Solving Homelessness with Susan McLarty of Greenville Homeless Alliance

Greenville talks a lot about growth: skyline cranes, new restaurants, and neighborhoods that once served mill workers now pulsing with fresh energy. But growth has a shadow—and on this episode of Selling Greenville, director Susan McLarty of the Greenville Homeless Alliance (GHA) sits down to unpack what homelessness actually looks like here, why it’s often hidden, and how the community is already building practical solutions that work.

Far from a single-issue problem, homelessness in Greenville is a complex web of housing supply, incomes, transportation, health care, and policy. GHA’s role is to be the connector at the center of that web—the hub of the wheel—aligning public and private partners so resources move where they can do the most good.

Solving Homelessness in Greenville

Solving Homelessness: GHA calls itself a coalition of doers and change-makers. Its vision is simple and bold: everyone in Greenville County should have access to a safe, affordable home. Instead of duplicating services, GHA convenes the organizations that already touch homelessness—from local government and hospital systems to the school district, shelter providers, and transit—and helps them act in sync rather than in silos.

That “hub” model has already produced concrete outcomes. One early win addressed a painful, costly pattern: people being discharged from hospitals not healthy enough to return to the street and simultaneously turned away by shelters unequipped to handle medical needs. GHA helped connect New Horizon Family Health Services (a federally qualified health center with a Health Care for the Homeless program) and Miracle Hill Ministries (the Upstate’s largest emergency shelter provider). Miracle Hill reconfigured space inside its men’s and women’s shelters; New Horizon staffed a nurse and a social worker. The result: a medical respite pathway—stability, recovery, and dramatically fewer revolving-door ER visits—all because public and private partners were brought to the same table.

That’s the GHA playbook: strengthen partnerships, broaden support, and increase options—because homelessness is fundamentally a problem of too few options for the people with the fewest resources.

What the Numbers Really Say

If homelessness seems “invisible” in Greenville, part of the reason is how it’s counted. A common national snapshot is a one-night count each January focused on people living unsheltered or in emergency shelters. That misses large swaths of families who are doubling up, couch-surfing, or paying for motels—precariously housed, but not on sidewalks.

Greenville’s school district (the entire county is a single district) uses the U.S. Department of Education definition, which captures those realities. In the most recent school year, 2,381 children in Greenville County self-reported homelessness. That figure doesn’t even include the parents and non-school-aged children in those households—so the true number of affected people is higher.

Greenville also has more than 450 shelter beds, the most in the Upstate, which helps explain why literal street homelessness is less visible here. But beds are only a bridge. Permanent homes at price points people can actually afford are the destination—and that’s where the squeeze is tightest.

How We Got Here—and Why It’s Harder to Get Back

For decades, many nonprofits and shelters were located near Greenville’s historic mill villages, where walkable, low-cost rentals were common. As the economy changed and neighborhoods transformed, those units grew scarce. Construction costs rose, interest rates climbed, and near transit and jobs got pricier. Meanwhile, wages at the low end of the pay scale haven’t kept up.

Homelessness is usually more than one problem happening at once—credit dings, prior evictions, loss of a car, child care gaps, or a sudden 30-day notice when a long-time rental is sold. It’s why GHA has pulled Greenlink (public transit) and other infrastructure partners into the conversation: putting affordable homes near existing routes, water, and sewer isn’t just a planning preference—it’s a stability strategy.

And while Greenville has stepped up local funding, the scale of need is larger than any single pot can cover. According to countywide housing leaders, a realistic path to cut the shortage in half requires $10 million per year from each local government, deployed as patient, gap-closing capital to make deals “pencil”—the difference between a stalled project and new, quality, mixed-income homes opening their doors.

Mixed-Income, Not One-Size-Fits-All

Greenville’s own experience shows what helps. Renaissance Place, a senior community near everyday amenities and bus lines, moved forward because people showed up to say “yes.” The Woven development on the West Side added deeper affordability (including homes at 80%, 60% and 40% of AMI) after the county revised its tax-abatement policy. And local partners like Mill Village Ministries help root small-business opportunities in place so residents can build income where they live.

The key is options. GHA keeps pressing for mixed-income neighborhoods (healthier over time), homes built where transit already runs, and tools that meet people where they are. For individuals exiting shelters, the path might include employment coaching through United Ministries’ “Striving to Thrive” model while in shelter, plus careful mapping of benefits “cliffs” using new software so a raise doesn’t suddenly crash child-care or housing supports. Many people want to work; the gap is the housing that is close enough to that job to make it stick.

Myths, Meet Reality

GHA hears the same misconceptions on loop—and addresses them head-on with short “Mythbusters” videos:

• “People don’t want to work.” Many do—some land jobs simply by walking down Main Street and applying. Without stable housing, transportation, and child care, it’s hard to keep any job, regardless of motivation.

• “Panhandling equals choice.” Crisis isn’t a choice. Band-aid responses can prolong a crisis; connecting people to the right services moves them toward stability.

For anyone in crisis, GHA maintains a Get Help page and a filterable resource list with shelter, meals (available seven days a week across Greenville), and step-by-step contacts. The goal is speed and clarity—the right door, first.

A Local Challenge, a Local Response

One sobering pattern: most people experiencing homelessness here had their last permanent address here. This is a homegrown problem—and it needs a homegrown response. When someone moves to Greenville expecting a better situation, and it doesn’t work out, United Ministries helps arrange transport back to the community where family or supports exist. But the larger story is local residents getting priced out when a long-time rental sells or when rents leap beyond reach.

If you’ve ever tried to rent with the standard “3x income” rule, imagine doing it after a forced move with no car and a shift job. That’s not a lack of effort; it’s math.

Art, Awareness, and Action

Greenville is also telling a different story in public: the second-largest public art commission/mural in the City of Greenville is going up on the back of Triune Mercy Center’s Sanctuary along Stone Avenue. About 14,000 cars per day will pass it. Local artists will depict stories of hope—people who moved through darkness and into housing—inviting passersby to learn what it took to get there. In November, GHA is also launching the GVL Ignite Fund, designed to make it easier for housing providers to lease to the most vulnerable neighbors, with win-win supports that help placements succeed.

Awareness matters, but infrastructure matters more: land use, transit, funding tools, and political will. GHA’s monthly communications include timely calls to action so the “Yes In My Backyard” chorus shows up when it’s needed most.

How to Contact the Guest

Guest: Susan McLarty, Director, Greenville Homeless AllianceWebsite: gvlhomes4all.org (look for the “Connect with Us” tab).On the site, you’ll also find the Get Help page, a searchable resource list, and updates on events like the annual luncheon during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, the mural unveiling, and the GVL Ignite Fund launch.

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Bottom Line

Greenville doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel to address homelessness—it needs to strengthen the hub. When hospitals, shelters, health providers, funders, the school district, transit, and local governments pull in the same direction, people move from crisis to keys. The data is clear: families are struggling, and children bear the brunt through repeated moves and lost learning. But the solutions are just as clear: build more homes people can actually afford, place them near transit and services, fund the gap so projects pencil, and back mixed-income communities that give everyone a foothold.

Homelessness here is largely homegrown—and so is the path forward. If you care about Greenville’s future, say yes when it counts, learn the resources, and support the partners doing the daily work. The mural on Stone Avenue will celebrate stories of hope; the next ones can start with you.

Ien Araneta

Journal & Podcast Editor | Selling Greenville