Main Street — Carlisle, SC
Route 72 — Union County
The Broad River
CRDI is a nonprofit Community Development Corporation fighting for the land, health, and future of a community that has been systematically underfunded, contaminated, and ignored for generations.
CRDI — the Carlisle Revitalization and Development Initiative — is a nonprofit CDC incorporated in South Carolina and founded by Carlisle native and decorated U.S. military veteran Jackie K. Robinson Jr. We exist to reverse generations of deliberate disinvestment in Carlisle, Union County.
We lead with heirs' property resolution and elder homeowner rehabilitation because those are the specific mechanisms by which wealth was stripped from Carlisle's families. We name what happened. We fix what we can. We hold accountable what we can't.
CRDI controls land, sets the terms, and drives the mission — structured to outlast any political cycle. The land stays. The mission stays.
"Carlisle has been exploited by industry, neglected by regulators, and forgotten by the political process. CRDI exists to change that — permanently."
The former Carlisle Finishing Plant — a Cone Mills / International Textile Group facility that operated on the Broad River from 1955 until shutdown — left behind waste lagoons with PFAS contamination at 7,200 times the federal safety standard.
The plant site carries its own EPA Superfund ID: SCD003344652. The Broad River is Carlisle's drinking water source — and the source for Columbia's drinking water 60 miles downstream.
The company that caused this contamination also operated the Town of Carlisle's wastewater treatment facility after selling the plant in 2020. The community has never had independent testing. SC DHEC declared the situation an "urgent legal matter" — enforcement has been slow.
This is not just an environmental issue. In a majority-Black community with no political weight and no independent health monitoring, this is a civil rights issue.
Heirs' property — land passed down without clear title — is one of the primary mechanisms by which Black families in the rural South have lost generational wealth. In Carlisle, this is not history. It is happening now.
Buildings like this one tell the story of a community that built something real — and watched it erode through neglect, legal manipulation, and generations of systemic disinvestment. CRDI exists to reverse that.
Learn how we can help →
He spent 18 years serving this country. Now he has a new mission.
Jackie K. Robinson Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — but his roots run deep in Carlisle, South Carolina. He graduated from Union High School in 2000, and when he came home to Union County as a decorated combat veteran, what he found lit a fire that no amount of bureaucracy has been able to put out.
Jack graduated from Union High School in 2000 and walked straight into the United States Navy. As an Aviation Electronics Technician, he served aboard the USS Enterprise, at NAS Pensacola, and NAS Patuxent River — completing multiple deployments before transitioning to the U.S. Army as a logistician.
Jack holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and is the founder and CEO of multiple veteran-owned businesses spanning transportation, agriculture, and federal contracting. Every enterprise he has built is designed to generate resources that flow back into the Carlisle community.
CRDI is the culmination of everything — the roots, the service, the sacrifice, and the refusal to accept that Carlisle's story ends with neglect. The land stays. The mission stays. Carlisle gets what it was always owed.
There are specific ways to help — from funding independent water testing to connecting us with resources, partners, and allies who care about environmental justice in rural South Carolina.
The PFAS testing campaign needs funding. Every dollar goes directly to independent laboratory analysis — no administrative overhead, no delay. The community needs data now.
Contribute to testing →Tangled land titles are stripping generational wealth from Carlisle families right now. Legal support, title research, and community outreach require sustained funding.
Support this work →We are actively building coalitions with environmental organizations, academic institutions, legal advocates, and community foundations. If your mission aligns, let's talk.
Start a conversation →Whether you're a potential partner, funder, journalist, regulator, or Carlisle community member — we want to hear from you. CRDI is incorporated, active, and moving.
For media inquiries regarding the PFAS investigation, please reference EPA Superfund Site ID SCD003344652 and direct your inquiry to our primary contact.
CRDI is a nonprofit CDC incorporated in South Carolina with a 501(c)(3) application pending. Your support goes directly to independent water testing, heirs' property resolution, and community revitalization in Carlisle.
We are setting up our secure donation portal. In the meantime, reach out directly to contribute — every dollar goes straight to the mission.
501(c)(3) application pending with the IRS. Contact change@crdisc.org for contribution instructions including check or wire transfer.