GOAL (Greenville Organized for Accountable Leadership), formerly known as the Greenville Interfaith Justice Network, is a growing interfaith coalition of 28 congregations located throughout Greenville County. Through the power of large numbers of organized people, we will work to solve critical community problems. While all of our congregations provide direct service to those in need, our mission is to be a grassroots, direct action, multi-issue organization that gets at the roots of the problems in our county.
'...do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.' - Micah 6:8
We believe that doing justice is a core part of our faith traditions, yet it is often overlooked. Our vision is to build up Justice Ministries in our congregations such that justice becomes an integral part of their culture. In 2023 over 1500 people came together at our first Nehemiah Action, and in 2024 we have a goal of bringing together over 2000. It is through this power of organized people that we believe we will transform Greenville into a community where justice is the reality for all people.
GOAL follows the DART model of justice ministry. This is a yearly cycle that focuses on building and strengthening Justice Ministry Networks within each member congregation. This Fall, team leaders in each congregation will host House Meetings to discuss community problems and engage participants as Justice Ministry Network Members. This process culminates in our Community Problems Assembly where member congregations vote on which issues we will work to address. From November to March, our issue committees work to identify specific, actionable solutions to our chosen problems. This all leads to our Nehemiah Action, where thousands from our congregations will gather to ask public officials to implement these solutions. After the Nehemiah Action, leaders follow up on the commitments made at the Action, and Network Members are invited to invest financially in the work of the ministry.
The Problem: Every day, over 130 people in South Carolina contact the 988 mental health crisis line, yet because it was underfunded, as of January 2023, only 60 people a day were able to receive an in-state response.
The Solution: Solving this problem is simple, 988 needs to be fully funded so that staff is in place to answer every call or text.This spring, GOAL asked our state legislators to fully fund 988 with $3.9MM in the state budget.
Our Next Steps: 988 is fully funded in the 2023-24 budget, BUT, a significant portion of that funding was allocated as one-time, non-reoccurring funding. GOAL will continue to follow up with our state legislators to ensure that 988 stays funded next year and in future years to make sure those in crisis get the help they need.
The Problem: In Greenville County, 30,000 households are one paycheck away from homelessness because they cannot afford the cost of their rent or mortgage. While our community has seen record growth over the past few decades, lower income families are being left behind, and experts say that we have a shortage of at least 10,000 homes for low-income households.
The Solution: Solving this crisis will require significant and sustained investments from our local governments to ensure enough affordable homes are built for families who need them. A report commissioned by local officials in 2016 found that solving our housing crisis would require at least $20MM dollars a year of local investment.At our 2023 Nehemiah Action, 1513 people gathered to ask our city and county council to each commit to working towards $10MM per year towards affordable housing and for at least 1/3 of that to go towards housing low-income families (households making 30% of the Area Median Income or below).
Our Next Steps: At the Nehemiah Action a majority of city council, and several county councilors, committed to our asks; however, we still have a long road to ensure those commitments become reality. Over the past few months, GOAL has continued to meet with City & County Councilors to hold them accountable to the commitments made and ensure they are followed through, and we will continue to do so until the funding is in place and allocated appropriately.