Each year at Mount Pleasant Town Hall, light meets remembrance. The annual “Light the Way for Hope” luminary ceremony offers a powerful, heartfelt way for our community to remember loved ones lost to overdose, support recovery, and promote life-saving education.
The Heart: WakeUp Carolina
WakeUp Carolina is a peer-led Recovery Community Organization (RCO) founded out of heartbreak—and driven by hope. It began after the tragic loss of a young man named Creighton in 2016. His family turned their grief into action, creating WakeUp Carolina to provide education, advocacy, and support for others touched by substance use disorder.
Since then, WakeUp Carolina has grown into a trusted resource for:
- Advocacy and outreach around addiction recovery
- Education and harm reduction efforts such as Narcan training
- Peer-based support programs for both individuals and families
Resilience in Action: Nancy Steadman
No story about WakeUp Carolina or Light the Way for Hope would be complete without honoring Nancy Steadman. Nancy has been the resilient force and steady hand behind so much of this work.
Her ability to turn personal loss into a mission for community healing shows what real strength looks like. She has built an organization that not only remembers loved ones but actively saves lives and gives families the tools to find hope again.
Nancy’s resilience, compassion, and tireless advocacy continue to inspire Mount Pleasant and the entire Lowcountry. She embodies what it means to turn tragedy into lasting impact.
From Loss to Light: The Annual Luminary
First held in 2019, the “Light the Way for Hope” event has become a meaningful Lowcountry tradition on International Overdose Awareness Day.
What the event includes:
- Overdose prevention and Narcan training in the Town Hall Council Chambers 07:00 PM
- Free Narcan kits for trained participants, empowering community members to save lives
- A luminary ceremony on the Town Hall lawn, where light bags honor those we’ve lost, and their names and stories are shared 07:45 PM
This event blends remembrance with action—transforming grief into a commitment to prevention, awareness, and compassion.
Why It Matters
- Remembrance with purpose: Honoring lives while using their memory to drive prevention
- Education that saves lives: Training and equipping residents with Narcan
- Building community compassion: Breaking down stigma and supporting families
As your Town Council representative, I believe events like this demonstrate what makes Mount Pleasant strong—our ability to come together, support one another, and face challenges with hope and determination.
