2023-2024 United Way of the Piedmont Board of Directors Mitch Kennedy, Board Chair Earl Alexander Laura Barbas-Rhoden Rob Barrett Denise Beers-Kiepper Jay Beeson Dawn Bingham Donda Bishop Kathleen Brady Reed Brown Jennifer Cash Marquice Clark Parkes Coggins Kurt Dallas Shaunté Evans Dana Fall Joey Fowler Dana Gottman Angela Halstead Bennie Harris Katie Henderson Todd Horne Sarah Keim Beth Lancaster Andrea Moore Gia Quiñones Lance Radford Chris Santoro Jim Shank Timika Wilson
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Sarah
Sarah Daniel Director of Economic Mobility
IN THIS ISSUE Learn about homelessness efforts in our community Be inspired by a United Way client’s story of housing stability Find out how to keep local families housed
PREVENTING & ENDING HOMELESSNESS Our community’s housing & homelessness initiatives Preventing and ending homelessness takes community-wide collaboration, and we are proud to help lead this work. Below are the housing and homelessness initiatives that United Way of the Piedmont helps support and sustain. HEART Community Resource Coordinators Launched in March 2022, the Homeless Engagement and Response Team (HEART) is a City of Spartanburg initiative to support and respond to all the increasing needs of Spartanburg’s unsheltered residents. Our United Way, in partnership with the City, supports two HEART Community Resource Coordinators, who case manage and serve Spartanburg residents experiencing housing instability or homelessness.
37% increase in calls to 2-1-1 for affordable housing resources and services in 2023
Homeless Task Force The Homeless Task Force is an United Way-convened group of homeless partners and providers that come together to support individuals and families experiencing homelessness as well as collaborate on preventative community-wide housing solutions. Supported by the 1000 Feathers consulting team, a report on the task force’s progress and future priorities can be found at the link at the bottom of this page. Homeless Court The Spartanburg Homeless Court is an opportunity for individuals formerly or currently experiencing homelessness as well as those facing homelessness as a result of pending or past charges or bench warrants to receive support outside of the traditional courtroom. Individuals who apply are assigned a pro bono attorney and begin working with a service provider to develop a “plan” that addresses the applicant’s barriers in order to transition out of homelessness. Applicants return to Court once they have completed their plan, and upon the Judge’s discretion, the applicant’s charge(s) may be dismissed or reduced. Litter Heroes A roadmap out of homelessness or housing instability, the Litter Heroes program is a joint initiative of Spartanburg agencies. Litter Hero participants in the program work as part of a litter crew and are offered a pathway to reliable income and housing, higher education, improved health outcomes, better life skills, and more. Our United Way provides case management for participants. Cherokee County Housing Stability Task Force Newly formed in 2023, our United Way along with partners at Cherokee County Mental Health, KNOW(2), law enforcement, Miracle Hill, SC Legal, and others, are tackling interconnected housing and behavioral health issues in Cherokee County.
OUR PARTNERS Making homelessness brief and rare takes collaboration among organizations across our community. Thanks to these partners, alongside others, for joining us at the table to move the needle on preventing and ending homelessness locally:
Learn more about what Spartanburg is doing to address homelessness at: www.uwpiedmont.org/placetocallhomereport
A STORY OF STABILITY The power of keeping people housed Andrea and her husband Gustavo were United Way of the Piedmont donors through Contec, their workplace, for years. They started giving because they felt they have been blessed in life and wanted to give back to others. “If we can help, we help someone,” said Andrea. Both Andrea and Gustavo donated to United Way because they knew they could make a difference. But they didn’t know exactly what United Way did until they needed help. Andrea and Gustavo were working hard, even overtime, and able to maintain stability until an unexpected surgery came up in 2022. When Andrea had to go on medical leave, money became tight for her family. They were late on their mortgage.
Pictured: Andrea at Contec
Andrea looked all over for assistance, but unfortunately didn’t qualify for many of the programs. She began to panic. Thankfully, a community member gave her a card for United Way, and Andrea was able to connect with one of our workplace-based Community Resource Coordinators (CRC) at Contec. Working with the CRC, Andrea was able to get her family back on track with assistance from United Way while she recovered from surgery.
Don’t give up. Stay positive. It’s so easy to be negative. Know that people care in all of the darkness.
Once recovered, Andrea returned to work and began to give back to her community again. Our CRC continued to follow up with Andrea to support her. “[The CRC] went out of her way to make sure I was okay,” Andrea shared. While Andrea's family still face continued financial and health challenges, the assistance United Way was able to provide filled a gap in their lives and kept them out of crisis in a difficult moment. Andrea reflected about her experience with our United Way, “Don’t give up. Stay positive. It’s so easy to be negative. Know that people care in all of the darkness—United Way is the ray of light.”
Our hope is that helping Andrea and her family be stable will lead to future opportunities to thrive! Andrea’s perseverance and our United Way presence made this impact possible, but there’s a greater need in our community. Helping local families like Andrea’s takes commitment not just from people who need resources but also supporters like you who can help meet needs.
You can help keep local families in their homes. The best way to prevent and end homelessness locally is to give to our Community Impact Fund! This fund supports all of our impact work and team, including our efforts to keep families housed.
Give now at bit.ly/uwpdonate.
FALL 2023
UNITED WAY UPDATE Ready to Connect, Engage, & Inspire? Check out our upcoming events & opportunities
GIVING TUESDAY November 28 Kick off holiday giving with us as we Brew Good at FR8 Yard.
MLK DAY OF SERVICE January 15 Make your MLK Day a day on, not a day off, as you serve our community.
FREE TAX PREPARATION, VITA, SEASON January - April Be a greeter or help prepare taxes as a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Volunteer. No experience required, and training provided. Contact our VITA Coordinator, April Person-Booker, at apersonbooker@uwpiedmont.org to learn more.
Find these and more on our website: www.uwpiedmont.org/events
EVENT SPONSORS PRESENTING PLATINUM AFL Contec Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System GOLD BMW Manufacturing Duke Energy Lockhart Power PricewaterhouseCoopers Publix
SILVER Bank of America Boulier, Thompson and Barnes Cintas Inman Mills Keurig Dr. Pepper Michelin Piedmont Natural Gas Spartanburg Water The Johnson Group The Timken Company Truist William Barnet & Son
BRONZE Brown Packing Company Cedar Springs Family Dentistry Clayton Construction Coldwell Banker Caine Denny's First Citizens Bank Harper Construction Loop Recruiting Marsh McLennan Agency McMillan Pazdan Smith Nestle Park National Bank Synovus Toray Composite Materials America, Inc.