By Megan Fitzgerald, Greenville Journal
Local elected officials made pledges to Greenville Organized for Accountable Leadership to secure funding for affordable housing and mental health services in Greenville County.
More than 1,600 people attended the interfaith justice group’s Nehemiah Action event April 15 at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Simpsonville. GOAL consists of 26 congregations and is an affiliate of the Direct Action and Research Training Center, a national network of faith-based community groups.
“For me, I just really relish the moment of seeing our community come together across racial demographics, across denominational demographics to achieve a goal tonight,” said Rev. Stacey Mills with Mountain View Baptist Church and co-president of GOAL. “This was powerful and it really does speak well of our community.”
For its second year in operation, the organization has continued leading campaigns for affordable housing and mental health.
Read more about GOAL’s initial year achievements
Approximately 30,000 households in Greenville County cannot afford the cost of their home, according to GOAL. The organization asked both Greenville city and county leaders to work towards securing $10 million in annual funding to support the creation of affordable housing.
Lillian Brock Flemming, a Greenville city councilmember, said the city has already identified over $10 million annually in dedicated funding for affordable housing. She also gave her commitment to support the establishment of a city ordinance that would ensure one-third of the annual $10 million would be used to create housing for very low-income families.
Greenville County councilmembers Alan Mitchell, Liz Seman and Ennis Fant each committed to work towards securing $10 million in annual funding to the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority by the county’s 2027-19 biennial budget cycle.
“We’ve got more money in this last budget and fighting to get more money in the next budget so stand by,” Mitchell said.
To improve mental health services, GOAL has focused on securing state funding for the 988 mental health crisis line center located in Greenville County. In 2022, over 46,000 people – approximately 130 people a day – called 988. Less than half, however, received an in-state response, according to GOAL.
Last year, the state budgeted $3.9 million in one-time funding for the 988 mental health crisis line.
GOAL received commitments from Rep. Bruce Bannister, Rep. Chandra Dillard, Sen. Ross Turner and Sen. Karl Allen to secure $4.1 million in funding in the upcoming budget cycle for the call center. GOAL shared that Turner also committed that he would request a special funding of $200,000.
To end its second year of justice ministry, GOAL will be hosting a celebration event on June 17 at Trinity Lutheran Church. For more information, visit www.goaljustice.com.
View the original story here.
