SHARE's Community Economic Opportunity Department helps low-wealth households, individuals and neighborhoods break the cycle of poverty and become self-sufficient through seven major strategies:

1- Emergency Services
2- Case Management and Linkages
3- Education and Skills Training
4- Employment and Job Brokerage
5- Housing and Neighborhood Development
6- Partnerships and Leveraging
7- Nutrition, Health, and Wellness.

Those served all meet federal poverty guidelines and include the jobless, the homeless, single parents and their children, displaced homemakers, the elderly, at-risk students, children and youth, and other eligible families and individuals. This department currently conducts 24 programs, which are all separately funded, managed, evaluated and audited. Community services, economic development, and homeless services are the three general areas of this department. Several of their programs are highlighted below.

Community Service Division(Back to top)

The Community Services Division is responsible for bringing low-income families or individuals in crisis to a position of stability and strength. Serving Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, and Pickens counties, the strategies and interventions provided by the Community Services division are multifaceted. All services are client-centered, family oriented, and reality based.

Some of the direct assistance provided by this division are:

· Eviction prevention,
· Preservation of utility services
· Restoration of utility services
· Provisions for emergency fuel
· Food distribution,
· Medication
· Clothing and shoes

Following the crisis resolution, service recipients receive counseling and training to assist them in identifying causal factors that led to the family emergency. With assistance from the staff, the individual develops a case plan to address future preventive strategies. This can include parenting skills training, budgeting and money management, employment counseling, job referrals, housing counseling, and conflict resolution skills training.

Economic Development Division (Back to top)

SHARE facilitates community economic development services for clients in each of our four county service area. A case management approach is used with each participant to provide training and related services in two major areas: 1) Job development/training and 2) first time homeownership.

Participants who complete training achieve one or more of the following: 1) transition into unsubsidized employment 2) self-sufficiency and/or 3) become a first time homebuyer.

Some of our Employment and Training programs are outlined below:

LADDER:(Back to top)

(Lifelong Advancement through Diligence, Determination and Employment Resources)
Ladder is a Comprehensive Jobs Training/Improvement and Placement program that provides an intensive, comprehensive system of training, services, and support to meet the employment needs of eligible participants. In partnership with the City of Greenville, this program is for individuals who are interested in furthering their educational skills, acquiring new job skills, obtaining job placement assistance and establishing self-sufficiency.

The LADDER program is for Greenville residents living within specific area of Greenville county that have been targeted for economic re-development

Homeless Services Division(Back to top)

SHARE THE HOPE:(Back to top)

Share the hope is a first time homebuyers program targeting low-to-moderate income families. Through SHARE THE HOPE, SHARE acquires, rehabilitates, and resells single-family houses in the four county area. A HOPE III grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the South Carolina State Housing and Finance Development Authority was the initial funding source

HOME:(Back to top)

Home is SHARE's newest first time home ownership program providing opportunities for low-to-moderate income families in Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens counties. Again, SHARE acquires, rehabilitates, and resells single-family houses. Participants receive assistance with down payment and closing costs.

Homeless Services Division (Back to top)

The term "homeless" is applied to two different segments of our low-income population:
· One segment consists of the many people who lack a home of their own. They may be crowded in with relatives and friends, face eviction, or exist in unsanitary or sub-standard temporary housing.
· The second category of homelessness involves those people with no shelter at all who live on the streets, in parks, under bridges, and in similar places- the so-called "street people."

SHARE has two programs dedicated to working with the homeless population. Three are briefly described below.

WE CARE: (Back to top)

This program is designed as a life-changing process, which includes development of life skills and positive attitudes necessary for homeless people to become self-sufficient. It is not an emergency assistance program; rather, it is a transitional housing program with intensive case management. Participants are referred by other service providers or shelters, and may remain in the program for a maximum of two years. Twelve types of assistance are provided as applicable. They include: housing; transportation; food assistance; medical and dental attention; psychological, drug and alcohol counseling; job training and employment assistance; education; and life skills training and childcare. This program also incorporates an outreach team that works directly with the "street" homeless. This facet of the program is the vital first step in eliminating homelessness in our community. Outreach provides a multitude of necessary services including transportation, blankets, food, and relocation. Frequently, the outreach team is able to move clients from the street to temporary housing into either permanent housing or the WE CARE program depending on individual needs.

CHANGE: (Back to top)

This program is designed as a scaled down version of the WE CARE program and operates in Pickens County only. The program offers ten units of housing through its transitional housing component.