A Repeat Offender
The Economy Inn was condemned on January 13, 2021 and the Motel Displacement Response Plan mobilized to meet the needs of eighty individuals ranging in age from 3 weeks to 80 years. Bob Mihalic, Governmental Affairs Coordinator, with Greenville County said, “Greenville County codes gave the Economy Inn owner sufficient notice of life safety issues that needed to be addressed, but they were not/have not been addressed. So today we condemned the structure for lack of smoke detectors, plumbing issues, and electrical and heating issues. The occupants were notified last week of impending condemnation.” Partners who helped with the intake process on January 13, learned that occupants were paying a range of $840 - $1500/month. Majority reported paying a full week ($210) the day prior to the motel being condemned. Economy Inn was one of the least expensive motel options and is one of seven motels in the I-85/Mauldin and Augusta Road part of Greenville County.
Living in a motel room is considered experiencing homelessness by the Greenville Homeless Alliance. As shared in the January blog post the same motel was condemned in 2018. The comparison of a house fire, tornado, or hurricane is the closest equivalent to the loss experienced by the occupants. The American Red Cross responds to natural disasters not motels that are condemned. The Greenville Homeless Alliance is proud to report that the plan worked and adapted due to COVID-19. Thanks to generous public and private donors everyone who wanted help was relocated to a different motel for a week.
Last week two stories were shared as the plan was reviewed:
Facility Director of the Greenville Rescue Mission, David Hanna, with Miracle Hill Ministries, shared how Mr. Roy was the last person found by code officers about 10:00 p.m. during a final and third sweep of the property. He is 70 years old and had no transportation. He was transported by Ma’ta Crawford and her team to the Sunset Inn where the final rooms were being secured. Program Manager at the Greenville Rescue Mission, TJ Terrell, checked on Mr. Roy the Friday morning following the closure. He explained emergency shelter and gave him time to consider the option. Mr. Roy made the decision to enter emergency shelter. His fixed income is roughly $900/month and he could not sustain the cost of the Sunset Inn which was $500/week. As of February 10, he had stayed for over 22 days where he has received medical treatment and education on resources available. He is currently working on longer term accommodations.
Ma’ta Crawford of Community Fresh Start told the story of Roberto and his wife Kimberly. They had been living in the motel for over six months. Roberto was working part time, and Kimberly was unemployed due to mental and physical health issues. They were barely making ends meet, had no form of transportation, and had struggled to find any other place to live since they had two dogs. Roberto and Kimberly are now relocated, and Roberto is working full time in a local restaurant. Roberto has continuously offered to work on Ma’ta’s lawn at no charge, since he is so grateful and touched by the amount of care he has received.
The most pressing question after a debrief was, “How do we prevent this motel, clearly a repeat offender, from reopening?”
Lisa Colby with American Red Cross led a coordinated collective Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Challenges (SWOC) analysis with partners and policymakers. The top SWOC’s were:
Strength: Everyone that wanted help got it. All the agencies involved worked together in full cooperation and support!
Weakness: Teams being assigned specific tasks.
Opportunity: One centralized command center with all partners and agencies for 24 hour period to be available for motel occupants and share data centrally.
Challenge: Plan was built for one stop shop and not a longer-term rollout, 30 days later we still have motel occupants without IDs, phones, etc.; the plan needs to be a continuous and stabilizing plan with multiple phases.
People continue to ask, “Why are motel rooms serving as permanent housing?” To dig deeper into that question, consider the Out of Reach 2020 data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition reporting that fair market rent in Greenville County for a 1-bedroom is $771/month and a 2-bedroom is $900/month. Why then would anyone pay $810 - $1500/month for a motel room?
The individuals displaced represent a microcosm of systemic problems. The challenges and factors below were present (learn more on page 11 and 12 of the 2019 Report on Homelessness):
Lack of Family/Support Network
Criminal Justice
Community/Environmental Factors
Economic Factors
Lack of Supportive Services
This experience has caused me to reflect on work in my former job with Westminster Presbyterian Church in Community Health Evangelism. The church traveled to the Dominican Republic to spend a week with community members, local churches, and mission co-workers with PCUSA. The essence of this work is listening and working together to improve community identified priorities. I am also reminded that the communities we served were called “Bateys” and were designated camps primarily for workers in the sugar cane industry. Most people in the “Bateys’ lacked the ability to move freely within the country and often lacked basic necessities like identification, transportation, and food.
Since forming the Greenville Homeless Alliance we have advocated for housing that is safe and affordable as a community priority. Affordable is defined as paying no more than 30% of gross monthly income. For Mr. Roy that would equal $270/month.
In 2018, County Council’s Affordable Housing Committee produced a study in partnership with Greenville County Redevelopment Authority. In 2016, the City of Greenville also produced a study. Collectively since 2018, the community and policymakers have agreed that there is a growing deficit of over 12,000 homes that are safe and affordable to people who have an income of $25,000 a year or less.
In 2018, the City and County of Greenville unanimously adopted a resolution of support for the GHA Motel Displacement Response Plan. GHA has convened partners every six months to review the plan, held a simulated closure of a motel, and made updates to keep the plan ready for implementation.
In 2019, the Greenville Homeless Alliance produced a report on homelessness and established five priorities.
In 2020, the Greenville Homeless Alliance Steering Committee adopted a strategic plan.
The community is often called upon to extend our voice as advocates. This is as it should be. I learned in the Dominican Republic that being present was a valuable contribution everyone could offer. Coming alongside to amplify the priorities established by the community can serve as a conduit for sustainable change required for a healthy community.
We invite you to attend the Greenville County Council meeting on Tuesday, February 16. at 6:00 p.m. The agenda can be viewed here. You can attend in person or virtually. Ryan Duerk, President and CEO of Miracle Hill Ministries is the invited guest for the invocation. He also serves as the Chair of the Greenville Homeless Alliance Steering Committee. Your attendance is advocacy. We also invite you to write a letter or email to your County Council representative on why it matters to have safe, affordable housing in our community. You’re also invited to thank one or more of the partners in the plan (see pages 17 - 24). This is a uniquely Greenville solution and is only possible because of the dedicated partners.
Thanks to following generous donors:
- Greenville County
- Augusta Heights Baptist Church
- Grace Church
- North Hills Church
- Fellowship Greenville
- Westminster Presbyterian Church
- United Way of Greenville County COVID-19 Relief Fund
- Individuals
Thank you to Greenlink for providing transportation on January 13 and bus passes for 30 days of unlimited rides.
Thank you to Grace Church for opening their downtown sanctuary for intake on January 13.
Thank you to Meals on Wheels of Greenville County for providing a hot lunch on January 13.
Thank you to the YMCA of Greenville County for delivering a week of nonperishable food to all displaced occupants on January 15 and continued weekly food for those who needed more than 7 days of help.
Thank you to community members for answering phones, delivering resource and affordable housing guides, delivering hot meals, moving items into storage units for displaced people, and more.
Thank you to new partners Faces and Voices of Recovery or FAVOR Greenville and Upstate Freedom Fighters.
Thank you to partners who showed up in the days and weeks to follow January 13. I am reminded that Greenville knows how to dig deep and solve complex problems.