The center recently hosted Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS, as one of the stops on his ongoing pastoral visit across the Diocese of Charleston.

For Meredith Dyer, a student at John Paul II High School in Ridgeland, the path to a scholarship ran through a free tutoring program she found almost by accident. After hearing about it from her school counselor, she registered online through Lowcountry Outreach, a ministry of St. Peter Church in Beaufort. Volunteer instructors started her with an assessment test to pinpoint where she needed help, then walked her through weekly sessions after school for two months.

When Dyer retested in March, her SAT score had climbed enough to qualify her for the South Carolina Life Scholarship. She credits the jump to the free tutoring she received at the center.

Her story is becoming less the exception and more the rule at Lowcountry Outreach, which has spent three years building itself into what its mission calls "a vital conduit between community service organizations and volunteers," a single, centralized place where people can find support, help and healing.

Growing the tutoring program

Starting this fall, Lowcountry Outreach will expand its free SAT tutoring to two locations: its existing site on Lady's Island and a new one at Whale Branch Early College High School in Seabrook. Program leaders added the Whale Branch site after recognizing that transportation was keeping many students from reaching Lady's Island for sessions, so volunteer tutors agreed to come to them instead.

Each site will serve up to 20 students per session, split evenly between math and English tutoring. With two locations running two sessions each this fall, the program will have the capacity to help 80 students.

The first session begins Tuesday, Aug. 25, meeting Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. through Sept. 30, ahead of the Oct. 3 SAT date. The second session runs Oct. 13 through Dec. 2, in preparation for the Dec. 5 test date. Registration is on its website.

A growing roster of partners

Roughly 25 nonprofits now work with Lowcountry Outreach in some capacity. The building holds six dedicated offices, five of them filled by partner organizations, alongside shared meeting space that keeps a steady rotation of support groups moving through its doors.

Among the newer additions is A Father's Place, part of the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families Fatherhood initiative, which began looking to expand into Beaufort County in 2025. Regional Director Curtis Hopkins said the ministry has since supported more than 100 men in the Beaufort area through father and peer support groups and monthly parenting workshops. It recently hired a full-time employee to work out of the facility. Its second graduation ceremony honoring men who completed the program was held at the center on July 16.

Lowcountry Legal Volunteers, which has served Beaufort County for 26 years, said operating out of the center has allowed it to reach more than half its clients from Northern Beaufort County alone. The organization closed 320 cases last year, providing more than $3 million in free legal services to lower-income residents.
Angel Rides, a transportation ministry run entirely by donors and volunteer drivers, has provided more than 850 rides to neighbors headed to medical appointments and other programs at the center. Volunteers say the rides often grow into lasting relationships with the people they drive.

Other partners include Family Promise, which offers housing assistance to prevent and end homelessness for families with children, and All Aboard Beaufort, a coalition working to keep local youth away from alcohol and marijuana. The group, funded through a federal Drug Free Communities grant, recently opened a pop-up escape room at the Outreach, teaching young adults and families about substance use through hands-on challenges.

Support for every stage of life

A support group for parents estranged from their adult children, a phenomenon facilitator Mary Jo Hartley said research estimates affects at least a quarter of American families, has grown from a single meeting into two weekly gatherings at the center, drawing more than 80 participants in one recent month alone. The group has since spread to St. Gregory the Great Parish and is fielding inquiries from as far as Hilton Head.

The full list of support groups meeting at the center includes Memory Matters, which offers weekly four-hour respite care for those living with dementia; South Carolina Thrive Benefit Counselors; Catholic Spiritual Direction; the Gullah Traveling Theater Dream Program; Al-Anon and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in English, Spanish and for young adults; American Red Cross blood drives; 12 Steps and the Sacraments; GriefShare; Madison's Miracles, for parents grieving the loss of a child; Guitars for Vets; Good Neighbor Free Medical Clinic; United Way of the Lowcountry; Adaptive Golf Experience; and SOAR Special Recreation.

Heritage Library and the Lowcountry Gullah Foundation partner to help local families trace their lineages, document property histories, and fight to protect generational heirs' property. These Hilton Head organizations also keep office space at the center.

Getting involved

Anyone looking to access Lowcountry Outreach's services, or any nonprofit interested in offering services at the center, can contact Director Lisa Daly at 843-212-0692 or director@lowcountryoutreach.org.

The center is located at 80 Lady's Island Drive in Beaufort. A full list of support groups and services is available at lowcountryoutreach.org, and updates can be found on Facebook and Instagram @lowcountryoutreach.