Forum on homelessness generates ideas

The white bracelet at every seat said it all.

"Ending homelessness begins with me."

About 200 people came together at Furman University Wednesday night to testify to that. They wanted to be part of a communitywide effort to ensure that every person has a place to live that's not a shelter or a tent or a sleeping bag in a doorway.

Sponsored by A Year of Altruism, the meeting was designed to spur interaction between people who are homeless — or were — and residents who have means and connections.

It was held in response to a five-part series The Greenville News published last November that showed what it is like to be homeless in Greenville County, which has the second highest number of homeless in the state after Richland County.

The newspaper found that despite Greenville County's many services, hundreds of people remain on the streets, in Tent City under the Pete Hollis bridge and in individual camps. They live in shelters and in temporary housing as they try to piece their lives together. It was estimated Wednesday night that 2,300 people are homeless now in Greenville County.

Their progress is stymied by low-paying jobs, a lack of affordable housing and systemic problems such as reduced state and federal funding and programs that severely restrict who can take part.

The crowd at Wednesday's meeting was diverse, students, faith leaders, construction workers, businessmen, people who work for service providers. No legislators were spotted, no school board or council members. Former Lt. Gov. Nick Theodore was the sole politician attending.

The conversations appeared spirited. Tammi Hart, who was homeless with three children seven years ago, told those at her table her road to homelessness began when she was a child living in a home plagued by domestic violence and then without a mother, when she raised her two sisters and tried to keep her grades up in school.

She said no one in school recognized the troubles she faced.

The consensus among Hart's group was homelessness is a societal problem that will require empathy and understanding. Sherm Rounsville said he would like to see politicians take the poverty tour that the Rev. Beth Templeton gives. He said he took it and was amazed at the feelings it conjured up. People cannot truly understand until they've seen it firsthand.

Hart also said educators need to be educated about homelessness so they can relate to the children they teach.

David Gandolfo, a Furman professor and chairman of the poverty studies minor, told the group at the start of the meeting that about 600 children in Greenville County schools are homeless.

Gandolfo challenged the group by asking what it means that Greenville tolerates homelessness.

"We have not fully accepted the responsibility of being a community," he said. People contribute by volunteering, paying taxes, but it is also the responsibility of the community to prepare each person to be able to contribute.

"This is the social contract that underlies our community," he said.

Mike Chesser, the executive director of United Housing Connections, said the key issues are housing, transportation, employment, child care, education and health care. They are interwoven and a solution requires action on each item.

"It's not something we're going to be able to solve on a piecemeal basis,' he said.

Similarly, the solution is not another program, he said.

Tony McDade, the executive director of Greenville Area Interfaith Hospitality Network, one of the organizers of the event, was pleased with the turnout, as was Hart, who is on the GAIHN board.

"There's so much ground to cover," she said, adding that she would have liked the audience to include people who don't feel as compassionate toward the homeless.

"Next we need to bring those people into the discussion. We need to reach everybody," she said.