A New Chapter in Greenville's Fight for Housing Opportunity

By Terril Bates

Greenville is on the brink of a transformative shift in how we address one of the most persistent challenges facing our community: affordable housing. 

The Greenville Housing Authority (TGHA) has received final approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to implement a Moving to Work (MTW) program, a milestone that signals not just a policy change, but a cultural change in how affordable housing works.

The MTW designation is not business as usual. It’s a federal innovation platform that allows housing authorities to break free from rigid bureaucratic constraints and test bold, locally tailored solutions. And TGHA is wasting no time putting it to work.

The MTW strategy focuses squarely on mobility and opportunity -- especially through education, employment, and self-sufficiency. During the next few years, this initiative will guide approximately 1,700 local families toward greater financial independence. The elderly and disabled, of course, are rightly exempt from mandatory participation, but for working-age adults, this is a chance to graduate from reliance on housing vouchers and become full players in the private rental market and potentially, even homeowners.

The program is structured around four distinct paths, each offering incentives and support tailored to different stages of life and ambition. Whether it’s a young adult finishing a GED, a single parent entering the workforce for the first time, or a family dreaming of buying their first home, MTW provides a framework and more importantly, a future.

There are four ways MTW will work in Greenville.

• Path 1 offers a four-year coaching-based program focused on budgeting and financial literacy.

• Path 2 supports those in education tracks from GEDs to graduate degrees, with income-based savings accounts building along the way.

• Path 3 targets workforce entry and job retention, emphasizing financial growth.

• Path 4 is the boldest of all: a 10-year journey that ends with homeownership as the prize.

It’s a launchpad.

TGHA piloted a version of this program using private funds for most of the past year. HUD’s approval now grants us the freedom to reallocate existing funds in a time when affordable housing demand far outpaces supply.

What makes Greenville’s MTW approach especially promising is its strong web of community partnerships. USC Upstate,  United Way of Greenville, the Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Goodwill Industries, Able SC,  and others have joined forces with TGHA. Together, they’ll offer career coaching, education, literacy programs, job placement, and wraparound services.

It’s a reminder that housing is more than just a roof. It’s the foundation for economic mobility. Hollingsworth Funds has provided startup support for the program by offering funding as well as technical and administrative resources and connections to valuable partnerships.  

“This is a game-changing shift for our community,” Gage Weekes, CEO of Hollingsworth Funds, said last week when we announced the program.

He’s right. For too long, the conversation around affordable housing has been reactive. With MTW, Greenville gets to be proactive.

Let’s also look at precedents. The San Diego Housing Commission, a long-standing MTW agency, has helped thousands through its Achievement Academy, offering job training and career advancement programs. Greenville can (and should) replicate this kind of success.

Still, it’s important to keep perspective. This program won’t erase the need for affordable housing. But it will create space in the system by empowering many families to exit it voluntarily and victoriously. That, in turn, reduces the overwhelming backlog of applications and allows more people to access help when they need it most.

MTW works because it’s not one-size-fits-all. It gives local agencies the authority to shape policy in ways that reflect their communities’ unique needs and opportunities. In Greenville, that means building a city where more people can thrive and not just survive.

Everyone deserves a safe, stable place to call home. The MTW program brings us closer to that goal, not through temporary relief, but through long-term transformation.

It’s a new chapter for The Greenville Housing Authority and affordable housing. 

Let’s write it well.

Terril Bates is the Chief Executive Officer of The Greenville Housing Authority. Learn more at tgha.net.