organization that has been breaking generational cycles of poverty and recidivism through housing, education, employment, affirmation, and advocacy services for men and women just released from prison.
Attire: Cocktail
Cash Bar
Light hors d'oeuvres will be served.
About the Musicians:
Internationally renowned jazz violinist, Christian Howes, will lead a jazz ensemble including pianist Lovell Bradford, bassist Shannon Hoover of the Jazz Collective, & drummer Justin Watts to entertain and to acompany the evening of storytelling and poetry.
About the Art:
OYÉ Artists Signe & Genna Grushovenko, Patricia DeLeon, and Rey Alfonso offered to incorporate an OYÉ exhibit at our upcoming fundraiser celebrating 25 Years of Soteria.
Each of the OYÉ artists created an original piece in honor of Soteria's work that will be for sale, and they will donate a portion of their proceeds to Soteria. Prints of each piece will also be for sale, and 100% of those proceeds, along with the collaboration with Rey, will be donated to our event.
Rey Alfonso invited the men in our job training program, Soteria at Work, to collaborate on a large piece to auction for the event. Our guys built the canvas out of reclaimed wood, delivered it to Rey, and then worked with him, creating layers of artifacts, writing, paint, and symbolism.
The art featured above is an original work by the Grushovenkos created for this event.
(Oyé Studios is a group of 12 artists and one interior designer sharing space in a former church in the north Main neighborhood.)
About our Emcee:
Bernie Mazyck is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development. SCACED is the state’s trade association and funding intermediary for Community Development Corporations, Community Development Financial Institutions, an grassroots economic development organizations.
Bernie also served as the chief architect of the passage of the South Carolina Community Economic Development Act. This landmark piece of legislation authorizes the South Carolina General Assembly to provide grants, loans and tax credits to certified community economic development organizations in South Carolina.
Bernie is the 2004 recipient of the Order of the Silver Crescent from former Governor Mark Sanford and the 2014 recipient of the Order of the Palmetto from former Governor Nikki Haley. The Order of the Palmetto is the state’s highest civilian honor for service to the state. Recently, Bernie received the Diane Sterner Leadership Award in 2020 and the Community Leadership Award from the SC Commission for Minority Affairs and in 2024, the Joseph P. Riley Leadership Award.
Getting There:
Judson Mill is home to Loft apartments as well as event and retail space. Be sure to enter from 2nd Avenue in order to access our venue. Once you pull into the parking lot, "Annex" signage is on the building, and will direct you to the correct entrance:
A Note from our Founder:
It's hard to believe that in March of 1999, I walked through the doors of Abbeville County Prison after completing only three and a half years of a twenty year sentence. As I look back over the years, many people thought I would not make it. As you can imagine, there was no funding or support in place for nonprofits who serve men and women with criminal backgrounds. The only thing I had was a word: Habakkuk 2:2-4.
"Then the Lord answered me and said, “Write down the special dream on stone so that one may read it in a hurry. For it is not yet time for it to come true. The time is coming in a hurry, and it will come true. If you think it is slow in coming, wait for it. For it will happen for sure, and it will not wait. As for the proud one, his soul is not right in him. But the one who is right and good will live by his faith."
Yeah, I know. Jailhouse Religion! Look at the last sentence in that verse: But the one who is right and good will live by faith. Living right is living righteous. Living righteous is a right standing with God, meaning that once we make the decision to follow Christ, we live in Him and He makes us righteous. I am asked often, “How do you do this?” Well, it's my faith: believing in something that I can not see. It propels me to do the right thing: to love God and to love people.
It’s that simple.
Faith is contagious:
Over the past 25 years, we have had countless volunteers and staff give their time to make the vision for Soteria to come to pass. A vision is a partnership, a partnership with like-minded individuals who want the best for the community they serve. A vision needs resources. We are so thankful for those who believed in the vision and gave faithfully and continue to give. Thank you! A vision requires courage. Courage to move on when society says no. Courage to build when there are no finances. Courage to hope when it looks hopeless. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Faith is Soteria!
In closing, Soteria is the Greek word for salvation. The word literally means rescue or safety from (physical or moral) harm, deliver, health, save, saving. This is what we do 365 days a year. We advocate for those and their families who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. We transform the lives of men and women through community development, serving them through housing, employment, education, advocacy, and affirmation. This is the work that we are called to do. Thank you for partnering with us. We have a great year planned as we celebrate 25 years. Stay tuned for more details.
- Jerry
JERRY BLASSINGAME, FOUNDER & CEO
Calling all friends of Soteria!
Have you been a part of our 25 years? We're collecting stories & photos, and would love to hear from program participants, volunteers, staff, partners, or anyone who has been impacted by our work. Reach out through the links below:
