HopeHealth Hosted Streater Building Dedication
On February 27, HopeHealth hosted a dedication ceremony for the Streater Building project at The Hyatt Place Florence/Downtown. The event featured refreshments from local Black-owned businesses and provided an overview of the Streater Building’s future focused on serving seniors, Veterans, and Black men in the community.
The Streater Building is an important African American architectural landmark of the downtown business district in Florence, dating back to at least 1904 when General Armstrong Streater owned and operated a small mercantile business and grocery store out of the building. HopeHealth purchased the building, located at the corner of Dargan and Darlington Street and across from Sav-a-Lot, in 2018 to utilize it as a place to provide value-based community services outside of the traditional scope of health care.
Upon completion of its revitalization, this HopeHealth project will help strengthen community engagement and work to decrease barriers to care by enhancing the availability and accessibility of health programs.
At the event, HopeHealth CEO Carl Humphries presented plans for the Streater Building project, while Douglas Hawkins, president of Ideal Funeral Parlor, spoke about the critical need for preventive screenings and health care access. Representative Terry Alexander highlighted the importance of access to health care in the community and the role the Streater Building will play in meeting this need.
The dedication ceremony provided an opportunity for Marie Osborne, Antoinette Joiner, Sandra Hemby, and Mabel Evans, granddaughters and great-granddaughters of General Armstrong Streater and Queen Victoria Plunkett Streater, to celebrate the legacy of their family and the important work the project will accomplish.
On the importance of the event and the Streater family’s involvement, Charlee Rhodes, development and events coordinator, shared, “Having the Streater descendants present to give their blessing and represent the power of a family of entrepreneurs was incredibly heart-warming. I know HopeHealth will do all we can to use this legacy to honor the people who need us most in our community.”