Henry Miller thought he’d prepared a presentation for the Kiwanis Club of Orangeburg for a special meeting on Sept. 25, but the executive director of the Samaritan House of Orangeburg was in for a surprise. The club named him the 2025 Citizen of the Year instead. The meeting took place at the First Baptist Church of Orangeburg’s Family Life Center on Columbia Road.

Long-time club member Dr. Gene Atkinson said, “Henry Miller is a splendid example of what hard work and dedication can do for humanity.”

Atkinson said Miller began working at the Regional Medical Center as a high schooler, mopping floors and washing dishes.

Over the years, Miller went from performing utility work to becoming the associate director of food and nutrition, Atkinson said.

In 2008, Miller was promoted to the director of environmental services. By the time he retired, Miller was the co-director of maintenance at RMC. He’d worked at the hospital for 35 years. Atkinson said Miller, “became very active in civic work in the community.”

In 2017, the Orangeburg Morning Rotary Club named him Rotarian of the Year. He served as the club’s president in 2018.

He then served as the assistant district governor for Area 13 from 2022 to 2024.Atkinson said Miller has been and remains active with other  organizations in Orangeburg, such as the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce, Orangeburg County First Steps and Habitat for Humanity.

Miller became executive director of the Samaritan House of Orangeburg after renovations were completed in 2020.

“The mission of The Samaritan House is to provide shelter and resources to secure housing for people experiencing homelessness. He is a passionate advocate for the plight of the homeless. Henry’s strong leadership and management skills have made this outstanding mission a resounding success. Orangeburg is fortunate to have the passion and skills of Henry Miller directing this fine mission,” Atkinson said.

Miller thanked the Kiwanis Club of Orangeburg for naming him Citizen of the Year. “I tell people now, back then (before his retirement), I was chasing the dollar, trying to make as much money as I can - but being in this role (executive director of Samaritan House), it’s not about money, it’s about people,” Miller said. “When you do right and you take care of people, God takes care of you - that’s what my goal is now, it’s to help as many people as I can at Samaritan House when it comes to stable housing and living well in Orangeburg County,” Miller said.

Miller explained that Samaritan House is the only shelter in the Orangeburg, Bamberg and Calhoun county area.

It has 54 beds. He said one of the unique traits about Samaritan House is that it accepts children. The shelter has 11 children among its population as of Sept. 26. Over the past year, over 500 people have stayed at Samaritan House in Orangeburg. “We don’t get funding from the state. We don’t get funding from the city. We get a little extra funding from the county, at one point we did. Most of the funding that we get, we get from grants and from the citizens of Orangeburg County,” Miller said. It costs about $400,000 annually to keep Samaritan House operational. “The Bible tells us about it: the poor will always be amongst us - so we need to do what we can do to help our folks who are struggling through hard times, regardless of what their situation is,” Miller said. Another surprise for Miller was that his wife Emma Miller, son Elijah Miller and his wife’s sisters Shirley Simmons and Sandra Thompson snuck in just before Atkinson named Miller Citizen of the Year.

The Kiwanis Club of Orangeburg has proudly sponsored the Citizen of the Year Award since 1953 for the Orangeburg area.

The Kiwanis Club of Orangeburg started May 21, 1945. The first Kiwanis Club began in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. Kiwanis Club International is an organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time, according to its mission statement.

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To learn more about the Kiwanis International, visit www.kiwanis.org

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD

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Citizen of the Year article courtesy of The Times and Democrat, September 30. 2025