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Lurleen B. Wallace Community College (LBW) is gearing up for another season of Community Candid, a free lecture series aimed at providing essential information to the public. The series, scheduled for each Tuesday in February, covers topics ranging from education and career development to family health, substance use prevention, and mental health awareness.

Dr. Kristina Griffin, LBW’s associate dean of institutional effectiveness and quality, highlighted the success of last year’s program, which reached over 1,500 members of the Covington County community through in-person and live-streamed sessions. Building on the achievement, LBW has chosen Butler County as this year’s focus area to extend its impact further and bridge gaps within the diverse communities it serves.

“While we celebrate these achievements, we recognize the ongoing need for impactful initiatives such as these,” Griffin said.

The community college has been an integral part of the Butler County community since the establishment of its Greenville campus in 1992. Over the years, the college has offered transformative opportunities, including free dual enrollment classes, workforce training, and GED completions, benefiting hundreds of individuals in the area.

The Community Candid series will be hosted at the Wendell Mitchell Conference Center on the Greenville Campus, with dinner served at 5:30 p.m. and the lectures starting at 6 p.m. The events are open to all ages and are designed to be both informative and engaging. 

Each session will be live-streamed on the college’s Facebook page, ensuring that the information reaches as many people as possible. Griffin encouraged area residents to attend, whether in person or via Facebook Live, and noted the series includes a lineup of knowledgeable speakers for each session.

The series kicks off on Tuesday, Feb. 6, with a focus on Financial Wellness, presented by Truist Bank of Greenville. Subsequent Tuesdays will cover Relationship Wellness (Feb. 13), Nutrition and Physical Wellness (Feb. 20), and Mental Health and Family Wellness (Feb. 27), with experts in each field providing valuable insights.

Mollie Waters, an instructor at the Greenville LBW campus, expressed her enthusiasm for the series, highlighting the potential benefits for citizens.

“I think opportunities to improve our knowledge of issues like these are wonderful and can be helpful to our citizens,” Waters said.