Deb Richardson-Moore receives United Housing Connections’ inaugural Humanitarian Award

Four months after retiring as executive director and senior pastor of Greenville’s Triune Mercy Center, Deb Richardson-Moore has received United Housing Connections’ inaugural Humanitarian Award.

Presented by UHC’s Searchlight Initiative, the award honors those dedicated to finding housing solutions for Greenville’s homeless population.

“The selection of Deb for this honor was an easy decision,” said United Housing Connections CEO Lorain Crowl. “For 15 years, Deb has been an incredible leader, mentor and friend to our citizens experiencing homelessness in Greenville. She has shown us all, by example, what the word ‘serve’ really means.”

Richardson-Moore retired from Triune Mercy Center at the end of July after a 15-year stint as pastor of the place known as Greenville’s homeless church. Triune was her second career, preceded by a 27-year stay at The Greenville News as a reporter. Her first book, The Weight of Mercy, a memoir of her first few years at the inner-city church where the homeless gathered, was published in 2012 and helped shine a spotlight on the area’s homelessness issue.

“The congregation at Triune really began to grow after The Weight of Mercy was published, and the book continues to resonate with people,” Richardson-Moore said. “I was on a call this week with a church group in Greenwood that is studying the book.”

During a Nov. 19 award presentation at Furman University’s Younts Center, UHC also unveiled a rendering of The Deb Richardson-Moore Community Center to be built near Church Street Place at Poe Mill, a planned 36-unit complex that will provide permanent supportive housing for those experiencing chronic homelessness. The community center will house a variety of services for those experiencing homelessness.

“Church Street Place has had a lot of people working a lot harder than me. That’s why I’m a little sheepish about all of this,” Richardson-Moore said of the award. “I’m humbled and honored at the same time.”

And while she knew of the plan to name the community center in her honor, Richardson-Moore said the real surprise was seeing a rendering of the future facility unveiled the night of the award ceremony.

“So many of us feel so helpless right now, so to see that made me realize that we have made progress and that we can continue to help people in substantive ways.”

Go here for more information on Church Street Place at Poe Mill.

 

Header photo (L-R): Jim Carroll of the Searchlight Initiative, Deb Richardson-Moore and UHC Executive Director Lorain Crowl.