Our Team
Neighbors Leading Neighbors with Passion and Expertise.
Brenda K. Johnson – President & Civic Engagement Lead
Brenda is a lifelong Hartsville Pine Acres native and a recently retired educator, bringing an invaluable asset of over thirty years of dedicated experience in local public school administration and complex community organization to her role, providing her with a comprehensive, nuanced understanding of effective governance, strategic planning, and robust community outreach strategies. Her dynamic leadership style is powerfully defined by her deep personal commitment to inclusive decision-making processes and her tireless, hands-on effort to proactively ensure that every single voice within the neighborhood, particularly those that are often overlooked or marginalized, is respectfully heard, critically evaluated, and central to all HPACA forums and initiatives. Since enthusiastically taking the pivotal role of President five years ago, she has successfully spearheaded multiple, highly effective campaigns to secure sustained municipal funding for essential infrastructure upgrades and has been directly instrumental in impressively quadrupling the association’s core active volunteer base, significantly expanding our capacity for service. Her exceptional expertise in high-stakes conflict resolution and strategic, long-range planning makes her an absolutely indispensable resource for navigating the complex and nuanced social, political, and developmental issues that affect the neighborhood, all while maintaining a signature warm, approachable, and encouraging demeanor that instantly fosters collaboration and deep trust among all residents.
Marcus ‘Mac’ Allen – Treasurer & Economic Development Coordinator
Mac is a highly credentialed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by professional trade and brings a crucial level of financial rigor, absolute transparency, and strategic foresight to every aspect of the Hartsville Pine Acres Civic Association’s demanding operational and fiscal responsibilities. After spending over two decades meticulously managing the complex finances for a major regional non-profit foundation, he now dedicates his specialized expertise entirely to ensuring that HPACA’s financial assets and donor-contributed funds are managed with absolute integrity, maximum transparency, and strategically maximized for the most impactful neighborhood improvements and services. Beyond the rigorous management of the annual budget, financial compliance, and the meticulous oversight of competitive grant applications, Mac proactively coordinates all of our essential economic development initiatives, which include hands-on workshops on small business registration, financial literacy, and entrepreneurial guidance, with the long-term goal of tangibly increasing local economic opportunity and resident prosperity. His unyielding commitment to fiscal integrity, coupled with his proactive and innovative approach to sustained fundraising and resource development, ensures the association remains financially solvent, operationally sustainable, and fully equipped to consistently deliver high-quality programs and secure the neighborhood’s vital long-term financial health.
Sofia Rodriguez – Communications & Family Outreach Director
Sofia is a dynamic, multi-talented communications specialist who brings a valuable, dual background in digital marketing strategy and community social services, positioning her perfectly as the vital link between HPACA’s resources and the diverse families it serves throughout the neighborhood. Fluent and engaging in both English and Spanish, she is passionately committed to removing all language and cultural communication barriers, proactively ensuring that every Hartsville Pine Acres resident has immediate access to timely, clear, and fully accessible information regarding crucial community resources, upcoming events, and opportunities for civic engagement and leadership. She is centrally responsible for managing all digital communication platforms, meticulously creating and distributing the engaging monthly neighborhood newsletter, and, most critically, organizing and leading the highly successful Family Outreach Program, which thoughtfully connects all new families moving into the area with experienced neighborhood mentors and comprehensive resource guides. Her high energy, innovative approach, and naturally empathetic nature ensure that HPACA maintains a welcoming, responsive, and truly inclusive atmosphere, making her an absolutely essential part of our core efforts to build a truly welcoming, family-friendly environment and foster greater intercultural understanding and appreciation within the rich tapestry of the neighborhood.
Reverend David Chen – Public Safety & Partnerships Coordinator
Reverend Chen has resided continuously in the Hartsville Pine Acres community for over forty years, and in his key role, he serves as a vital, respected bridge between the civic association and numerous essential local institutions, including diverse faith-based organizations, the local police department command, and all local educational institutions. His exceptionally extensive community connections, profound historical knowledge, and proven diplomatic skills are critically essential to his mandate as the Public Safety Coordinator, where he personally leads and revitalizes the Neighborhood Watch program and coordinates joint, proactive safety initiatives directly with local law enforcement to strategically address and mitigate localized public safety concerns. His distinguished background as a respected and long-standing community leader lends significant weight, credibility, and trust to our crucial partnership efforts, enabling HPACA to successfully secure resources, collaborative support, and necessary political will that significantly amplify our overall impact, especially during unexpected times of community crisis or urgent need. Reverend Chen is the living embodiment of dedicated, selfless service, consistently using his vast network, wealth of experience, and profound sense of duty to tirelessly foster a powerful, enduring culture of community vigilance, mutual aid, and secure living for all residents, thereby enhancing the overall stability of the neighborhood.
Programs/Services
Supporting Every Resident from Youth to Senior.
The Hartsville Pine Acres Civic Association strategically provides dedicated support and essential services that span the full, diverse spectrum of our community’s age groups, ensuring that all our valuable resources and programs are thoughtfully tailored to address specific developmental and crucial life-stage needs encountered by our residents. For our Youth (Ages 5-18), our highly effective services include the aforementioned after-school academic clinic that provides direct tutoring, a dynamic summer enrichment program highly focused on engaging STEM activities and creative arts, and a structured leadership training track designed specifically for high school students to actively foster the next generation of future civic leaders. The curriculum across all youth programs strongly emphasizes the development of critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and practical, effective communication skills, constantly moving beyond abstract textbook learning to practical, real-world application through active community projects and established mentorships. For Adults (Ages 18-65), core programs centrally focus on crucial economic empowerment, including intensive job readiness training, structured small business mentorship, and essential homeownership workshops, all meticulously designed to increase long-term financial stability, professional opportunity, and effective community engagement. Finally, for our cherished Seniors (Ages 65+), we offer compassionate services primarily focused on significantly reducing social isolation, including essential transportation assistance for necessary medical appointments and a reliable weekly social check-in program, consistently ensuring this valued generation remains deeply connected, fully supported, and respected within the vibrant community they tirelessly helped to construct.
Community & Engagement
Strengthening Our Community Ties
Active, dedicated family involvement is not merely passively encouraged by the Hartsville Pine Acres Civic Association; it is consciously and intrinsically woven directly into the fundamental fabric of our governance structure and the responsive delivery of every program, recognizing that parents, guardians, and long-term residents are the primary, most important stakeholders in the neighborhood’s sustained success and future direction. We proactively ensure that all critical committee meetings, strategic planning sessions, and all civic action group gatherings are consistently scheduled at accessible times, typically in the early evenings or on weekends, and that essential childcare resources are frequently made available to deliberately remove common barriers to participation for all working families and single parents. We actively seek out and recruit motivated parents and guardians to serve on our educational advisory boards and specialized event planning teams, critically recognizing their unique perspective, practical wisdom, and irreplaceable lived experience as absolutely essential elements for developing effective, responsive, and relevant community programs that truly meet the needs of those they serve. Furthermore, we diligently host regular Family Resource Fairs that effectively connect parents directly with external social service agencies, key health providers, and various educational resource organizations, strategically ensuring that the HPACA center operates as a practical, central hub for holistic, comprehensive family support. This proactive, inclusive approach to consistent involvement successfully transforms passive residency into engaged, active, and empowered citizenship for every member of the household, regardless of age or background.
Join Us
Career Opportunities
Working professionally with the Hartsville Pine Acres Civic Association offers a unique opportunity that goes far beyond the scope of a traditional job; it provides a deeply meaningful, high-impact career path where your established professional skills, expertise, and passion are directly applied to the measurable betterment and sustained upliftment of a dedicated, supportive community, consistently offering unparalleled job satisfaction and continuous professional growth opportunities. As our comprehensive programs, advocacy efforts, and community impact continue to expand and require more specialized support, we occasionally seek out highly dedicated, passionate professionals to fill essential roles in core areas such as program coordination, meticulous financial management, family outreach support, and critical administrative support, with each position being absolutely vital to the efficient execution of our overall, comprehensive mission and operational goals. We actively look for individuals who are not only highly qualified, credentialed, and experienced in their respective professional fields but who also demonstrably possess a genuine, unwavering passion for civic service, strong community-oriented social justice, and collaborative, hands-on problem-solving, thereby ensuring that every single member of our dedicated team is fully invested in the long-term prosperity, collective well-being, and shared vision of the Hartsville Pine Acres neighborhood. These are ideal career roles for those highly skilled individuals who wish to intentionally leave a measurable, profound, and positive footprint on the world, starting right here at home within their local community.