PROSPERITY, S.C. — When school lets out in Prosperity, McKeva Kinard-Shelton and Angela Baxter welcome students in.
"They don't have anywhere to go," said Baxter. "We have public parks, but it's just a park. Our rec department is really just for certain sports. We don't have anything where the kids can gather together and have fun."
Baxter and Kinard-Shelton's nonprofit Women on a Mission is filling in the gap of child care and after school programs in Newberry County. As mothers themselves, they've experienced barriers like transportation and cost.
"We don't want transportation to be your problem. So if we have to make 10 trips to get the kids here, That's what we do," said Kinard.
Kinard said after school programs in Prosperity can cost between $60 to $75 a week per child. Women on A Mission started charging a weekly flat fee of $35.
"When I found out the 35 dollars wasn’t feasible for them, we went to it being free all together," said Kinard. "and if they wanted to contribute anything like snacks that would be fine with us."
The two teach students entrepreneurship, financial literacy and conflict resolution.
"They sign in, they get their snack, they go to their desk, and they get their homework out and I go around we check to see what they’re supposed to be doing," said Baxter.
Patrick Darty was once involved with a gang as a teenager and is now a mentor to the many teens in the after school program.
"I'd like to be able to get them on a path to where they don't have to go through some of the pain and some of the struggles i went through and they can bypass that and go straight to whatever they want to do," said Darty.
Their program comes at a time when after school programs are unavailable to many.
According to a study by the After School Alliance, more than 24 million children would be enrolled in an after school program if it were available to them.
Thirty students are enrolled in the program, with ages ranging from 6 to 16.To sign up, parents need to fill out a waiver and an allergy sheet.
If parents are interested in signing up, contact McKeva Kinard at woamministry@gmail.com.
Women On A Mission also runs a transitional home for women experiencing domestic violence. The organization survives off donations from friends, family, and the community.