By Jay King, Originally posted December 15, 2024 in the Upstate Business Journal

There are few things that demonstrate the mettle of organizations, people and communities like a natural disaster, and Hurricane Helene’s recent impact on the Upstate has been revelatory.

Organizations like United Way of Greenville County have been on the frontlines of relief efforts. The outpouring of giving, volunteerism and simple good neighborliness says a lot about the state of philanthropy in the region, according to Meghan Barp, the nonprofit’s president and CEO.

But Helene has also highlighted the evolving nature of needs throughout the county and pointed to some significant disconnects between those needs and public perception.

Cost of living

One inescapable reality impacts both residents and nonprofits alike: Nearly everything costs more now than it did just a few years ago. Barp said while this trend is national, it is exacerbated in the Upstate by significant population growth in recent years.

“As we’ve experienced tremendous growth, things have gotten more expensive,” she said.

As on the national level, the trend has pushed up costs in Greenville and the Upstate for such critical needs as housing, transportation and child care.

It also could be a factor in one of the key findings in a recent analysis of philanthropy in the Upstate, which revealed giving has not kept pace with inflation. Barp said the philanthropic landscape survey, which was conducted by Greater Good Greenville, tracked with trends United Way has observed locally and nationally.

“This is an incredibly philanthropic community,” she said, but increased costs are putting pressure on more families and on the ability of nonprofits to meet community needs.

She said while the Upstate economy generally remains robust, the cost of living has tended to outpace wage growth.

“We know that far too many hard-working South Carolinians are struggling to make ends meet,” Barp said.

That reality was brought into sharp focus by a United Way report detailing financial hardship in South Carolina. ALICE in the Crosscurrents details the struggles of Palmetto State individuals and families who are asset limited, income constrained and employed.

Barp said while the report focused on the impacts of the pandemic, inflation and other economic trends of the past two years, the financial vulnerabilities it revealed were underscored even further by Helene.

United Way storm response hubs

In the days and weeks after Helene, Barp and other United Way team members encountered thousands of Upstate residents in acute need.

She said the ALICE report revealed there were about 86,000 families in Greenville County alone struggling to make ends meet — and that was before the storm. The sudden financial shock of the storm and its aftermath revealed that tens of thousands of hardworking families live precariously balanced on the brink of financial disaster, Barp said.

Working at one of United Way’s storm-response hubs, Barp said she heard one woman express a shock that was likely echoed in the minds of countless other area residents.

“I never thought I’d find myself standing in line to get something to eat,” the woman told Barp.

The difference between what people think about poverty and financial struggle, and the reality of what people actually face, is one of the challenges United Way seeks to overcome.

Barp said part of the underlying problem is society’s general concept of the “American Dream” where the ideal is that people pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The reality is there are hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians — and millions of Americans — who have good jobs and yet cannot get ahead.

Such individuals and families don’t fit comfortably in traditional definitions of poverty and yet many are one financial setback away from disaster, Barp said.

A call to action

Expanding the conversation about, and understanding of, the challenges Upstate residents face is one of the goals of the United Way’s advocacy and education efforts, Barp said.

“I’m not interested in ‘admiring’ problems, and I’m also not interested in studying them for years,” she said. “I think the growth we’re seeing has the potential to be a tremendous asset.”

Rather than viewing all new residents moving to the area as consumers driving up the cost of living, residents and nonprofits alike should welcome newcomers and invite them to be engaged residents committed to being part of the solution, Barp said.

The region’s quality of life and deep sense of community are among the reasons many newcomers cite for moving to the area in the first place. Barp said those reasons can serve as the point of entry for people to get involved in making the community better for everyone.

The personal connections people make through sharing philanthropic work are among the most rewarding and fulfilling, Barp said, and organizations like United Way offer countless ways to get engaged.

Beyond volunteering and contributing financially to nonprofits, new and longtime residents are needed in advocacy to shape policy around community challenges, she said.

While community problems can seem overwhelming, especially in the aftermath of a calamity of the magnitude of Helene, the storm has also highlighted the resilience of the area and its people.

“At the end of the day, I’m an optimist,” Barp said. “This region is vibrant, growing and full of opportunity, thanks to a unique blend of community values, culture and that ‘secret sauce’ that makes the Upstate truly special.”

Good to know

One of the ways the United Way assesses financial hardship is by tracking the numbers of asset-limited, income-constrained and employed individuals and families. The ALICE household survival budget is a good benchmark for the minimum income needed to afford basic necessities such as housing, food, child care, transportation, health care and technology.

In South Carolina:

• 939,833 households out of 2.1 million — 44% — fall below the ALICE threshold.
• As of 2022, the ALICE household survival budget for an individual was $27,780 and for a family of four (with an infant and preschooler) was $73,632.
• 38% of families with children fall below the ALICE threshold.

Source: United Way ALICE in the Crosscurrents 2024 update

United Way of Greenville County and Helene

The organization was among a number of nonprofits responding to needs in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Through its Community Relief fund, it provided:

• More than 20,000 meals to county residents.
• 2,450 nights of temporary housing for 175 displaced families through a partnership with Airbnb.
• Connections to essential services to more than 1,500 callers to United Way’s 211 helpline.

Fast facts

• 13,163 households in Greenville County spend more than half their income on rent.
• The county needs at least 20,000 low-cost housing units to meet current demand.
• The average household in Greenville County with children spends about 18% of its income on child care.

Source: United Way of Greenville County