Renee Hembree strives to improve, empower North Myrtle Beach teens through program

As if the teen years aren’t difficult enough, imagine being homeless, or living in poverty, and having to face them.

Teen Angel of North Myrtle Beach reaches out to those youths, aiming to give them a chance for success in life.

Though it takes many donors and volunteers to help provide clothing, school supplies, medical expenses, gas money and even prom dresses for the teens whose parents have either abandoned them, are in prison or are battling a substance addiction, Renee Hembree has made it her life’s work to see those teenagers succeed.

“Everybody remembers what it was like when you were a teenager, when you were discovering, when you had hopes and dreams and aspirations for yourself and it’s nice to see that they haven’t lost that,” said Hembree, the wife of former 15th Circuit Solicitor and current Sen. Greg Hembree. “Seeing happy, self-motivated teenagers who haven’t gotten to that place where they’re dark and bitter and angry. We catch them when they still believe they have a bright future, and when we are able to provide a need for them.”

Teen Angel is in its sixth year assisting homeless and financially challenged students at North Myrtle Beach High School.

“I love when we can make that connection for a child and tell them ‘You can do it,’” Hembree said. “‘Yes, your mom just died. Yes you are on your own, and yes you’re 16 years old. What do you want more than anything in the world?’ They’ll say, ‘I want to be a performer. I want to be a singer. I want to go to Governor’s School this year, but I know it will never happen.’

“Oh yes it will, too. We are going to make it happen.”

And for Hembree, it’s that can-do attitude that helps make the program successful. In fact, a young man who wanted to get into the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, made it there with the program’s help.

“He did it,” Hembree said. “He got himself there, we just made it a little bit easier. But, we inspired that teenager. That’s what makes me happy I get more energy from teenagers than just about anything on this earth.”

“Independently, the kids do pretty well. A lot of the times, it’s their family environment that’s bringing them down.”

Hembree said there is a lot of teaching the teens how to love and how to care for each other, which is a challenge Hembree knew she was going to face after hearing what her husband went through as solicitor from 1999-2012.

“You see a lot of bad things on TV and when Greg was Solicitor, I would hear so much,” Renee Hembree said, adding she gets a lot of help with the program. “It’s not all me. We work as a team at the school and my husband is so helpful. We have an accountant now who volunteers to do the tax work.”

Nicole Crowl, a North Myrtle Beach High School alumni who has volunteered for Teen Angel, said Teen Angel has touched many lives and has helped make peoples’ lives even better.

“Mrs. Hembree believes that just because a child is facing poverty doesn’t mean they need to miss out on all the great experiences of high school,” Crowl said.

Rachel Vaughn, a special education teacher at North Myrtle Beach High School, said Hembree has had a tremendous impact on the community over the years.

“Renee has helped provide many of our students with financial assistance for a variety of situations,” Vaughn said. “Students are forever grateful and touched by her generosity. Renee puts a little light and hope back into their life even during the toughest of times.”

She experiences the joy of helping a student when she sees them walk across the stage at the Alabama Theatre to receive their high school diploma.

“We don’t win them all,” Hembree said. “We’ve lost a few.”

But it’s the ones who were touched by the program and want to know how to pay it back that shows Hembree the program has hit home.

“The ones in college will say, ‘Mrs. Hembree, how can I repay somebody for the laptop?’” Hembree said. “I’m like, ‘No, you don’t pay anybody back. These are people investing in the future. They believe in you and you will be in a place in your life, someday, where you’ll look at somebody else who needs help.

“Whether it’s a kind word or you might be in a position to write a check for $1,000, or maybe you’ll take somebody in and mentor them, but you’ll remember,” she said. “You will remember, one day, you’ll get a gentle tap on your shoulder and you’ll remember what somebody did for you and you’ll be able to do it for somebody else.’ And that’s the lesson that we like to think that we’re teaching is how to love and how to care for others.”

This story was originally published December 24, 2014 at 5:25 AM with the headline "Renee Hembree strives to improve, empower North Myrtle Beach teens through program."