In 2016, the City of Charleston, in partnership with the Mayors’ Commission on Homelessness and Affordable Housing, asked the Palmetto Project, a statewide nonprofit headquartered in Charleston, to establish and manage the Homeless to Hope Fund as an opportunity to support the goals of ensuring safe, decent, and affordable housing and services for unhoused persons, and those at-risk of becoming homeless.
The success of the Hope Center served as a reminder that building a permanent facility, where our struggling neighbors will be able to secure the services they need at a single, convenient, location was a critical next step.
Closing the Accessibility Gap
Because the tri-county area is prospering, it’s easy to assume that everyone who lives here must be prospering too, that we are all emerging from the pandemic stronger and more resilient. But prosperity is anything but abundant.
Over the last decade, the gap between household incomes and housing costs has grown wider and wider. As a result, more of our neighbors are in crisis every year. Some are homeless. Others are on the brink of homelessness. And they are right here in our community.
The new Hope Center facility will continue to:
Provide Comprehensive Services in a Single, Permanent Location: Solving housing insecurity and homelessness is not as simple as finding a place for individuals and families to live. Individuals struggling with housing security need comprehensive services to recover.  The Hope Center will grow as our region’s service hub. We will provide intensive, customized case management with a full range of wrap-around services from partner agencies.
Services will continue to expand and include:
• Comprehensive case management for everyone who asks for help
• Medical, dental, and mental health care
• Nutrition and food assistance
• Clothing assistance
• Legal aid
• Opportunities for job training and education
• Day-to-day basic needs including communication tools like phones and computers, along with safe facilities for bathing and laundry
• On-site meetings with the agencies, programs, and service providers who can help our neighbors get back on their feet
• By offering these services at a single site, the Hope Center will become a launching point for permanent stability.
Low-income households consistently living in and near poverty often have to make decisions between paying rent and providing other necessities like food and healthcare. Food insecurity and evictions lead to experiencing unstable housing. Finding security, peace, or dignity is hard to come by when one is in a state of constant crisis.
Increase the Supply of Available Housing:Â The Hope Center will continue to offer a diversity of permanently supported affordable housing options. By offering different types of housing, the Hope Center will be able to
• Meet the needs of individuals wherever they are on their journey to self-sufficiency and housing security.
• Fill the desperate need in our community for additional warming and cooling shelter space and low-income housing. Right now, every single available bed across the tri-county area has a long wait list.
With a permanent facility, we will ensure that our neighbors know who to turn to, where to go, and how to secure help. And they will be able to address all their needs in a single location.
Accessibility is key to the Center’s success and to our region’s ability to move the needle on homelessness: The Hope Center will be easy to find and easy to access—adjacent to major transportation arteries and along CARTA bus routes—for everyone who needs its services no matter where they call home in the tri-county area.
The Hope Center has the potential to make a dramatic impact on our entire community. We will significantly impact more people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. We will reduce one of the biggest barriers to participating in the programs proven most successful in breaking the cycle of housing insecurity:Â the need to travel to multiple locations to access essential services.
“Knowing where to go is essential. The Center will be easy to find and access. It will be home base for all services whether they are homeless or at risk of losing their housing.” – Jeffrey Fleming, Chief Operating Officer, The Palmetto Project
You Can Help Us Rise from the Ground
We believe we can do better when it comes to helping our homeless and housing insecure by providing all the resources they might need in a single, convenient, permanent location. That is why the City of Charleston and the Mayors’ Commission on Homelessness and Affordable Housing stand together in support of the construction of the Hope Center.
It Takes a Community to Make a Difference
Making a gift to the Hope Center Campaign is an opportunity to join hands together, become part of the solution to homelessness, and have a long-lasting impact on our neighbors and on the city you love. We invite you to make a gift or pledge today!