Greenville (SC) - The Upstate Homeless Coalition held it’s grand opening on Tuesday, October 17th, in celebration of the first Safe Haven built in South Carolina. Reedy Place is one of a kind and will be permanent housing to 15 chronically homeless individuals.

This facility will provide each tenant a private apartment with the amenities that include a kitchen, dining area, full bath, and bedroom. The common areas include a recreation room, activities room, and green space for outside enjoyment. This facility will provide the much needed feeling of security for those who live here and the complex will be monitored around the clock with case management always in the building.

This is an exciting accomplishment for many agencies that have a hand in making this type of housing a reality. The SC State Housing Finance and Development Authority, SC Department of Mental Health, Greenville Mental Health, HUD, and the city of Greenville have worked tirelessly to concept this facility into what it is today. “It has taken 4 years from conception to completion,” says Dr. Michael Chesser, Executive Director of the Upstate Homeless Coalition. “It took hours of collaboration and partnerships to make this happen and everyone is extremely pleased with the outcome of this one of a kind facility in South Carolina.”

This new complex was built under the Housing First concept. Housing First is a different way to look at providing solutions to end homelessness. Many times case management will work with individuals as the first step to providing service. With the Housing First concept, the focus is getting people off the streets and into environments that encourage change. Once a person is out of a current situation and into a new environment, case management and new beginnings come next. This type of housing picks people up in their darkest hour.

The Upstate Homeless Coalition is a non-profit organization dedicated to identifying the needs of homeless people and to finding solutions to homelessness in the Upstate through programming, housing, and advocacy. The UHC is the umbrella organization for homeless programs in all 13 counties in the Upstate. The organization provides services for the homeless in 7 of those counties: Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Laurens, Pickens, Oconee, Union and Cherokee.



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