Consistent

In her long-ago professional past, Melisa Garvais was helping seniors in a nursing facility.  More recently, she was a resident coordinator for a corporation operating deeply affordable housing in the heart of downtown Greenville for seniors, The Summit (3).  But her heart was more “with the people,” so after some serious soul searching, she knew she was called to be part of the Triune Mercy Center staff who she fondly refers to as family. Triune Mercy Center is a non-denominational church with a strong mission to Greenville’s homeless and low income residents. 

Melisa is the social worker for one of the clients connected to the Greenville Homeless Alliance (GHA) Housing Navigator, DJ Hillman, and the GVL iGNITE Fund. Both launched in 2023 in partnership with the Piedmont Health Foundation. The fund is part of a pilot to help explore the benefit of utilizing flexible funding to maintain housing for an extended period for individuals moving out of chronic homelessness.  

Her client Gordon (1) was consistent.  When he would get his Social Security check of $1410/month, he’d figure out how many motel nights he could afford, but that money went very quickly. He would sleep on the streets the rest of the time.  As his social worker, Melisa says that he would faithfully show up every day, and that “consistency goes a long way in establishing a relationship.”   She notes, “He has actually been reluctant to leave the streets. He has a sense of loyalty to his friends who are outside. The seasons are changing, though. Gordon told me months ago he doesn’t know if he will survive another winter on the streets.”

There is a deficit of safe housing that is affordable to Gordon.