Gateway House sits at 415 Rutherford St., where local residents weren’t sure at first about a home for people diagnosed with serious mental illness opening in the neighborhood. 33 years later, Gateway House has helped hundreds find jobs, go back to school, and feel purpose.

An estimated 40% of Greenville’s homeless live with mental illness – by providing resources and concrete support, Gateway hopes to decrease that number.

As the only accredited Clubhouse Model Rehabilitation Program in S.C. (a.k.a. making the facility feel more like a home than a hospital), here’s how Gateway has made a difference so far:

225 mentally ill adults are served yearly
95 members attend daily programs
1% re-hospitalization rate for members (the average is 50% – the reduced hospitalization saves GVL $2 million in hospital stays, ER visits + incarceration)
72 apartments are available and 70% of those at Gateway live independently
50% of members are employed (the average unemployment rate for those with mental illness is 85%)
2,000+ from 40 states and 17 countries have been trained at Gateway in implementing the clubhouse model (impacting 375+ organizations)
1,350+ have been served since 1984

And with a new 20,000 sq ft. expansion (costing $5 million), they’re hoping to have an even greater impact.

The new facility would allow Gateway to serve more than twice its current capacity. With the funds raised, Gateway could break ground on land between Croft + West Earle St this summer.

What kinds of programs does Gateway offer? Clubhouse members operate a bank within the facility, produce a daily news show, participate in a wellness program (that includes working in the kitchen and budgeting for ingredient purchases), and get help in going back to school (thanks to partnerships with local colleges like Greenville Tech) and finding jobs.

As they gain independence, Gateway members can move into an apartment in one of Gateway’s four residential buildings and pay their own rent with the wages they earn.

Gateway has reached ~76% of their fundraising goal so far – their major fundraising event, Beautiful Music for Beautiful Minds, is on August 3.

Here are a few more renderings of the planned new space:

Rendering by LS3P Associates Ltd. For more information contact marmstrong@gateway-sc.org.