Buncombe Street Methodist Church: Robert’s Story

Known

Eleven years ago and without a place to live, Robert Shell slept outdoors. The accumulated tension and continual hardship stemming from a 23-year addiction, time spent incarcerated, and an undiagnosed mental health condition, brought him to a crossroad. 

Robert was employed at a local restaurant and was not viewed as a person who was living unsheltered. A terrifying and near fatal experience from substance use shocked Robert into quitting his addiction cold turkey. He could not continue the direction he was headed, but imagining a different path was difficult. 

Robert began attending the Triune Mercy Center - a non-denominational church and diverse congregation offering unyielding love and hope to the community, meeting spiritual, emotional, mental and physical needs. Connecting with God and abstaining from drugs, Robert’s life was on the mend, but he was still without a home. United Ministries’ day shelter, Place of Hope, was a safeguard during this time, providing a place to shower, laundry facilities, and deep compassion from caring staff and volunteers. 

The Triune Mercy Center connected Robert to United Housing Connections and the Greater Greenville Mental Health Center, beginning the process of receiving a diagnosis, applying for Social Security Disability Income, and waiting for benefits to begin, creating the path to move into a home with ongoing support services in 2012. Robert celebrates the years of recovery and being in his own home eversince. 

What you believe and think is a strong influence in maintaining or altering your life’s path. Robert understands the power of believing in something bigger than yourself, knowing your own value and worth, and surrounding yourself with people who bring out the best in you. He wants those experiencing homelessness to know this too: “Believe in God, believe in yourself, and be with people that do right.”

Robert is one of the eight faces in the mural painted on the Triune Mercy Center, an initiative put on by the Greenville Homeless Alliance (GHA). This mural is both a celebration of art and a reminder of homelessness in Greenville. GHA is committed to ending this problem.