Salvation Army of Greenville County Launches Rebuilding Hope Restoring Lives Campaign to Expand Shelter Capacity

The Salvation Army of Greenville County has launched the Rebuilding Hope Restoring Lives campaign to provide a place where Greenville families can get back on their feet. Dorothy and Steve Dowe have offered a $250,000 matching gift challenge to help the campaign reach its goal, and a video on the campaign page features them explaining why they support the effort.

The campaign materials describe homelessness as more than exposure to cold, heat or hunger. They describe the daily uncertainty of not knowing where one will sleep, whether one will eat, or how one will care for children. The materials say the people affected are often ones the public would not expect, including a child in a local classroom, a woman seen in a grocery store, or a veteran. According to the campaign, a lost job, an unexpected illness or a past mistake can be enough to end up on the streets.

The campaign states that 4,100 people experienced homelessness in Greenville last year, a 19.9 percent increase over three years. It says the organization’s shelters are always at full capacity and that staff face the weekly task of turning people away. The materials also cite rapid inflation, which they say is forcing many families to choose between food, medicine and housing.

Felicia Collins Robbins, who leads the campaign, has a personal connection to the organization’s work. Her father lost his mother at a young age and was taken in by an orphanage operated by The Salvation Army, where he lived in a loving and nurturing environment until he was reunited with his own father. Robbins said her father credits the organization with teaching him about the love of God. She said he later became a businessman and established a foundation to help charities in the region.

Robbins said she believes everyone deserves the chance to succeed, regardless of circumstances. “You don’t know what an individual can become if they have the right resources,” she said. She added that a gift to the campaign “is not just for the here and now,” saying it would help individuals and entire families.

Earle Harding, a retired commercial banking executive, is also cited in the campaign materials. He said that for more than two decades he has been consistently impressed with The Salvation Army of Greenville County’s record of fiscal responsibility.

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