Community First director makes life more livable for many in need

Born the eighth of 10 children to farmers in Sylvania, Ga., and then sent to live with her grandmother in Harlem, N.Y., at about age 6, Pearla Harvey knows what it's like to struggle with hardships.

Now a mother of 7, grandmother of 10, and pastor and leader of a faith-based nonprofit group, Harvey has used her past experiences to help countless people in the Lowcountry.

Harvey is executive director of Community First, a ministry that helps low-income single parents and grandparents raising children in Beaufort and Jasper counties. The organization provides counseling, tutoring, GED classes and certification, parenting classes (with child care available), food, clothing and prayer to those in need.

And if she can't provide what people need, Harvey finds a way to get them help -- through The Deep Well Project, Bluffton Self Help, Room At The Inn of the Lowcountry or Family Promise.

"I think I understand the mistakes that we make as poor people," Harvey said. "I understand where we go wrong. And I understand the pressure being that I come from a similar background as some of these people. And I believe that I could guide those that are looking for a change. ... And it's happening. It's really happening right here."

Harvey said God gave her a vision about 30 years ago.

"And this vision has just started to take place," she said about Community First, which she started in 2001 in Levy. Harvey and her husband had moved to Hardeeville in 1997, where she worked as a substitute teacher for the Jasper County School District. She opened a Bluffton location of Community First in 2003.

"I do this because I have a vision on how to change our society ... how to make it more livable," Harvey said. "My vision is to be here for those who can't afford, for those people who don't have the money to pay to talk to a counselor or a therapist, for those people who are fed up and don't know where to turn and don't know what to do with their lives. We want to be here for them so that they ... make the right choices and decisions so that they don't go berserk and do something they're going to regret later in life."

Harvey might be the reason a woman once on the verge of suicide is still alive today. Severely depressed, the woman called Harvey after seeing a sign for Community First in front of the office on May River Road in Bluffton. The woman came in for an appointment and has been coming to Harvey for help ever since. She now has a job and attends college.

But Harvey refuses to take all the credit for what her ministry has done for people in the community. She brags about her helpers, including her husband, John Harvey; her assistant, Luci Mitchell; local attorney Roberts Vaux, whose building they work out of; the Community First board of directors; and many more.

Even the people who come to Harvey for help end up sticking around to volunteer.

Josephine Bredice of Bluffton, a single mother of two, went to Harvey when she was going through a difficult time. She said she felt an instant connection with Harvey, who mostly gives her spiritual help. She said Harvey makes her feel great about herself and gives her hope and confidence.

And that has made Bredice want to help others. Now she volunteers with the organization three nights a week.

"When people tell me that we've made their day, it really fills our hearts because we're here because we understand, because we believe that we could show them alternatives that they may not have considered," Harvey said.

In addition to running Community First, Harvey also holds nondenominational church services at 11 a.m. every Sunday at Simmons Cay Apartments in Bluffton.

"Without love, unconditional love, this would never work," Harvey said about her work in the community. "That's the key. The key is to love everybody."