Get involved with the Horry County Animal Care Center! We are always looking for friendly, animal-loving volunteers to serve as companions and friends to our adoptable pets. Learn more about how you can volunteer to help us out!

The Horry County Animal Care Center works closely with rescue groups locally, regionally, and even nationally. Learn more about becoming a rescue partner and working together with the Animal Care Center to help our adoptable animals find permanent homes.

Learn how to become an animal foster through Horry County Animal Care Center. Shelter staff will walk community members through the typical expectations and experience for an individual or family who participates in the ‘foster for adoption’ program.

Learn about ways to stay up to date on Horry County Government events, incidents, and activities. Horry County Public Information Officers will share resources and tools for getting involved and staying informed about our shared community through social media, public meetings, and online databases.

Request a newsroom visit with the Public Information team. Visits are conducted periodically, scheduled by HCPIO team members, and supplemental visits may be requested as needed to align with the onboarding of news team members and media partners.

In light of the growth that is occurring, Horry County is taking proactive steps to plan for the future. The IMAGINE 2040 Comprehensive Plan emphasizes the principles of sustainable development, focuses on community design and character, maximizes and efficiently expands public infrastructure together with services, and brings people closer to job centers, while encouraging thoughtful development and redevelopment. In this presentation, learn more about the Comprehensive Plan along with other long range planning efforts including parks and open space planning, historic preservation, and area planning.

Learn why we have zoning in Horry County and how the rezoning process works. This session covers common questions about what zoning does for a community and how Horry County Government processes requests for rezoning property.

The Capital Improvements Program (CIP) is a short-range schedule of public improvement projects planned by County Government to occur over a five-year period and includes project descriptions, costs and sources of funding. A presentation covering the current Horry County CIP plan and how funding decisions are made for future projects.

If your group is interested in getting involved in local government, this session will showcase a variety of ways to get involved with the boards, commissions and volunteer programs administered by our Planning and Zoning Department. This includes Planning Commission, Keep Horry County Beautiful, Parks and Open Space Board, and the Historic Preservation Commission. The presentation will also cover the public input process for Planning Commission and Horry County Council.

Learn more about planned roadway improvements and roadway construction in Horry County. This presentation will cover transportation planning and the role of the Horry County Engineering Department. The presentation will also cover the basics of public transportation and pedestrian planning and look forward to what opportunities lay ahead in Horry County.

Learn more about working and volunteering with a local government organization. This presentation can be customized at your request. Let us know in the submission form if you would like us to participate in a career fair, speak to a classroom, or provide volunteer opportunities to your community group.

HCConnect was created to provide a technology platform to inform, engage, and connect with the people of Horry County. Learn to use the app and its features to see crime in your neighborhood, read up on county news, and find out about new rezoning cases. This hands on workshop will walk you through how to download and use the HCConnect App.

Horry County provides a number of public resources online. In this workshop, learn how to use our GIS mapping tools and land records to learn more about properties and parcels in Horry County.

This presentation highlights important locations in Horry County associated with African American heritage, from Atlantic Beach, to Rosenwald and colored schools.

This program focuses on the ways that people, places and objects influenced one another in South Carolina. Multi-mound Mississippian Era Native American sites have been documented in central South Carolina. A portion of the people who lived there were likely ancestrally related to the peoples of the Catawba Indian Nation, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and Creek (Muscogee) Nation. Using documented oral traditions and the collaboration of current members of these three Nations, we can interpret the meaning behind the natural and built landscape of these sites and the artifacts commonly found there.

As industries changed throughout the years, many areas in South Carolina struggled to adapt and adjust. Luckily for Horry County, its natural resources have always managed to provide a way to help residents evolve with the times.

Learn how the Waccamaw River has impacted the citizens of Horry County, from our Prehistory to today.

Learn more about the history of the different communities and towns that make up Horry County.

This program goes through some interesting moments in Horry County’s history, including Confederate deserters raiding local farms, an abandoned community on the river, and a suspected murderer calling down the wrath of God on his accusers.

From the 1600s to today, Hurricanes have impacted South Carolina’s coast. This talk highlights a few of the major recorded storms in our history and the impact that have had on our communities.

From iconic landmarks to lesser known structures, learn about the buildings and sites that were once important to the citizens of Horry County.

Learn about the history of the Grand Strand, including the early days of Myrtle Beach.

This talk focuses on military figures who had ties to Horry County, from the Revolutionary War up to the modern era.

World War II had significant impacts for the citizens of Horry County. In this talk we explore the changes that the war brought about, from bombing ranges, a POW camp, and the impact of the Myrtle Beach Army Airfield on the area.

What are Carolina Bays? These unique geographical features cover our area and yet many don’t know about them. This talk explores the origins of the bays and highlights the types of wildlife that call them home.

Foods like chicken bog, hog’s head cheese and chitterlings may not seem that unusual to families who have lived here for many generations, but a lot of newcomers are left wondering what exactly these foods are and why they might be celebrated throughout the state. In this talk, we’ll explore the history of these foods, what they’re made of, and what makes them special to the area.

This hands-on skills training led by Horry County first responders prepares you to respond to breathing and cardiac emergencies. When you submit the request form, please indicate in the notes if you are interested in CPR certification.

This hands-on skills training led by Horry County first responders prepares you to respond to a life-threatening bleeding emergency. When you submit the request form, please indicate in the notes if you are interested in certification.

Led by members of Horry County Fire Rescue, this presentation covers wildfire risk in our area and steps you can take to mitigate those risks at your residence.

Led by Horry County first responders, this course provides water safety advice everyone should know before they hit the beach or the pool. Learn the basics of keeping yourself and your family safe while you enjoy fun in the sun.

The Neighbors app allows community members to communicate with one another, as well as with law enforcement. Through this communication channel, we are able to send alerts about crime and safety in real-time, request information about incidents that have been reported, and work together to make Horry County safer. The Neighbors app is free and can be used regardless of if you have a Ring device or any other home surveillance items. Learn more about this program and how Horry County Police Department and other local municipalities are using it to improve community safety.

For property-based and non-violent crimes, community members are encouraged to use the online incident reporting tool. When reports are received through CopLogic, an HCPD desk officer will review the details provided, create an official report, and conduct any needed follow-ups via phone. Hear from Horry County Police Department about this new system and how to use it if you need it.

This training highlights the importance of reporting suspicious activity immediately to minimize threats, prevent crime, and keep our community safer.

This course provides you with nationally recognized procedures for personal safety, situational awareness, and general knowledge of current and continuing activities to detect, deter, and mitigate active shooter incidents, applicable to all businesses, government and education facilities, faith-based facilities, and large public gathering areas.

This is your chance to meet the hardworking canine companions of HCPD officers. With special skills for sniffing out explosives and narcotics, these impressive animals work to keep our community safe.

In today’s world of technology and information sharing, scams and fraud are more prevalent than ever. White Collar Crime investigators will walk community members through the simple steps they can take to stop scammers in their tracks and keep your money, data, and identity safe.

This presentation from the Horry County Police Department will provide information on travel safety and security. Learn how to protect your property while you are away and some key safety tips for domestic and international travel.

This presentation expands on our Hurricane preparedness to provide you with information on other common hazards and hazard mitigation steps. Topics include natural disasters like earthquakes, wildfires and tsunamis.

Do you live in an evacuation zone? Learn about hurricane evacuations, safety tips and get the forecast for an upcoming hurricane season in this presentation from Emergency Management. This is one of our most popular seasonal presentations filled with critical information for Horry County residents.

In this presentation, Emergency Management professionals discuss major historical disasters that impacted Horry County and our region. Find out about lessons learned and how these disasters helped shape and improve our current emergency preparations and response.

We’re here to help you prepare for an emergency. Make sure you, your family, and your workplace have the tools in place to survive a disaster and recover quickly. This workshop style session will provide you with the information you need to prepare an emergency kit and a binder for important documents.

Do you know when to call Horry County’s Non-Emergency Line? In 20 minutes, we’ll teach you when it’s appropriate to call our 10 digit Non-Emergency Line and not 911. We’ll explain several examples, and why it’s important you know the difference between the two phone numbers. You never know when you may need to give us a call, so it’s good to always be prepared. Did you know you could text 911 in Horry County? In 20 minutes, we’ll discuss the importance of Text-to-911 in our County, with a focus on when and who should be using it. Beyond this advice, we’ll also offer up Text-to-911 best practices, therefore you know the information you can and cannot include in your messages.

Led by the Horry County Assessor’s Office, Property Tax 101 is an opportunity to learn the basics about real property tax assessment in Horry County. In this one hour seminar-style course, expect to learn more about how property is taxed in Horry County and where that tax money goes. In addition, the course will cover common tax exemptions.

If you would like to request a member of Horry County Government to participate in an upcoming panel discussion you are hosting, you can provide that information when you submit this form. Please let us know who you would like to speak or what topic you would like them to be able to speak about.

We get a number of requests from teachers each year and we love the opportunity to engage your classroom! If you would like to request a member of Horry County Government to speak to a class or to participate in a specific activity (like Read across America), please include that information when you submit this form.

Invite our crews to participate in your community event with their vehicles and apparatus. Most commonly, this involves offering children and students the opportunity to become familiar with police cars, fire trucks, and public works/road maintenance equipment (such as tractors and dump trucks) they may see out in the community. Please specify what kind of crews and equipment you are requesting when you submit the request form.

Learn how your local government operates. Team members will provide a brief history of Horry County Government, as well as information about the council-administrator form of government, and the various departments and functions therein.