In Awe at the End of 2025

You know, it is a bit of a joke in our office that I write LONG letters to send to you all at the end of each year. And a number of us, myself included, find it kind of a wonder that some of you actually read the entire thing from beginning to end.

Here we are again, at the end of 2025. And I find myself standing in awe of more than just the fact that some of you, dear people, will read each word of this epistle. When I slow down and look back over this remarkable year, I stand in awe of how the effort to be consistent and resilient over so many years is producing fruit that is beyond anything any one of us could ask or imagine. This year has been a year of growth and transformation on every level of our work at Metanoia.

Chef Reggie Miller teaches scholars how to prep meals on a budget.

In many ways, Metanoia’s youth programs began to grow for the first time since the pandemic. We saw gradually expanding enrollment through the spring and fall of 2025, and a doubling of enrollment for our summer Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School. I’ve been proud of our middle school students in particular for taking on more service-learning projects this fall and getting active around issues of food insecurity, gun violence, and homelessness. We have a truly great team of college-aged students working with young people who go above and beyond on a regular basis to mentor youth and nurture them into becoming leaders themselves.

I stand in awe of how Metanoia has become a place of intergenerational leadership, where leaders are mentoring and supporting one another at every age.

Our housing work grew as well. As 2025 comes to a close, we are completing 10 new homes in Chicora and finishing repairs on five homes for homeowners on a low, fixed income. Metanoia was profiled on SCETV for a statewide panel discussion around housing, joined by our Chief Operating Officer, Jamilla Harper. There is nothing I do at Metanoia that gives me more joy than sitting across the table at a lawyer’s office to sell a home to a first-time homebuyer. It is always such a joy to learn the homebuyer’s story and see their excitement at achieving a goal they have worked hard toward, often for years.

One recent buyer was LaAsia Manuel, who brought her elementary school-aged daughter along to experience the family’s first home purchase. It was brilliant of Ms. Manuel to invite her next generation into the process. I could sense in the questions her daughter was asking that her own expectation of future homeownership was budding right before my eyes. Or maybe her daughter was just excited that she was finally going to be getting the kitten her mom promised once they became homeowners. Ms. Manuel was kind enough to record a brief word of appreciation to us once her home had sold. I stand in awe of new families who are rewarding our hard work — and the support from funders like the SC Ports Authority, the City of North Charleston, and Cummins — by building a life for themselves and further growing a healthy community in Chicora and beyond.

Many have asked how the massive changes in federal funding and policy have affected us at Metanoia. We did see one federal grant canceled prematurely. It was from the National Endowment for the Arts and was centered around community storytelling. In this age where there is increased investment and gentrification pressure in the community, we are finding it essential to gather and communicate the rich history and culture that has always been here so it can be honored and respected in the midst of change.

Reynolds Homecoming 2025 in Chicora.

We value this work so much that we continued it despite the loss of federal funding. It helped us listen and learn from longtime leaders in the neighborhood and culminated in two great events this fall. First, we gathered with community leaders and local partners for a block party with a purpose — Reynolds Homecoming. It was a lovely celebration of community, with so many leaders enjoying time together and embodying the vibrant and beautiful neighborhood of people we have always recognized at Metanoia. That was followed by a Live Well Luncheon, where more than 275 of us gathered to reflect on the critical role history and culture play in living well. At both of these events, I found myself standing in wonder at how much generativity and life the work of Metanoia breeds, and how many amazing people are willing to work alongside us. The work itself has become a positive force that is greater than any one of us could muster alone.

That generativity is deeper than wins and losses. It produces in us the capacity to learn and grow through the losses just as much as the wins. Nothing illustrates that truth more this year than the fact that in November we finally closed on the $37.4 million of financing it will take to renovate the Old Chicora Elementary School as the new home to Cristo Rey High School. Construction has now begun and will continue for the next 16 months so that the school can accept its first class of 100 freshmen in the fall of 2027. We’ve come a long way since a fire destroyed part of the school and derailed the project through three years of legal battles. But all along the way, we found support and care from so many, including the Joye Law Firm, who helped us get the project back on track. Looking back, I stand most in awe of the fact that I would not trade all the ups and downs and difficulties of this project. I see now how the struggle to keep going was making us all better and stronger with each step along the way.

So as we share another Annual Report for this year and look toward 2026, we promise to still be here. We hope to finish a new strategic plan early next year that our friends at Cummins helped us begin this year. We will continue walking with families, listening constantly in order to build on their strengths and release their brilliance. We will continue to reject the barriers that may limit their possibilities or progress. And we will continue to work with the truly AWEsome staff, board, and supporters that make up the Metanoia community to build a better future in the midst of change.

We are so deeply grateful for so many of you who continue to support this work, and to our longtime supporters at Landmark Construction, who have provided a generous matching gift so that your giving through the end of this year will be matched 1:1 up to $100,000. We are proud to say that Metanoia is achieving its 20th consecutive clean audit and carries the highest management and transparency ratings from the two national charitable third-party ratings services. We are in awe of the trust so many of you show us through your generosity, and we will continue to work very hard to be good stewards of that trust.

I have grown to see that the proper stance of this unfolding we call Metanoia is less one of certainty than of authentic awe. It is what we see represented so beautifully in the Christmas story, and it is what you all inspire in me each day at Metanoia. Thank you, and I hope you and your families have a lovely and meaningful start to the new year!

Rev. Bill Stanfield
Chief Executive Officer