Front Porch Housing continues to help people coming out of crisis

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - At Front Porch Housing in Greenville, it’s more than just a place to live for many families. It’s a supportive housing program designed to help people and families coming out of crisis.

For years Amanda Worley lived on the streets before she made it to Jasmine Road, then Front Porch Housing.

“As soon as you pull in the parking lot, it’s like you’re pulling into God’s hands,” she said.

Worley and her two kids moved in last July and are about to enter the second year of the three-year program.

“My ending goal is to have my first house. Have a college degree,” said Worley.

“It really does take time to stabilize and kind of move out of that survival mode into equipping and preparing for the next season,” said Front Porch Housing Executive Director LeeAnne Cavin.

Front Porch Housing took over old Greenville Technical College dorms and turned them into affordable housing. There is on-site counseling, a library, financial and life skill classes, and more.

“We have a lot of support here. We have weekly check-ins with our care coordinator,” said Worley.

Front Porch Housing opened in May 2022 and partners with several different organizations.

“That proximity and having everybody here together creates a really neat community,” explained Cavin.

At any given time, there are about 400 people who are living at Front Porch Housing, and it’s gotten so popular there’s a waitlist now.

“It is a housing first model because once you have housing you can start addressing those things that make housing a crisis to begin with,” says Cavin. “Housing is often a crisis of connection and so figuring out what does it look like to rebuild relationships, what does it look like to build in those education gaps.”

Since Worley moved in, she’s started classes at Greenville Tech and has learned to become more financially stable.

“More striving to solve things and do things,” said her son Zack Lucas.

But maybe most importantly, Front Porch Housing has helped rebuild her family.

“It is Front Porch Housing that really made us into the family that we’ve always wanted to be,” said Worley.

For more information on Front Porch Housing, click here.