For Jennie Stephens ’89 (M.P.A. ’94), property matters. It’s more than just parcels of land. It’s a window to the past that can tell the story of a family, a community, even a way of life.
It may be a 100-year-old house that was passed down from generation to generation, along with stories of the family’s heritage. Or perhaps it’s a large swath of land where culture evolved and family traditions formed.
As executive director of the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation, Stephens is on a mission to preserve these communities, honor their past and keep their stories alive. The center helps family members take outright control of their inherited land and protect it.
“That’s wealth to many people … knowing about your family’s culture and history and creating your sense of place,” Stephens says. “Loss of heirs’ property affects everyone, not just one family.”
Since 2005, the center has helped clear 47 property titles, preserving not just the families’ heritage, but Charleston’s heritage as well. Her work helps Charleston retain some of its rural character in a quickly developing metropolitan area.
“Why do people want to visit this coast?” she asks, quickly answering: to see the land. “With urban sprawl, heirs’ land needs to be protected more than ever.”
It can be a tricky job, even for an accounting major who spent her College days studying financial principles. The Walterboro native never thought she’d be overseeing the sorting through of property titles, mediation of family disputes and helping fulfill the wishes of long-lost family members. Yet, she finds fulfillment in running an organization that empowers these families to take a proactive role in preserving their property.
Historically, African Americans who owned property in the Charleston area – and all along the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor – passed down property to family members with no formal will attached. However, the state of South Carolina doesn’t legally recognize oral agreements, putting many parcels of heirs’ properties in jeopardy of being sold, developed or taken over.
In one case that Stephens is all too familiar with, for example, “a man lost his home when a family member, and fellow heir, wanted to be compensated for her share of the land. This man, who had lived in the house for decades, lost his family home to the forces of modern development and collected next to nothing for the waterfront property. He had no control of the situation.”
That’s where the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation – and Stephens – comes in.
Started as a project of the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina, the center formed in 2005, and Stephens was tapped to run the organization.
“When anyone thinks of heirs’ property in the Lowcountry,” Stephens says, “I want them to think of the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation. We’re the experts and we can help.”
Some days, her role mirrors that of a lawyer. Other days, she’s a therapist. She also writes grant applications and helps with the center’s fundraising efforts – funds that allow families to get a clear title to their property. Whatever role she is playing, Stephens has always been drawn to issues involving social justice.
“It’s the history, the family dynamics, the opportunity to help people,” she says. “That’s what keeps me motivated.”
And while each family case can be complicated and time consuming, Stephens is determined to help families keep their land intact – one Lowcountry property at a time.
“My calling in life,” she says, “is to help people and help them learn how to take care of their property.”
And in helping them, Jennie Stephens helps us all.
– Jenny Peterson ’05
