On the evening of September 27, nearly 1,000 people gathered at Maxwell Farms for a concert featuring Mac Powell (formerly of Third Day) with his full band and opener Holly Brand from NBC’s The Voice.

Many in the crowd also enjoyed the farm’s popular corn maze—an event canceled last year when Hurricane Helene struck just one day before opening.

“It was a lot of anxious anticipation,” said Brad Martin, Director of Maxwell Farms. “[Last year,] the day before we opened the corn maze and the concert, Hurricane Helene hit. It was very devastating.”

Hurricane Helene Recovery

For the past year, Connie Maxwell has been recovering from major tree damage sustained during Hurricane Helene.

“I’ve been here 25 years. I’ve been through ice storms and snowstorms and thunderstorms, nothing like that would even compare to the way it devastated us,” Martin recalled.

After first restoring the main campus back to normal—including repairs to two damaged cottages—the Connie Maxwell staff is now turning its attention to cleaning up the farm.

“About 60% of our farm is still down from the damage of Helene. But with volunteers and a lot of strong backs and minds and workers and all, we’ve got a good crew,” Martin said. “We’re getting it piece by piece.”

Behind-the-Scenes of the Corn Maze and Concert

Even without hurricane recovery efforts, much work goes into Maxwell Farm events.

According to Martin, there’s grass cutting, ordering the trash cans, setting up food trucks and crowd barriers, putting up tents and tiki torches around the pond, erecting parking lights, and even fire ant control.

For the corn maze, the planting starts the week before July 4—nearly three months ahead of the event.

“We plant a variety of corn that is 90 days mature. It’s made for corn mazes to be strong and withstand the wind and stay green for a long time,” Martin said. “We also plant about five acres of millet as a hedge.”

While the corn is still short enough to see over, workers mow and cut the initial maze path, usually a large circle. Each day after that, workers mow a different maze route with dead ends and loops.

Before opening day, Connie Maxwell alumnus Lee Foster leads a group of fellow alumni in creating a fun theme. This year, visitors encountered their decorations of mannequins in canoes placed throughout the maze—a unique touch that brought smiles to people’s faces.

For Martin, every bit of the hard work was worth it when he saw families winding through the maze’s intertwining paths and the concert crowd growing larger by the minute.

“It’s very exciting to see people coming across the dam, pick their spots to sit down and then the family fun enjoyment starts. You see the footballs start getting pulled out, the frisbees and things of that nature,” Martin described. “The closer it gets [to concert] time, you start seeing the vans and buses pull in with the talent, and they get on stage. You hear the cheering. … It seems like all of your hard work comes to fruition.”

More Than Fall Events: Chasing a Decade of Dreams

None of this fall’s successful corn maze and concert would have been possible without the generosity of 14 sponsors, including stage sponsors ACO Landscaping, LLC, Southern Benefit Systems and NewSpring Church, who together raised $62,000 to give children a brighter future through Connie Maxwell.

In total, this fall’s corn maze and concert raised nearly $100,000 for the Decade of Dreams campaign—a fundraising effort that includes reimagining Maxwell Farms with the construction of a new amphitheater.

Five years ago, Connie Maxwell began hosting concerts to boost operational revenue and build community awareness. With no tuition charged to the children in its care, the ministry depends on donor funds and earned income to sustain its group homes and family-care services.

“The only way we can grow is to increase our operational revenue,” said Connie Maxwell President Danny Nicholson. “It hit us that Maxwell Farms could not only be a great place for animals and therapies and just the beauty of a farm with history—but we could also create something that would be an alternative revenue source.”

Connie Maxwell has already had a master plan drawn up to transform Maxwell Farms into a destination for church retreats and groups. The vision includes a chapel, retreat center, amphitheater, cow and horse arena, leadership adventure course, and horse and bike trails. Even with this large vision, Connie Maxwell is committed to keeping a working farm while enhancing its use to care for more children.

For President Danny Nicholson, these initiatives—and especially the construction of the amphitheater—are about far more than fundraising.

“We want to educate people on our children and offer them a worship experience to remember,” Nicholson said. “The concert is like an open door to the future.”

 If you would like to learn more about our 10-year strategic plan, A Decade of Dreams, and the three initiatives—building a Healing Center, reimagining Maxwell Farms, and expanding our mission by creating a campus in the Charleston area—visit ForTheDreamsOfChildren.com.

The post Busy Corn Maze and Fall Concert Paves the Way for Reimagining Maxwell Farms appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.

Three years ago, NewSpring Church began the ForSC initiative with a desire to get more involved in their communities through partnerships—and Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries was one of their first calls.

“ForSC is our outward-facing plan to affect change in our communities for the good of the community and ultimately the advancement of the Gospel,” said Aiken Campus Pastor Matt Steelman.

With 13 campuses across the state, NewSpring Church decided the ForSC initiative would focus on three areas of impact through ministry partnerships: addiction and recovery, fostering and adoption, and unplanned pregnancy.

“We believe that if we could tackle these three areas, it would affect so many other ones—like homelessness, education, incarceration—the list goes on and on,” Steelman said. “Our vision as a church is that everyone everywhere would have an everyday relationship with Jesus. And that means going beyond who’s currently in our buildings on Sunday mornings and making a difference in our communities.”

With one of their campuses just three miles from Connie Maxwell’s main location in Greenwood, NewSpring’s shared passion to help children in need of foster care and adoption opened the door for Connie Maxwell to become one of their ForSC partners this fall.

While attending with his family, Jay Boyd (then Connie Maxwell’s Senior Vice President for Strategy and Engagement) built a connection with NewSpring’s leadership. Those conversations soon brought Brad Cooper, NewSpring’s Lead Pastor of Culture and Direction, to an understanding of the urgent needs—and extraordinary opportunities—at Connie Maxwell.

The ministry’s ability to serve foster families statewide and hands-on volunteer opportunities led to a conversation about participating in the ForSC initiative. What began as a local church relationship quickly grew into something far bigger: a kingdom-minded collaboration with a transformational impact on the lives of vulnerable children and families.

“Our partnership with NewSpring Church began through shared vision and relationship,” said Mike Blackwood, Connie Maxwell’s Director of Church Engagement. “From the beginning, it was clear we shared the same heartbeat—caring for children and families in Jesus’ name. This is now developing into a statewide, multi-year partnership built on mission and trust.”

From Partner Day to a Movement

On Sunday, November 2, Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries had representatives at all 11 NewSpring Church campuses for their Partner Day, a part of the ForSC initiative.

“It’s a really warm, smiley, engaging, we’re part of something bigger than ourselves day,” Steelman explained. “The ultimate aim is to bless our partners with more awareness and gain more volunteers, and just to be celebrated and prayed for.”

As partner representatives shared materials in NewSpring Church atriums, they were able to meet the people behind the church who give financially to their work and potentially volunteer. In turn, the special event gives church members the opportunity to get involved in local ministries—like Connie Maxwell.

Among the representatives was Blackwood, who attended NewSpring’s Myrtle Beach campus and enjoyed wonderful conversations with members and leaders throughout the morning.

“It was encouraging to see so many people genuinely interested in what God is doing through Connie Maxwell and eager to learn how they can help children and families across South Carolina,” Blackwood said.

But for Blackwood, the best is yet to come.

“We’re incredibly excited because this partnership shows what can happen when the local church and Connie Maxwell unite around a shared purpose. It’s not just about a single day or event—it’s about a movement of God’s people across South Carolina,” Blackwood said.

“NewSpring’s passion for being ForSC aligns beautifully with our mission to restore hope through Christ to children and families. Together, we can reach more people and serve more communities than ever before.”

Want Your Church to Partner with Connie Maxwell?

The first step is simply to reach out. Mike Blackwood will follow up with your church to explore how they can join Connie Maxwell on mission, identifying opportunities that match your church’s unique gifts. Whether your church is passionate about service projects, foster care ministry, prayer support, or financial partnership, every church—no matter the size—can make a real difference. Visit conniemaxwell.com/engage-your-church to learn more.

The post Connie Maxwell’s Expanding Partnership with Churches Across SC appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.

Vilette Uhl and her husband Paul have been Connie Maxwell house parents for four years. Originally from South Africa, Vilette has worked with Disney, Girl Scouts, a wildlife sanctuary, and Royal Caribbean, where the couple first met. They started serving as house parents after marrying 15 years ago, and have loved “showing the children and adults in our care the love of Jesus.”

In her new role as Volunteer Coordinator, Vilette is the primary contact for individuals and groups looking to serve at Connie Maxwell. Her first project was coordinating the annual Christmas Wishes gift ministry, and she now oversees monthly serve days, coordinates group projects, and engages each campus’s local community.

“I’m excited to introduce Connie Maxwell and what we do,” Vilette says. “Volunteers are a blessing by giving their time, labor, and resources. Facilitating their service makes a difference, and I like to make a difference.”

Volunteer With Us

Volunteers are an essential part of our ministry, helping us provide the best care, help, and fun to the children and families we serve. Visit conniemaxwell.com/volunteer to learn more about how you can make a difference in the lives of children and families at Connie Maxwell.

The post Meet Our Volunteer Coordinator, Vilette Uhl appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.

“A student supervisor is second in charge,” he explains. “Brad Martin, my boss, tells me what to do, then kids have to answer to me, which makes me feel like the ‘big dog.’”

Maxwell Farms Director Brad Martin uses words like “gritty,” “tough,” “bright,” and “ambitious” when he describes Nate. Martin identified something special in him early on and is mentoring Nate to take on more leadership and hands-on farming responsibilities.

“I saw something in Nate a long time ago. I recognized how good he was with animals and took more time and care teaching him. I’ve also put more expectation on him, and he’s grown to cherish that. His confidence has grown so much since he first arrived,” Martin recalls.

Nate was nine years old when he and his two younger siblings came to live at Connie Maxwell in December 2019. He was shy and terrified of living in the cottage with children he didn’t know. His father, Jacob, remembers Nate’s adjustment to “not being with his mom or talking with us much” as the hardest part for Nate during those early days, but that Connie Maxwell’s “activities and wonderful experiences for the kids helped with that.”

Nate’s first cottage parents were Russ and Kelly Holeman, and then Paul and Vilette Uhl joined them as cottage parents about four years ago. Vilette recalls how Nate struggled with anger when she first met him, and how the Holemans and Uhls worked with Nate’s father as they helped Nate process his rage. “We prayed with him and for him, and we didn’t give up.”

Vilette quickly recognized Nate’s “charisma” and describes him as charming and well-spoken. “One of his most endearing qualities is his deep love for animals,” she says, sharing how Nate once tamed a stray cat living near the cottage and named it Batman. When he was younger and struggling with anger, a therapy dog would visit the cottage and could immediately calm Nate down.

Nate’s decision to follow Jesus during a Fuge Camp in 2023 led to a dramatic change in his life. He admits not knowing what to expect after getting baptized, but “knew it was a new chapter of my life. It’s difficult because I have higher standards to meet now, but they’re good standards.”

Adults around Nate noticed a new sense of confidence emerging, too. “He’s growing in his faith and is discipling other kids, including another boy who has prayed to receive Christ. Nate has also gained so much trust through his work at Maxwell Farms,” Paul Uhl says. “It’s been phenomenal to watch him mature. He has a light about him that just shines.”

Nate is uncomfortable talking about himself, but admits he is good at sports, especially football and basketball. His cottage parents say he is outgoing when he gets comfortable around someone, but Nate is quick to disagree when his father calls him a “social butterfly.”

“I just love to work on the farm, really doing any kind of manual labor. I’ve been thinking lately about going to an agriculture college, and I’d like to raise my own farm one day,” Nate says of future dreams. “It’s one of the main things I know how to do, so what’s the point of God giving you a skill and not using it?”

According to Martin, Nate has a bright future in farming. He sees Nate as an eager, dependable worker who wants to learn new things. “I have to depend on him in this job, he has tasks that need to be done every day,” Martin says. “Nate is tough. He doesn’t quit.”

Through long hours spent together at Maxwell Farms, Martin has helped Nate identify the entrepreneurial skills he already possesses to work with the public and to own his own business one day. He is showing Nate that what he learns in school is being applied to work on the farm each day. He’s also encouraging Nate to believe that his dreams are within his reach.

“He is passionate about farming, and he will be good at it,” Martin says, adding that “Nate will be one of those ‘child legends’ at Maxwell Farms. He will be remembered by the other kids when they come here 50 years from now. They will remember showing cows with Nate and working with or for him.”

Nate’s father, Jacob, is grateful for what Connie Maxwell has done for his family. “They were there when we were hitting low times and couldn’t provide for the kids like they needed. I’m thankful that they took our kids in, they’ve basically spoiled them,” he says, adding that Nate’s siblings have chosen to return home, but he supports Nate’s decision to stay in Greenwood.

Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries further blessed Nate’s family in November 2025 by selecting their home to receive service projects through the Cultural Services Initiative. Nate’s cottage joined another cottage to perform yard work, create a flower bed, and build a fire pit for his family. The projects were made possible by funds raised through Connie Maxwell Baptist Church.

For his part, Nate is happiest when he’s working at Maxwell Farms. “You get the rest of the world off your mind, just focused on that one task, and it’s peaceful. Especially being out there in nature. Sometimes I wish I lived back in the old days, when this is what we would’ve had to do.”

The post For Nate, Maxwell Farms is a Place of Peace appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.

After hopping around hotels and overstaying their welcome at a local Greenwood nonprofit, they had exhausted all their options. That was, until Connie Maxwell received a call about their situation.

With just one trash bag of their few belongings in hand, the kids were welcomed at Connie Maxwell. The older boys were eventually moved to a long-term residential cottage, but Jacob stayed at Cooper Nixon, Connie Maxwell’s crisis cottage, where he could get more support at his young age.

“He ended up with us for a year,” said Emily Kimberly, one of Jacob’s house parents. Although kids are usually placed in the emergency shelter cottage for just 90 days, in some circumstances, they stay longer if it’s better for the child.

“Of course, it didn’t take very long for him to wrap his little self right around our hearts and fall in love with him,” Kimberly said, noting that Jacob has the best smile.

Over the next several months, Jacob struggled to adjust to kindergarten. But with his cottage parents’ dedication and his own hard work, he overcame most of his disruptive outbursts.

“Those became not an everyday occurrence. They were less often just getting him out on the farm and letting him kick a soccer ball or taking him fishing and taking him to the beach and letting him run around,” said Dawn Callahan, another one of Jacob’s house parents.

In fact, he was excelling so much that he was able to move to a long-term cottage at Connie Maxwell. But just a few weeks later, his world shifted once again.

Amid challenging circumstances and unsafe living conditions with his biological family, the Department of Social Services (DSS) decided to place Jacob and his brothers into foster care.

That’s when Danielle Pete received a phone call that would change her life. Jacob, now 6 years old, needed a home.

She said yes knowing very little about him—just that he wears glasses and wouldn’t be bringing any items with him.

That night, her husband Daniel picked up pepperoni pizza on the way home, ready to meet their first ever foster placement. For years after having their daughter, the couple had wanted another child but experienced secondary infertility.

“I walked in the door and came around the corner and he jumped out from the living room into the hallway wearing that little yellow tie dye shirt,” Daniel recalled. “He had a big ole’ smile on his face and was just happy to see somebody and got real excited for pizza.”

At first, Jacob was very well-behaved in the Petes’ home during what Danielle calls a “honeymoon period.” But after a few months, Jacob started having behavioral issues.

“He had a lot of aggression,” Danielle explained. “I’m a therapist by profession so I knew what to watch for, what to look for, and what services to ask for. So, a lot of it was advocating, because I knew what was going on and I knew why it was going on, but we just had to get the right help.”

The Petes recognized Jacob’s behaviors were a result of the trauma he had experienced and the lack of attachment from a caregiver.

“His brothers were at Connie Maxwell, but they were all at different cottages and then taken away from Connie Maxwell, where he loved and then taken away from mom, which, although an unsafe, chaotic situation, it’s still another displacement,” Danielle said. “So, a lot of those factors, and then the specific trauma that he experienced, I’m sure, fed into his fight or flight, which resulted in more fight than flight.”

Jacob got kicked out of the YMCA, and schools called Danielle constantly about his behavioral issues.

“It was a struggle, but I knew he was worth fighting for—and somebody needed to fight the good fight,” Danielle said.

Yet, even with the challenges, the Petes loved seeing Jacob exude joy in everyday moments and have first-time experiences, like throwing the football back and forth in the yard and celebrating his soccer team championship win.

Around a year-and-a-half after Jacob went to live with the Petes, he asked if they planned to adopt him.

The Petes had been committed to do so from the very beginning, but there were some unforeseen obstacles. Reunification was still the goal of Jacob’s case plan.

“Behaviorally, he had gotten so much better. He had worked through his trauma,” said Danielle, referring to Jacob’s behavior after living two-and-a-half years with them. “He had just made leaps and bounds, and it was like he was a part of the family unit.”

In August 2021, DSS called Danielle to tell her that one of Jacob’s relatives had passed qualifications to have Jacob move in with her. He would be moving to his relative’s home in New York in a month.

The news rocked the Petes.

After consulting with friends and praying over their situation, the Petes decided to take legal action to fight to keep Jacob in their home. Under South Carolina law, Jacob’s plan for reunification shouldn’t have been extended beyond 18 months after he was placed in foster care.

“God just provided each step of the way,” said Danielle, explaining how a local businessman felt called to pay for the tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills.

On March 13, 2024, the Petes were about to walk into the courthouse in Anderson when they noticed something unusual happening outside. A local Christian school had taken kids on a field trip to encourage people like the Petes who were going into court.

“There were tons of kids who were writing messages all over the ground that said stuff like, ‘Jesus loves you.’ ‘God’s got this.’ ‘It’ll be okay.’ And it was just obviously really encouraging to see as we’re going into fight to keep our son,” Danielle said.

But that wasn’t the Pete’s only support that day.

“We had tons of people who came to advocate for us,” Danielle said, including staff members from Connie Maxwell.

After another day in court, the Petes won their case, and the judge announced they could legally adopt Jacob. The following month, on April 11— after 1,592 days in foster care—Jacob was adopted into his forever home with the Petes.

“God placed him with the perfect family for him. And we could not be happier. It could have gone a lot of different ways,” Kimberly said. “He could have been shuffled around from family to family to family, but just to see that he found a family that was willing to put in the time and put in the effort and to put in the hard days and really, really love him. It’s nothing less than he deserved. It’s just thrilling.”

CONNIE MAXWELL’S FOSTER PARENTS ‘OPEN THEIR HOMES AND THEIR HEARTS’

Over the last year and a half, Connie Maxwell has experienced a record number of adoptions. In 2024 alone, Connie Maxwell helped with a dozen adoptions.

“The goal of foster care is reunification, but that just doesn’t always happen,” said Paula Reed, Connie Maxwell’s Director of Foster Care. “But we have such good foster parents, people who are willing to open their homes and their hearts to adopt these kids that can’t go home.”

Reed hopes that many more children will find homes with their forever families like the Petes through Connie Maxwell.

“We want the kids to go home if that’s possible, but we’re thankful to have good adoptive families when that needs to be the case,” Reed said.

The post From Foster Care to a Forever Home: Jacob’s Adoption Story appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.

“Family Care is amazing. As much as I was bound and determined to be miserable for so long in the beginning and was struggling to keep hold of my past self, the program really works if you just do it as asked and intended,” she says, having now completed it. “It allows you to focus on yourself and your children, and gives the opportunity to heal from what you’ve been through. It’s life changing in all the right ways.”

THE ARRIVAL

Originally from Reno, Nevada, Erika is the mother of five children aged five to 12. She is an avid reader; in fact, she’s already read 31 books this year. When she and four of her children needed a safe place to live on short notice two years ago, a community contact recommended Connie Maxwell.

“I was hesitant because Family Care was not what I expected,” Erika admits. “The first year was really rough. I was resistant to change, not entirely committed to getting with the program, and determined to be miserable.”

Despite these mixed emotions Erika appreciated Family Care’s generosity and the care her family received as they arrived, noting the immediate sense of relief she felt with being given safe housing and a gift card to help buy diapers. One of her earliest memories is of the family sitting down to have lunch together on their first day in the Family Care house. “We took a deep breath. It was everything I’d hoped and prayed for up to that point.”

The family experienced culture shock as they adjusted, mostly because their new home “was so quiet. There was a strange sense of isolation too, which is part of the process of learning independence and how to drop bad habits.” Erika’s children’s biggest worry was being separated through the Foster Care system, so they were grateful to stay together but struggled with the new house rules in the early days.

After a few months Erika and her children moved into the next phase of Family Care, which included starting her college education, completing a driver’s training course, and obtaining her license. Her children caught up on their medical and dental care and received help getting their birth certificates. One of the hardest rules the family had to get used to was not having access to electronics, with the exception of a landline house phone.

Erika had a pivotal conversation with Connie Maxwell President Dr. Danny Nicholson during the summer of 2024, during which she confessed her struggles with rules and making headway in the program. She knew what had to change but something about that conversation finally made it click.

“I felt defeated when Dr. Nicholson said, ‘Why don’t you try not standing in your own way and see how it happens.’” Erika recalls. “When I started to actually do this, everything got better really quickly. Dr. Nicholson is spectacular and has such a sweet soul. He said the right thing at the right time, and I realized that maybe it really was me that was creating the problems for myself.”

“What we get to do here is amazing, but it’s not us. What God is allowing the Connie Maxwell family to do blows my mind sometimes,” says Family Care Director Diana Johnson. “We bring these families in right where they are and tell them that we’ll love them until they can love themselves, and then we’ll love them some more.”

THE TURNAROUND

Erika began to notice her progress and behaviors changing, and she knew that God had her family at Connie Maxwell for a reason. She started the first of her degrees in business administration and accounting and, despite taking five classes during her first and second semesters of college, she earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

“When you go to school when you’re older you just want it so much more. You understand it’s to better your life and it’s your choice. Plus being good at it really motivates me,” Erika says before admitting “I never thought I was intelligent enough for college, and here they make you feels like you can do anything if you just try hard enough. It is achievable.”

As she focused on her own growth Erika’s children also flourished in Family Care. Horseback riding was an important outlet for her daughter and the entire family will always remember Christmastime at Connie Maxwell, especially the horsedrawn carriage ride through campus to see the lights and decorations. Summertime experiences at Lake Greenwood have also provided life-long memories for her family.

“Amazing things have happened to my kids here. Seeing me calm down, be present with them, and control my emotions has given them the ability to do similar things for themselves. They have all requested to attend therapy,” Erika reports. “Today they are confident, comfortable, doing well in school – just everything you could have hoped for and nothing more I could have asked for them.”

GRADUATION SURPRISES

Connie Maxwell and Family Care staff recognized Erika with two special awards during her graduation ceremony. The Proverbs 31 Award is given to an individual or family who has shown a willingness to grow spiritually, a recognition Erika felt surprised and grateful to have received. She admits having a casual, nonchalant relationship with God through the years. She was never active in church but says she was always praying and communicating with God.

“I follow God with abiding faith, so it felt really good to be recognized for something that I consider to be a basic but still important part of me,” Erika says. “My children can now see and partake in this award, too, by showing them they can hold on to God and achieve things through His power.”

Erika also received the Faulkenberry Way Maker Award, considered to be Family Care’s most prestigious distinction, that recognizes a program graduate’s positive attitude to “never give up.” The struggling mother who moved to Greenwood two years ago with temporary custody of four of her children and who had no education and nothing to her name, now has a future and hope because of the commitment she had to embrace and complete a life-changing program.

“Family Care is not for the faint of heart, it’s for people who really want to change. It felt good to be recognized for all of the obvious struggles I’d had throughout the program,” Erika says of the recognition of her accomplishments. “This is a testimony to how this program works if you sign up to complete it. It is truly the grace of God, because my life before felt impossible.”

A PROMISING NEW FUTURE

If Erika could time travel and speak with her former self as she began her journey through Family Care, she would advise embracing the experience with open arms. She says the former Erika had bad habits, sought all the wrong types of attention, and saw no possible future. She’d want her to know that “people here are not the enemy, they’re helping you. Family Care is going to surpass expectations and be exactly what you need.”

Erika has secured a promising job in Colorado, which is just one of the ways this experience has surpassed expectations. She will get to use her accounting degrees in her new role with a financial investment firm, and will be living with a family member in a new apartment that has plenty of space for her children. The family will also receive after-care in the coming year.

For her part, Johnson says seeing Erika and her family move on is bittersweet, but she is “awesomely proud” of them. “Once Erika responded to the structure of the program, it was like watching a butterfly go from a cocoon to being fully evolved and ready to fly away. When you walk beside someone for two years it takes space in your heart. In Family Care we pray that God continues to build up our hearts to have more and more room to do what He is calling us to do.”

As her time in Greenwood comes to an end, Erika admits feeling surprisingly emotional as she and her family prepare for their move. She is grateful for the personal impacts made by Nicholson and his wife Debra, and for Pastor Ed’s special way of creating a church community that has included her children. She also searches for how to express her gratitude for Family Care and its staff, who have guided her through what she calls a time of “amazing blessing.”

“I am a better person for having participated in the Family Care program, and for having them in my life. It’s something that should be treasured and supported. It’s doing great work for people who feel helpless and lost, and don’t know how to be a normal person again after all the things they’ve gone through,” Erika says, before adding “I am really going to miss these people. And I wouldn’t change a thing about this journey.”

The post Graduate Calls Family Care Program “Life Changing in All the Right Ways” appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.

“O man, we’re going fast,” said Trey, a sixth grader who began screaming at the top of his lungs with anticipation. He was riding with real tournament pros including Rusty Nickles, a lifelong fisherman who cosponsors and leads Connie Maxwell’s three annual fishing tournaments.

With Trey’s grin of approval, Nickles continued the boat’s pace to a fishing spot. He was driving one of the 15 boats in the competition, each holding one kid and two adults.

The competitors had just shy of six hours to fish before the weigh-in at noon. Within 20 minutes of casting into the water, Nickles had a fish on his line. He handed over his rod to Trey, letting him reel in the bass.

Just five minutes later, Trey had his line in the water again. “I got one! I got one!” Trey cried out, reeling in his very own fish. With the help of Nickles and another fishing enthusiast, Trey caught around 10 fish over the next few hours.

As the sun broke through the overcast sky, it was time for the weigh in. Each kid grabbed their fish and put them in a basket on the scale. Prizes were awarded to the kids with the biggest catch.

While Trey didn’t win first prize, he had an unforgettable experience, which is exactly why Nickles started the fishing tournaments. Although the kids are accustomed to fishing on Connie Maxwell’s property, it was the first time many of them had been in a boat.

“I wanted to let the kids at Connie Maxwell get to experience what a real fishing tournament is like,” said Nickles, who has faithfully hosted benefit tournaments for Connie Maxwell, helping more than 1,000 kids over the past 24 years.

After the weigh in, everyone celebrated with a hotdog lunch at Fish Bonz General Store and Tackle, where store owners Nikki and Tim Parker had given each of the kids new rods and reels at the start of the day.

It was a moment that Nickles hopes the kids—and adult fishing pros—will remember in the days and years ahead.

“I’ve had grown men who have been in fishing tournaments for years. They come up to me after the tournaments with tears in their eyes and just tell me, ‘Rusty, thank you for letting us be a part of this. This is the greatest tournament I’ve ever been involved with,’” Nickles shared.

For the adult volunteers who fish with the kids, the tournament isn’t focused on money or winning.

“It’s all about making sure those kids get the experience and have fun,” Nickles said. “I know these kids have been through a lot more in their life than most of us can ever imagine. For me to be able to take them out, organize that, give them a day to where they can forget about everything else and just have fun. Hey, that’s my highlight that they all had a great time.”

MORE THAN A TOURNAMENT

Five years ago, Nickles and local businessman and realtor Trent Smith started sponsoring Connie Maxwell fishing tournaments together, setting up a foundation for the proceeds to go toward conservation activities and scholarships.

Beforehand, Smith had been volunteering and giving to Connie Maxwell but had a desire to do more. “I have a really big heart for those kids,” said Smith, who mainly runs the April tournament. “The fishing tournament idea came along, and I think the first year we donated about $8,500 and it’s increased every year ever since.”

The Trent Smith and Rusty Nickles Outdoor Fund provides Connie Maxwell with money for the kids’ outdoor activities, such as the supplies or resources needed for equestrian events, cattle shows, and hunting and fishing excursions.

“It’s just something that we did to try and help keep the kids outdoors,” said Nickles, who felt called to start these tournaments. “I was blessed growing up that I had a grandfather and my dad who took me hunting and fishing and spent time with me and I passed that on to my kids.”

In addition, an endowed fund has been created to provide scholarships for those pursuing an outdoor or ministry degree.

“Trent and Rusty wanted to provide tournaments that would be perpetual and life-changing for Connie Maxwell and Connie Maxwell kids for generations,” said Maxwell Farm Director Brad Martin, who helps coordinate the Pro-Am Fishing Tournament. “They’re trying to work up a generational gift through these tournaments that provides for anything that a kid wants to pursue in the outdoor conservation world, [such as a] game warden, scientist, biology, anything like that.”

Each year, Nickles’ and Smith’s impact grows through events like the two annual benefit fishing tournaments—the Connie Maxwell Benefit Fishing Tournament in April and a Toys for Tots Tournament in December—that help raise money and supplies for the kids at Connie Maxwell.

In May, Nickles and Smith presented Connie Maxwell with the proceeds from the April tournament, including a $17,800 check and a box truck full of supplies like bed sheets, bottled water, toilet paper, and laundry detergent.

“[It’s] just a way to alleviate some of the financial stress. I run a couple of different businesses. I get it,” Smith said, explaining how Connie Maxwell is a nonprofit that raises most of its funds. “When you’re raising that much of your budget each year, it takes a lot of faith. I just wanted to find a way to help with that. If they can’t meet their budget, they can’t take the kids out. That’s important to me.”

Martin believes the lessons kids learn outdoors, especially in fishing, can have a long-term impact.

“The relationships you have when you fish, you can’t really do it in 10 or 15 minutes in a row. You have to go out in a boat, you have to work, you have to strive, you have to learn things. The more education you get outdoors and especially fishing, the more successful you’re going to be,” Martin continued. “And these men and gentlemen really love to share their craft and their hobby with anybody, but kids especially, and it’s something that can be duplicated throughout their lifetime, all ages, all tenures, all economic status, can go fishing.”

The post More Than Fishing: Tournaments Create Lasting Impact on Connie Maxwell Kids appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.

These were some of the happy times she experienced just being a child during the six years she lived at the Greenwood campus. Holland has found a sense of belonging, developed friendships, and has experienced healing through Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries. Now, as a recent high school graduate, she’s reflecting on how this season of her life has affected her and her future.

“Even though you may not have a family that you can go home to, you still have a family here. There are people who actually care about you, who will talk with you, and help you with whatever you need,” Holland says, adding that “kids always need that support and help, even if they aren’t asking for it.”

Relationships are important to Holland, especially the one she has with her younger brother. The siblings were adopted from an orphanage in the Philippines when Holland was 11 years old, and then spent periods of time living with a second adoptive family and in group homes before coming to Connie Maxwell. She says this move was especially hard because she initially came without her brother, but the pair eventually reunited about two years ago when both chose to live at Connie Maxwell.

Holland (top left) at the orphanage in the Philippines.

“Connie Maxwell has been supportive of my decision to try and reconnect with my family, but things didn’t work out. It has been hard, but I have learned and grown over the years here. I know what a family is and what I want in a family in the future, and that helps,” she says.

Holland credits Connie Maxwell with helping her realize her own potential and with challenging her to pursue big dreams for her future. She’s a great student, too, and had the privilege of delivering the baccalaureate speech to her graduating class in May of this year. It wasn’t until she started writing her thoughts that Holland fully realized the weight of this opportunity.

“At first I didn’t know what to tell the several hundred people who would be listening to this speech, because half of them didn’t know me or my story,” she recalls. “I wanted them to hear my heart and to know they aren’t alone. It’s important to help others and share our stories, and I wanted the message to be about more than just graduating. It’s not about the trauma you go through but about the way you accomplish things, push past the trauma, and then do something about it.”

During the graduation ceremony Connie Maxwell further recognized Holland’s accomplishments by naming her as the 2025 Jamison Award recipient, noting her outstanding character and leadership qualities. Dr. A.T. Jamison was Connie Maxwell’s second and longest-serving superintendent from 1900 to 1946 and was an early advocate for addressing the total needs of a child. The annual award is given to graduating seniors who exemplify Jamison’s character and leadership profiles.

The recognition was such a surprise that Holland admits thinking during the presentation that “someone else is going to get this, because everyone is so outstanding here and everyone is a good student.” With the reality of the honor setting in, the Jamison Award now serves as a valuable reminder to Holland that “people are watching you all the time and watching how you act. There are a lot of people at Connie Maxwell who are looking at you and looking up to you, especially the younger kids. This award showed me that I can be a leader and show others that hey, you can do this! You can achieve things, too. It means a lot to know people are proud of you.”

President Danny Nicholson presented Holland with the Jamison Award.

Holland appreciates how she has grown and developed while at Connie Maxwell, including in her relationship with God. Not too long ago talking about God was a sore subject because she struggled to reconcile who He is with what she experienced throughout her childhood. Now Holland enjoys serving and being a part of Connie Maxwell Baptist Church, and will always remember playing Mary in the Christmas nativity scene for the last two years.

“I’ve had ups and downs trusting God and believing He’s there for me. In the Philippines I had a dream to have a family that loved and cared for me, and now I see how God answered my prayer,” Holland says of her faith journey today. “The more I realized how God put the puzzle pieces of my life together I think, ‘Wow, you’re really cool!’ I didn’t see that working out, but You did. It’s amazing.”

As her time at Connie Maxwell winds down, Holland will remember it as “one of the happiest places I’ve been. I will always remember my calming walks around campus. I have loved that time to relax and have quiet moments. I will also remember the bells at church. I love that they ring with different music and that you can hear it all around.”

This fall Holland will start working toward her dream job of becoming a child therapist. She will begin a five-year program to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in counseling at Columbia International University. She’s open to how she might use her degrees, but knows it will involve helping children.

“I want to help children who have been through hard things, like I have, to work through their trauma and move on from it so that they can reach their dreams the way Connie Maxwell has helped me reach for mine,” she says before adding, “I also want to visit the Philippines again because there are many orphans there, just like me.”

The post Connie Maxwell Helps Graduate “Reach for My Dreams” appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.

“First and foremost, this campaign is not about money or buildings. It is about the challenge closest to the heart of Jesus, and that is about changing lives that have been hurt and that are hurting, so that they can come to a fullness of love and service to God,” said Kauffmann who, along with his family, made a $1 million transformational gift toward the building of the Howard and Suzanne Kauffmann Auditorium within the McCall Healing Center in August 2024.

President Danny Nicholson called the proposed Healing Center a “bridge between brokenness and being whole. We’ve learned so much now about the heart, the brain, and the spirit. We can put those things together to be much more productive in our ability to make human beings whole and to nurture them.”

During the renderings presentation guests heard details from the years of thoughtful prayer and planning that led to the distinct features of the McCall Healing Center, the Nicholson Healing and Administration Center, and surrounding landscaped green spaces and gardens that will be located on the ministry’s Greenwood campus. They heard from staff and board members who share Connie Maxwell’s vision to become “a national leader in Christian ministries of healing for vulnerable children and families” about how these new resources will enable Connie Maxwell to serve more individuals. Guests also learned how they can join the campaign efforts in ministry to children.

Nathan Shutte, of McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, said Connie Maxwell’s vision prompted his firm to design a facility that will encompass the work of healing and create consolidated leadership space. He introduced guests to the renderings through a shared presentation with a leading trauma specialist, Michelle Maikoetter, Director of Special Projects at The Neurosequential Network, who spoke to innovative design elements that will promote all kinds of healing for vulnerable children and families.

“Imagine with me a Healing Center that could provide greater breadth of assistance and support, encompassing therapy and total health,” Maikoetter said, as guests viewed depictions of play therapy centers, a sensory gym, and outdoor spaces also designed for use by counselors.

Maikoetter further complimented the healing center design descriptions by discussing the types of assistance provided there, including by medical and case management staff, spiritual leaders, and community social workers. Within the leadership spaces, Shutte introduced a proposed chapel and The Kauffmann Auditorium, which is designed to seat 250 guests. The Nicholson Healing and Administration Center will also house a presidential library and a museum to honor and celebrate Connie Maxwell.

Landscape Architect Yancey Robertson, of Davis & Floyd, introduced a “dignified” outdoor design that will reflect the gospel story while creating space for children to talk, linger, and pray. His design proposes monuments including a bronzed statue of seven-year-old Connie Maxwell and a Tower of Faith and Healing, as well as a labyrinth and landscaped terraces.

“God builds monuments in our lives, things that happened to us when we say, ‘only God could do this!’ When you feel grief stricken, hopeless, or even question God’s existence, you return to these stories and remember that the Master of all creation knows who you are,” Robertson said of his design process. “Connie Maxwell children will be able to see these structures and remember the ‘monuments’ built in their lives while they were here.”

Citing this level of intentionality and planning behind the garden’s design, Nicholson believes people will travel to Greenwood just to experience and be moved by it. “If we can make this happen, it will be a manifestation of God’s glory each time someone passes by,” he said. “This is not about a building or a program, this is about things that change people and about a living God who loves us and cares deeply for us. If you’re not ministering to people, you’re not making progress.”

The Healing Center is a part of Connie Maxwell’s For the Dreams of Children campaign. It’s initial goal was to raise $10 million to support three initiatives to construct the center in Greenwood, build a Charleston campus, and reimagine Maxwell Farms. As the vision for the Healing Center expanded to meet greater needs, the Board of Trustees voted to increase the campaign goal to $25 million. To date, Connie Maxwell has received $12.5 million in pledges and funds secured for the Healing Center project, which leaves 50 percent of the estimated project costs remaining.

In addition to the Kauffmann family’s gift, longtime Connie Maxwell supporters Larry and Jerry Ann Faulkenberry announced their gift of $2 million toward the Nicholson Healing and Administration Center in 2024. Jerry Ann called viewing the renderings and imagining the scope of this new complex an “indescribable feeling. I believe God has a lot of things coming in the future for Connie Maxwell.”

“When you’ve been blessed like we have, and knowing you can’t take it with you, it’s always good to leave something behind,” Larry said of his family’s investment gift. “We hope that 100 years from now a child will be impacted by something we might do today.”

“With momentum and God’s hand resting on our continued efforts, we feel absolutely sure that people will step up just like so many others have and help us make this dream come true.”

To learn more about our 10-year strategic plan, A Decade of Dreams, and the three initiatives—building a Healing Center, reimagining Maxwell Farms, and expanding our mission by creating a campus in the Charleston area—visit conniemaxwell.com/dreamon.

The post Excitement Grows as Connie Maxwell Unveils Healing Center Renderings appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.

GREENWOOD, S.C. – Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries has been awarded a 2025 Southeast Regional EMMY for its six-part, narrative short film series, For the Dreams of Children, in the category of Outstanding Public Service Announcement Campaign. The final film in the series, Dream On, also received a prestigious 2025 Birmingham Gold ADDY Award, the highest creative honor from the American Advertising Awards.

“National recognition for this film series reveals that God is at work raising up Connie Maxwell to realize its vision to become a national leader in healing and ministry for vulnerable children and families,” said Danny Nicholson, President of Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries.

Created to educate and inspire, For the Dreams of Children highlights Connie Maxwell’s mission to restore the faith, family, and future of vulnerable children through Christ-centered care. Featuring heartfelt testimonies and faith-filled stories from alumni and students, the series reflects how Connie Maxwell has been caring for the dreams of children for more than 130 years.

“We have this beautiful, rich history of caring for kids and yet, I feel like our future is even brighter,” said Jay Boyd, Connie Maxwell’s Senior Vice President of Strategy & Engagement. “We’re going to be able to enhance our services and care for more kids.”

The film series debuted at the For the Dreams of Children Gala in November 2024 as part of Connie Maxwell’s $25 million capital campaign, which will expand facilities and trauma-informed services to provide more children a safe environment to heal from broken pasts.

“The film series really brought the campaign to life,” Boyd continued. “Winning an EMMY and Gold ADDY signifies that Connie Maxwell’s mission and vision resonate with an audience that’s far beyond our staff, volunteers, and donors.”

Boyd also credited the awards to the expertise of the production partner, Cedar Creative. “When you combine a compelling mission of helping kids with a bold vision that drives change and the amazing talent of Cedar Creative, the result is award-winning work. It’s a hard combination to beat,” Boyd said.

While Boyd offered initial direction, Cedar Creative brought the vision to life with creative freedom. On their website, the company says, “We strove to show how every child who comes to Connie Maxwell will find a home to dream freely, trust fully, and grow courageously.”

“We feel extremely blessed to have been a part of this project,” said Kevin Johnson of Cedar Creative. “Who doesn’t want to help kids dream again? We have all felt that in our own lives—and you’ve got to have that. It’s part of childhood.”

For Johnson and his team, the recognition of the awards is secondary to the real-life stories in the films. “It’s cool that there’s this recognition but what means the most to us is people watching these stories,” Johnson said. “Not to see our work, but to see the impact that Connie Maxwell is making. It’s incredible what that place is doing.”

The For the Dreams of Children film series can be viewed at: https://conniemaxwell.com/videos/.

For media inquiries, contact Carlee Hoopes, Director of Digital Marketing at choopes@conniemaxwell.com.

The post Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries Wins Southeast Regional EMMY & Gold ADDY Awards appeared first on Connie Maxwell Children's Ministries.