Meet The Board: Charles B. Jordan Jr.
Charles B. Jordan Jr. (‘Charlie’), joined New Directions’ Board of Directors in 2015 as just another way to get involved in the community. “Somewhat accidentally, I got a fundraising letter from a fellow attorney and just decided to reach out and see if they wanted another lawyer on the board. I knew I needed to do something more and thought that this would be a good way to do something more…”
An alumnus of the College of William and Mary and the University of South Carolina School of Law, Charlie is currently a partner with the Pearce Law Group. Charlie, along with his wife Amy, have demonstrated an ever-increasing commitment to "do something more" at New Directions, through their volunteerism and generosity - with Charlie stepping in to provide legal counsel when needed. In 2021, he committed himself even more fully to the organization, as Board Chair. "You fall in love with the mission and the work we do on a daily basis… helping people who are enslaved to poverty, mental illness, addiction, bad luck, or bad choices, break out and become productive members of society."
Born and raised in Conway, SC, Charlie is no stranger to the prevalence of homelessness along the Grand Strand. “Homelessness is not something that a magic bullet solves... Everyone who is homeless has become homeless for their own unique reasons… We just have to try to give them the tools they need to overcome, to help them become the best they can be, whatever that looks like.” Since Charlie’s appointment as Board Chair, New Directions’ work to “help people become the best they can be” has expanded to include recovery outreach, 12 step based peer-led classes and increased services to the chronically homeless. Charlie also played a pivotal role in securing funds for our Men’s Shelter 2nd Floor Expansion project, which added space for 48 additional clients.
Yet more work remains ahead. “Over the past 6-8 years since I’ve been on the board, we have gained the knowledge and experience of how to really help our homeless neighbors. What I’m looking forward to in the next several years is expanding our facilities so that we can better help the Myrtle Beach community with the homeless population. We’re in a good spot with how we help people, but we want to be in a better spot with how we can help the community...We’ve seen the negative impacts of homelessness in other cities and communities across the country. The question is, how can we proactively help Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand avoid that? How do we work with the city, the business owners, and our homeless neighbors to address homelessness right now? That’s our next step.”
Beyond his roles at New Directions, Charlie is also very active in his faith community, Episcopal Church of the Messiah, and volunteers with the Boys & Girls Club of the Grand Strand and Freedom Readers. As a father of two, it comes as no surprise that he is passionate about our efforts to help families with children experiencing a crisis of homelessness. “Having children myself, I know that navigating the school system can be difficult, but having to navigate that with 30 children - I can’t even imagine. It takes an advocate to ensure that every kid gets the services they need and the work that Danielle (Danielle Walters, Family Services Director) does with the children is amazing.”
And, Charlie is very passionate about the stories we tell. “We have a lot of awesome stories to tell of people that were homeless that are now fully integrated back into society. The ones I’m most proud of are the people who have found a job for the first time in maybe a decade, the ones that if we weren’t here, they wouldn’t be where they are today."
When telling New Directions’ story, Charlie often talks about the biblical parable of ‘The Good Samaritan’. “I’ve always looked at how what we do goes back to the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan finds the injured man on the side of the road, brings him to the Innkeeper, and pays to support the man’s care. The Innkeeper then takes the injured person and brings them back to health. Our community is the Samaritan, New Directions is the Innkeeper, and the people we serve are the injured man. We need both to truly make a difference.”
We are grateful for the unique role of both “Samaritan” and “Innkeeper” that Charlie holds through his role as Board Chair and look forward to New Directions' future development under his leadership to help more people “become the best that they can be".